I posted this on another website a few years ago, but I'm copying it here for the benefit of a friend, who is about to embark on the same Great Adventure!
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First off, let me apologize that after all the hype, the webcam (according to my kids) wasn't working today - booooooooo.
When we first got there, a cutie instructor, Andy, was coaching a young woman on a picnic table - get this: she was blonde and her name was Lori. I was hoping Andy was gonna be MY guy, but no. He was HER guy. Then 'Alex' showed up, and Oh-My-God...he was Mr. GQ himself. Was HE my guy? "Pretty please?" No. He was going up to do a solo flight for a new certification.
Soon MY guy, Fred, showed up, about my age, and he was something less than GQ (something waaaaaay less), but we bonded instantly, in that special way someone bonds with a person she might soon die with...
The most harrowing part of the entire day was the drive up the 'track' in a beat-up Dodge van. If there was any thought of chickening out, the mental image of a drive back DOWN the mountain in that van would have been more than enough motivation for
anybody to take the leap. We had a full van. Fred and his wife Nancy in front, holding hands most of the way up (Awwwwww); in the middle seat the 'other' Lori sat between Alex and Andy (lucky girl); I was in the back seat between my hubby Larry and a guy with 2 teeth named Darryl who looked like he'd been rode hard and put away wet and kept asking what day it was (I slid a little closer to Larry); on the other side of Darryl was a guy named Hero (he was Asian, so maybe it was Hiro?)
On the ride up, Darryl suddenly yelled 'F***!!!'. (By this time I was nearly sitting on Larry's lap.) Darryl had realized he forgot 2 of his battens(sp?), which are similar to tent poles that you slide into the wing to give it support. The other fliers were trying to talk him into finding some sticks and use them instead. (Yeah, they were SERIOUS! I was thinking 'Sh**, maybe they
want him to die.')
We got to the top, and while people were assembling their gliders (and Darryl was foraging for sticks) I peeked over the edge of the launch zone. Holy crap, that thing was steep! When our glider was ready, Fred had me sign paperwork that said 'If I die doing this I swear it's nobody's fault but my own for being dumbsh** enough to jump off a friggin' 3500' cliff...' Nancy dressed me, and showed me where the parachute was on the front of Fred's pack.
"Fred has a
parachute?"
"Just in case", she said.
I patted the front of my pack..."How come
I don't have a parachute?"
"Because YOU have the bag with all the nuts and bolts in YOUR pack."
"And that bag of nuts & bolts is gonna get me to the ground better than a parachute???"
"Fred's parachute should be sufficient to get you BOTH down..."
(Yeah, right - sounds like a setup to me...oh, well...)
Fred then did a few practice launches with me and gave me some instructions. We strapped into the glider, got on our knees and simulated the whole flight. It was at that time that I learned, to my great dismay, that Fred was gonna have me pilot the glider all by myself for awhile during the flight. Apparently, in the state of California, it's illegal to do a tandem hang-glide when not in the context of a 'lesson'. (And all this time I thought I was just along for the ride...)
At about that time he noticed that I started shaking, and he said 'Don't do that - the glider can sense your fear'. He said it with such a straight face that I almost believed him...
The wind was crap, so the only person who wanted to try it was Hero (Hiro?); at 12:15 Fred gave him our spot in the lineup, and he launched. Hero (Hiro?) was having trouble finding 'lift', and for that reason he landed pretty quickly. As we were watching him, the 'other' Lori waltzed up to me, patted her parachute (yeah, SHE had a parachute) and quipped 'now I know what it feels like to be pregnant!' I just smiled, thinking 'yes, dear, you just keep believing that...hehehe'.
At 12:30 the 'other' Lori & Andy tandem-launched, with the same lousy wind and the same quick landing. Fred and I stepped up at 12:45, and the wind had shifted so drastically that he felt it would be dangerous to launch, so we unhooked and drew back for 15 minutes. (You want a rising headwind, but it was now a downdraft from the rear.) My thought was 'Oh, wonderful - now anybody watching that webcam is gonna think I chickened out.' Other fliers had arrived and Fred was offering everybody candy while we waited, but Alex had stripped off his shirt and was providing the only 'candy' that I needed...
At 1:00 the wind came back properly, so we stepped back up. As we waited for the go-ahead, my heart was pounding out of my chest, but when Fred said 'clear' I got my game face on and we started the walk-jog-run off the slope - before I had taken 10 steps we were airborne. The wind was so stiff that soon we were well above the launch site. It was amazing! We dipped and turned, over and over again, watching birds below us (as Fred said, 'getting a bird's eye view of a bird'). He asked me if I like roller coasters. I said "I LOVE roller coasters!" So with no warning he put the glider in a total free-fall - our faces were pointed straight at the ground! It was soooo cool! Then he put my hands on the control bar next to his and had me do several turns before taking his hands away and dropping behind me as I took total control for awhile. He even had me line us up for the landing. We came in at about 30 mph, and touched down so gently that if I had been asleep I wouldn't have noticed.
As we waited (and I prayed) for Nancy & Larry's safe descent from the mountain in that piece-of-crap van, Darryl (and his sticks) made a textbook landing and Alex (and his pecs) did a face-plant landing that almost got him the dis-honor of 'Whack of the Week'. (But he got his certification.)
EDIT: Just before we launched, Fred gave me a small slip of paper with my name on it - it was my 'Student Rating' from the U.S. Hang Gliding and Paragliding Assn., Inc. He told me to put it in my pocket, 'cause it would aid in identification of my body later - and he assured me that coyotes won't eat paper...
Larry is my worst nightmare as a photographer, but these actually turned out pretty good...
WHAT? I'm jumping off THAT??? I think I can...I think I can...I think I can...I think I can... Me & Fred - My hero! (hiro?)... "Awww, c'mon, Fred, come BAAAAACK! It wasn't ME who pinched you, it musta' been the OTHER Lori!" All dressed up and no wind to go. OR...
...'All the 'pooch' without the 'parachute' - Yay, I get to carry all the crap!'The little white dot is me (with a death grip on Fred)