Thursday, November 17, 2011

Paragliding at the Point

The Saturday before the first snowfall, October 29, Jordan, Vanessa and I all went paragliding at the point of the mountain. I am so glad we were able to do it before winter came. It was cold when we went, but once we were up in the air of course we didn't notice. It was so much fun, but nothing like sky diving (which I think I prefer).





We went paragliding off the South Side of the Point of the Mountain. We had no instruction because we were going tandem. We simply signed a waiver, went to the edge of the mountain, strapped on all the gear with the pilot and took off. The air simply lifted us up.




My pilot said that the Point of the Mountain is the best place to go paragliding. He said that the wind is always very consistent and very smooth. So people come from all over the world to go paragliding at the point of the mountain. I love that Utah has so many amazing things to offer!

Paragliding has a larger "wing" (parachute) than skydiving and is more steady. So I took that to mean that it is safer. You can get really close to the ground and then get right back up in the air. I was really impressed by that and at some points the pilot took us so low my feet were hitting the weeds, then we went back up again.

It wasn't scary at all. It wasn't really an adrenaline rush either. It was just fun. It was fun to look out over the valley and see the beauty all around. The pilot said that for a little more dinero we can go on the North side of the mountain and go a little higher in the air. I think that next time I would like to try that.





I think that the most intense part of paragliding was the landing. We were trying to land on the top of the hill, from where we took off, but other paragliders kept getting in the way. So we ended up just landing at the bottom of the hill. We had to lean right so that the wing almost hit the hill, then left and again, the wing almost hit the dirt, then back right and back left again and again. We were going fast and feeling drastic movement - it was fantastic.

Jordan & Vanessa got to paraglide together:
Jordan:

Vanessa:

Jordan & Vanessa together in the sky:


I am glad that we were all able to go. We had a lot a lot of fun and I am glad that my mom, Mike, Alisha, Annika and Adalyn were all willing to come and bear the cold to watch us!

Thanks guys! It was fun to spend the morning/afternoon with you.

2 comments:

Julie and Nate said...

Wow! You are amazing. I need to borrow some of your sense of adventure. Way to go!

The Crookstons said...

You are so adventurous Jen!! I love it. We need to do another girls night soon!!!