There is time life brings me an opportunity I just can’t pass up.
This last week was one of those weeks that I ended up with an awesome and amazing opportunity. A group of hang gliders set up shop in Eatonia this week. This group was awesome. Not only were they friendly and welcoming, they took time to support and check out things in the Community. I met most of the group while hosting a local visual arts showcase May 28th at the Eatonia Heritage Station. They really took the time to invite anyone to come hang out and watch and possibly go for a ride.
Among the group was Kevin Fisher from Infinity Flight Park and Hang Gliding School. (www.hangglidealberta.ca) That was doing tandem rides. Of course this was something I HAD to do. It took me a bit of thinking on whether or not I was going to take my camera up. The thought of it dropping 2500 feet to the ground had me second-guessing doing so. I settled on taking my smaller camera up. Next time I’ll take the better one. I was the last Flight of the day on May 31st , which meant I got to soar around as the sun was setting. Very VERY awesome. It’s something you can’t really capture with still photographs. It’s peaceful up there. A light breeze, graceful soaring and a view of our amazing prairies you can’t see any other way.
Kevin is great. He has this ease about him that puts any nerves you may have to rest. He explains exactly everything that’s going to happen, and how everything works. He does it all with a big smile on his face. Really shows his love of hang gliding, teaching others about it and making sure you have a great experience.
And if you so choose, Kevin runs his Go Pro during the flight so there is always video evidence of exactly how scared you looked despite all claims you were cool as a clam. Seriously I was not scared or nervous. You can check out the videos of my flights here: youtube.com/channel
The crew on the ground was equally awesome. My kids were not going to miss seeing me go up. They had a blast on the ground with Larry Shumlich, and Leif Hanson. I was so grateful to Leif Hanson for capturing everything with my camera from the ground. He did an amazing job of it.
I highly recommend going up with these guys when they are back next year. You can go to facebook.com/Infinityflightparkand give their page a like to stay up to date on their next trip out. Or if you are in Red Deer area call them up at 1-403-507-0300 www.hangglidealberta.ca
The extra special treat for this week was the group allowed me to play team photographer. It was a great learning experience as it was something very new for me to photograph. They made me feel very welcome. Here’s a few shots that I captured. The rest can be seen on facebook.com/backroadcreationsbyjenny . There is just too many to share in just one little write up.
I would do this over and over. It’s really an awe inspiring experience. I’ll stick to tandem flights I think since I like storm clouds too much and that’s not a good thing to fly into. I’ll just rely on Kevin to keep me outta trouble for now. I met some really great new friends some of which will become old friends I’m sure. Looking forward to next year. I’ll take my good camera up! ☺
Live life to the fullest!
