Paragliding: Taking wings into the wind

I watched two paragliders try to catch a good wind - both ended up flat face on the ground eating grass. Crosswinds made it impossible to take flight that morning and the more I looked at the failed attempts, the less I wanted to make that leap. So we waited for the right wind to come by and we waited all the way till lunchtime.

The call came right after lunch. The SMS quirkily read ‘Time to fly’. When I emerged from the restaurant, I looked up and there they were, with their colourful wings parading in the skies, teasing the winds. My heart took a leap – it was indeed time to fly.

Bukit Jugra, Banting, is not a very high leaping point. Only 380 meters above sea level. You have the lighthouse right behind you, the Straits of Melaka yonder and then you have palm plantations, dragon fruit orchards, the croc infested river, Chinese cemeteries and the Selangor royal family burial grounds in between.

Paragliding mimics the same flying concept as the eagles - they catch the right wind tunnel and off they glide with grace. For first timers, we do it in pairs. There is a pilot and there is the rider (you and me), right between the pilot’s legs (actually the safest place to be when you’re hundreds of meters up high).

Winds can change unexpectedly so it takes a very experienced pilot to be able to know which wind can take you away and which can have you hanging off a tree branch or skewered on top of the lighthouse.

I had a very good pilot and a good-looking one too. During take off, all he told me was to look straight ahead and run when he told me to. Run off the cliff. Run straight into thin air. Right, that’s assuring.

So there I was, all strapped to my harness seat, ready to jog off the cliff and oddly, I felt no fear. Maybe it was my pilot’s casual confidence (and 500 jumps under his belt). Maybe it was the fact that height never really bothered me much. Or maybe it was my ignorant credo of ‘what’s meant to be was meant to be’.

So when Dale, my pilot, said ‘Run!’ I didn’t have to think twice. I just happily ran off Bukit Jugra. The next thing I knew, those same feet were happily treading air. And there I hung 380 meters above ground, seated comfortably in between the thighs of the man in which my life dangled on. And we let the wind take us further away.

We went high above the lighthouse. Higher than the rest. Dale took me above the tree tops so I could peek beyond the hills. We went up to 500 meters and then suddenly, I was so high, the eagles were soaring beneath me. I watched them glide gracefully, wings spread wide to catch the wind. I noted the patterns on their wings, that sacred pair of eyes offered only to the sun above. I followed them in flight and they did not seem to mind.

‘Do you want to chase them?’ Dale asked me.

I knew he would if I had said yes.

Then half way through, Dale passed the reins over to me - our lives now in my trembling hands. The same hands, that are often so weak they cannot even open canned drinks, were now responsible for holding two lives in the air. Of course he wasn’t suppose to do that but I think it was his way of stopping me from being too trigger-happy with my camera.

So I steered the wings and I did turns whenever Dale told me to. And when I was getting the hang of things, he takes out his camera and starts happily snapping away!

We stayed in the air for what seemed like a very long time and was the last to land. Before I started, it was the landing I feared. But when it came to that very last moment, I wish now I could do it again. We dove gradually, decreasing altitude and touched down with four feet firmly on the ground.

‘Run!’ Dale said again.

And we ran like two pairs of legs in gurney sacks; running away from the coming wings that would have enveloped us. The eagle has landed.

Paragliding details

Paragliding is probably one of the safest altitude sports out there. Ballz Action the sports activities organizer arranges paragliding trips for the public… but I’d advice not to go through them. The agent (Steven) was not only unfriendly, he was very unprofessional too. As a host, I’d rate him 0.5 stars for being on time. And between you and me, they take a very huge cut for doing absolutely nothing. So go straight to the source. Contact Rahman at 013-3434119

Dos & Don’ts

Don’t expect perfect weather

Don’t expect a standard air-borne duration. Flights can range from 2 minutes to 30 minutes, experts can fly for hours

Long pants are ideal

Sport shoes are great too

Make sure your camera or camcorder has a secure strap

If prone to motion sickness, don’t look down and don’t stare into your camera view finder

Don’t smoke near wings

Sun block / sun glasses optional

Location: Banting, Bukit Jugra Paragliding