You’ve survived this attempt on your life.
The rune crumbles to dust.
- Nethack quote found in a source code comment at work.
So instead of dying today at my paragliding lesson, I had an *amazing* time. No amount of personal hype/excitement could reduce how incredibly awe inspiring my first tandem flight was. Just gliding above ravines and ridges with nothing but open air all around is quite possibly the coolest thing I’ve ever done.
.
.
.
wow.
.
.
.
wow.
Ok, you get the point. After the initial takeoff (which was startlingly uneventful: Rob (my instructor) went over the basics of the pendulum effect, etc. then basically once we were set he said ‘Run!’ and then we were off), I pretty much flew the whole flight, including the landing (which I managed to do quite gracefully, to my surprise). Rob only stepped in a few times to handle some potentially delicate situations like merging into a group that was circling a thermal, etc.
After that, we went back to the LZ (landing zone, for those kids not cool enough to know all the hip lingo) and I did a lot of ‘kite work.’ Basically, one of the trickier beginner things in paragliding is the initial inflation and control of the glider before/during takeoff. So I did that the rest of the day; I’m by no means a natural, but I was definitely starting to get the hang of things by the end of the day.
My next lesson is in a week, and I can’t wait. I’ll be doing more kite work, but with a more high performance wing, and also get to going from kiting to actually lift offs and short rides down the small hill at the LZ. I think I stick to several lessons just at that for a bit, then finally do my first radio assisted solo flight from the top. I can’t wait!
I’ve not yet met the SoCal girl of my dreams since I moved out here, but I can tell you one thing: I’m definitely in love.