Flying again - July 2006

I got married in 2006 and spent two weeks in the Alps on honeymoon to do some walking and via ferrata. A few days after arriving I spotted a few paragliders flying from the mountains above the village we were staying in. I was immediately drawn to thoughts of flying again but the idea of me ever getting up there seemed so remote. A few days later, quite by chance, we came across someone giving tandem flights and he was covering some pretty good distances. We sat in the sun on top of the mountain watching him make a number of flights into the distance and back again - conditions looked good! That evening we happened to see him in the village and I spoke to him about having a tandem flight another day and so got his phone number and arranged to call him a few days later when he was free. I was thinking that maybe this was the closest I would get to flying.

The day we met with Christophe was clear blue - but with a nice breeze blowing onto take-off. As we left the ground I was immediately reminded of the feelings I had when flying in the mountains in India - sort of excitement mixed with anxiety. I was very aware of how vunerable it would feel if onditions were a bit rough. Unfortunately the flight didn't last long. There were no decent thermals and while Christophe worked hard, we were forced to return to the valley floor. He landed the glider in an amazingly small spot, and while I was disappointed with the short time we had been able to fly for, it had me thinking...