Day 4 - Paragliding - a new addiction?

 I had two things I especially wanted to do on this trip: go to the top of Jungfraujoch and go paragliding.  From the moment we arrived in town, we have been seeing paragliders sail overhead from the nearby mountain and land in the central park.  Today was my day!

We drove up to the top of the mountain beyond Beatenberg (above Harder Kulm).  It was about a 20 min drive up a lot of tight switch backs.  If you look at the background below, you can see part of the road up the mountain.

Looking down the slope before take off.

Our sail all spread out.  We were paired up with a pilot.  My pilot was Dominique.  I think they must have had "ground crew" who were spreading out the sails as the pilots arrived because I don't think Dominique stepped away from me in helping get the harness on before we stepped up to the already spread out sail.  

Dominique was actually local to Interlaken and had paraglided for several years.  He said they can do between 6 to 9 jumps a day in peak season.  They can even jump in the winter (brr!).  They quickly spread their sails on the steeply elevated mowed field and hooked us into harnesses.  We were instructed to jog down the hill until we couldn't touch the ground anymore (don't try to sit back in the harness seat too early).  I would say we took about 5 easy steps down the hill and the sail came up over our heads.  I kept moving forward and was lifted off my feet with about 3 more steps.  Unbelievably easy and so smooth.  

The sail spread out behind us ready for launch. 

Looking down the mountain before take off.  We were one of the first pairs off the mountain.  I asked if many people were scared that he flew with.  He said a lot of people were notably nervous at the start, not knowing what to expect, but when they realized how smooth it was, they calmed down.  I was thrilled from the start!

I settled back into the harness seat - as comfortable as sitting in a chair (or hammock).  It was so silent, with occasional sounds of the wind rushing by when we turned into it the wind. It was not particularly chilly, maybe 60 degrees. It was wonderful since it was 80 on the ground. 

The controls were very simple - tug on the pulls to turn either direction, tug on both at the same time to slow down.  You can also shift your body weight a bit for finer adjustments, but its not the same as hang gliding. Interesting info.   It apparently is not physically rigorous to control, so you don't get tired even if you are up for a long time.  

This is probably my favorite photo because...mountains!

I had paid for double hang time, so the pilot was searching for thermals to give us the extra lift we needed to stay up longer.  We circled round and round on one thermal and saw a hawk circling with us.  I might have gotten a little queasy from going around so much.  Unfortunately they weren't strong enough to get us higher (I did get a refund). We did have a good 20 min flight though. 

A view from above.  The pilot has a pretty long selfie stick and go-cam.  He had it clipped firmly to his harness so he didn't drop it.  He pulled out the memory card when we landed, plugged it by adapter into my phone and downloaded the photos to me right on the spot - pretty handy!

We also tried to catch some uplifts by the side of the mountain behind us (Harder Kulm).  We were almost close enough to touch the tall pine trees at one point.  About this point he let me take the controls.  It was pretty cool!  The river Aare is below us. 

You can see the landing point below and to the right of us.  

Lake Thun is behind us.  As we approached the landing zone, we got to do several swift spiral turns.  I wish we could have done more. 

The landing was easy.  We shifted so his I was sitting directly on his thighs (instead of him stranding my harness).  Then he slowed and touched our feet down and we just stood up.  No extra step or anything.  He said the hardest part of learning to paraglide is taking off and landing.  You usually start on a small slope and go up and down at low elevation until you get the hang of it.  He was clearly an expert.  

The sails pack up into carry bags very quickly (kind of stuff style) and weigh about 45 lbs.  They are made of rip stop nylon that doesn't tear.  They will last for 3-4 years (300 hrs) before needing to be replaced.  The lines are synthetic and don't stretch. We saw a number of pilots toting their sails up the mountain on gondolas around Murren.  What an amazing ride that would be right near the glaciers!

I would so do this again and again!  I think the same things I love about sailing make this sport super attractive.