Tandemonium

Tandem Launch
copyright - http://www.sarahbournephotography.com

Looking out the window at the rainy sky it's hard to believe that just last Saturday we flew 20 tandems in one day. We're supposed to fly 5 more today so I'm sitting here willing cloud base to rise higher than the mountain so we can have some fun in the sky and introduce more people to this amazing sport.

One of the most common questions people ask about tandems is about the take-off. "Don't your legs get all tangled up when you run off the mountain together?" Luckily for me, a new paragliding student has a partner who is an amazing photographer and she came along one day to snap some pics. The one at the top of this post is just fantastic and does a better job showing how it works than I can attempt to explain with all my hand gestures and lots jumping around. As you can see the passenger is in front, and as they start running the wing comes overhead and we run off in perfect harmony...ideally. The 'tangled legs' come in to play if the passenger stops running before we've left the ground, or even worse if they sit down (yes, it happens!). But as you can see from the photo, the take-off run is smooth and tangle-free...a perfect beginning to an amazing experience.

Life is pulling me in many directions right now, but the one constant in my life is flying. Paragliding offers so much - quiet meditation when you're alone on a smooth flight, sharing and teaching when taking someone with you, or a good mental workout when you're trying to figure out where all the lift is that day and trying to optimize your air time. You get the benefit of hanging out with friends before and after the flight, yet get alone time while soaring through the sky. As my own world is changing all around me, I'm grateful for the amazing gift of flight I've been offered and what it brings to me. I hope you all have something that creates the same kind of joy in your life.