Do Some Crazy $h!+
This was an UNREAL experience and looking back at this video, I can’t even believe I had the balls to do this! PARAGLIDING over the SWISS ALPS! I got a birds eye view of these beautiful, famous, snow capped mountains. This is one of those moments that makes me think my life isn’t even real..
I was studying abroad in Italy and the roommates and I decided to take a trip to Switzerland. We hopped on a 12 hour bus ride to Interlaken. Naturally, after all that time cooped up on public transportation, we were looking to get some fresh air. And that we did..
My brother had skydived in Interlaken so he set the bar pretty high. I can be kind of a wuss when it comes to extreme activities, especially those that could potentially be life threatening! But I couldn’t leave Interlaken without doing something wild and risky. There was no way I was gunna tell my brother that I just came here to check out all the chocolate shops. I had to leave here with an unforgettable experience .. a good story to tell .. it’s why I came to Switzerland in the first place!
I was the one who proposed the idea to the roommates. I think at first I had every intention of skydiving but then settled for paragliding. It seemed less nerve racking but just as thrilling. For those that don’t know, paragliding is non-motorized, foot launched flying in a light weight glider aircraft with no rigid structure. Picture a swing, You and the “pilot” are in a harness suspended below a fabric wing. We filled out paperwork all excited, trusting that “these guys do this all the time. SO many people do this when they come here”.
We were taken by van up to the very top of the mountain. We were in the car for what seemed like a while and that’s when the nerves started to hit. Getting higher and higher, into the clouds, to the top of the SWISS ALPS! All thoughts of fear and death suddenly fill my head. “I’m so scared but I can’t pussy out”. I’d be pissed at myself if I didn’t follow through with this. Plus, I just paid a shit ton of money for this.. extra money for the GoPro footage.
We’re at the top of the mountain where it seems kind of flat and then just drops off. I’m strapped in to harness, my instructor standing behind me. He gave me orders to run full speed like I’m jumping off a cliff. “You’ve got to run all the way through, don’t get scared and stop right before the edge. Make sure you keep running”. So now I’m like shit.. what if I do this wrong? What happens if I don’t run all the way through? He pretty much counted down from 3 and I, nervously, ran as fast as I could off the side of a mountain.. F*ck it, my life’s in his hands now.
It all just seemed to flow. I was running then I wasn’t - I was sitting in a swing. I honestly felt pretty safe strapped in. The sites were mind blowing! Flying high above trees. Houses looked like tiny squares. A white, winter wonderland. I felt like it was honestly better than skydiving because I got to get a nice, leisurely, glimpse of everything rather than just free falling for a minute. We were were flying for like 7 minutes. It was so cold up there though, I couldn’t feel my fingers. It’s up for debate whether that’s from the temp or from gripping tight to the swing but I did have very warm gloves on. (Fast forward 5 years and I’ve diagnosed myself with Raynaud’s disease). If you know me, you know I CAN’T with cold weather. The instructor said we could expedite the descent if we did flips. Send it! Let’s do this.
When my feet finally touched the ground again, I did breathe a sigh of relief. I could now call my brother and tell him that, although I did not skydive, I did push my limits and probably had a better view of the Alps than he did! I quickly unstrapped from the harness and ran so fast, just as fast as I did off the cliff, to the closest restaurant to warm my fingers up: Hooters.
