Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Krista goes Kamakaze

Yeah, so yesterday afternoon I jumped off a mountain.

An early birthday present

A friend runs the paragliding company on Grouse Mountain, our local mountain for skiing, hiking and many amazing tourist activities like a birds of prey and lumberjack show, grizzly bear sanctuary, zip-line trekking, fine dining and more.  I've wanted to do a tandem paraglide for a few years.  The pilots were having a slow day yesterday and an email went out looking for any last minute customers to take the last flights of the day.

An early birthday present

Happy early birthday to me! We took off around 5:30 and it was an incredibly warm evening. The thermals were great and we had a spectacular 30 minute flight over North Vancouver. That's the Capilano Reservoir  you can see below me. It provides about a third of the drinking water for Greater Vancouver. That's B flying in the background (above). Our daughter D is super high above - she got the daredevil experience for sure. She loved it (see smile below)!

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Despite a moment of panic when I saw B and his pilot's foil start to spin directly below me, with one side flapping in the breeze, it was mostly a great experience that I would happily do again anytime. I just wish I'd been warned that the spin-o-rama is an intentional part of the thrilling flight adventure (that makes for fun video footage). I immediately opted out!  

An early birthday present
About 3000' above North Vancouver. No biggie. Directly below my left hand you can see some white dots. Those are little leagers getting ready to practice in the corner of the landing (soccer) field. Brendan and I almost took two of the boys out on our landing!  One startled 8 year old ended up surrounded by the lines that attach the wing to the harness. The look on his face was priceless.

Our pilots were super fun, Brendan was from New Zealand, Todd from Oregon and Herminio might be Chilean, but I'm not sure. I do know he's one of those crazy squirrel-suit flyers, so I'm pretty happy he piloted B and not me!

If you're ever at the Peak of Vancouver and you want to avoid tram line ups to get down, I highly recommend a flight! 



22 comments:

Amy Friend said...

My stomach feels sick just reading about this!

Holly said...

I love it! Looks like you all had a fantastic flight! I went paragliding in the Swiss Alps when I was 15 and now you've got me thinking I should go closer to home. Back in the early 90s, they didn't have digital cameras or video on board, so all I have are a few shots my parents were able to take of me and my pilot from the ground.

Kirsty @ Bonjour Quilts said...

Awesoooome! So you'll doing a free fall course shortly, I expect?

Jane S. said...

How exciting!!! I would love to do that! I used to fly ultralight airplanes but I haven't done any parachute stuff...yet. :)

Tammy said...

Wow, Krista! Appears you had a fantastic Up Up and Away Adventure!

MariQuilts said...

Wow..you are a much braver woman than I am!!!

Unknown said...

Your nuts- I don't think I'd have done this ...... but it looks like you had a ball ;o)

Nina Lise@Mrs Moen said...

You are a brave one for sure, I get sweatty riding down the London tube escalators!

Leigh Anne said...

That looks like so much fun! Definitely on my bucket list :)

Katie B said...

Crazy woman!

Brenda said...

Congrats on your Birthday and for doing something of an adventure to commemorate it! We tend to be afraid of living and I'm thrilled to see when people get out of their comfort zone; just look at the incredible viewpoint you had. WOW!

Susie said...

Oh, honey. You are a brave, intrepid soul indeed!! It looks amazing, and I am so happy that it made YOU happy! Personally, I am delighted to enjoy it vicariously, so thanks for that!! :D

Pétra said...

Wow that looks amazing but I don't think I could ever do it! Unless I was on the Amazing Race maybe : ) Congratulations!

Kara {me and elna} said...

I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Canadian Abroad said...

Great day out! I've done a tandem skydive and loved it - even the spinning round part.

Sandi said...

You are a brave and crazy woman! Love the view but very glad that I am seeing it through you. Sandi

CitricSugar said...

Um, awesome. Literally awesome.

I did a parachute jump in Russia once, which was beyond coo, but that looks incredible!

Jealous. :-)

Heather D. said...

Ah you crazy girl! I would never do something like this - faaaaaaar too prone to motion sickness that I know I would not enjoy it. A beautiful city you (we? can I take part ownership?) have there!! I rode the gondola up Grouse with my parents a few years ago and it was lovely. And we've also done the less desireable grouse grind version which was less lovely. haha

trudys_person said...

That looks like an amazing adventure! I don't think I could do the actual jump off the mountain part ... but after that it looks like so much fun!

Carol Browne said...

Dreamy! I had no idea they did that up on Grouse Mountain. I've been once in New Zealand, though. Doing it here in Vancouver would be terrific! It's a lovely feeling, floating like that.

Katy Cameron said...

Oh wow, that looks amazing. So has Lynn offered to recreate the experience over here? ;o)

Alisa said...

Ooh, I am jealous! I've always wanted to try that (and one day I will) but after the last year's paragliding accident in Aggasiz I am a just a little leary...