Erin’s short story

PARAGLIDING HAS SO MANY FEELINGS!

"When Jose told me to move to Algodonales, I told him that I would, but I wanted to make a movie about it. Little did I know, Leo Yeung, a television producer in Hong Kong and fellow paragliding pilot, has started grabbing video of me and my ZERO GRAVITY babes.

This video made me a little teary. My flying wheelchair floating around in the sky gives me so many feelings.

The visible dedication and focus Jose gives to teaching his students to fly, AND all the different clips of Luisma literally at my back, holding me safely in place or pushing me into the sky. It's such a sweet capture of the most important part of flying - FRIENDSHIP!"

The magic of making impossible

"Things happen isn't just really wanting it or really believing in yourself but it's also finding people who really want it to they want it for you, they want to be
part of it, they believe in it, they are excited about it, and when you put all of
that together and that's when amazing things happen. That's when anything is
possible.

I was in Zermatt the first time I ever saw a paraglider. I was with a guy driving me on a Jeep around the Matterhorn and he said to me: "Are you gonna try that?". I said: "well, what is that?". He said: "well, that's tandem paragliding. You could just go into town, there is a company and they take people up". So I went and it was incredible. It was amazing! I was terrified but the feeling of being in the air was so exciting!
I got home from that trip and I looked up paragliding schools so I sent off a couple of emails to schools that I found online, and Jose was the only person who sent me a response.

Learning to fly: my paragliding experience

The most difficult thing about learning to paraglide was dealing with the equipment.
That we were using to adapt it had nothing to do with a beginner and it was uncomfortable, but when I came back I was in a different harness and  I'm gaining skills every time and also kind of starting from the beginning every time. Now, the good news is that I have finally gotten to the point where I can take-off really easy.

For me, paragliding is as much about the relationship that I have with my instructors as it is about my relationship with the wind and I would not be flying if it wasn't for the guys at Zero Gravity. I mean they don't just teach me the skills that I need to paraglide, they built me a wheelchair that can fly because I asked them to!

And every day that I get to spend with them is a day that I get to be around people that I love, that brings me great joy and doing something that we all love. just have those experiences sharing with your best friends.

So I'm very grateful that I say and Luisma, Pablo and Javi and that they have been so welcoming and so generous and so much fun that I hope I get to fly with them for ages and ages."

by Erin Clark

No Comments Yet.

Leave a comment

You must be Logged in to post a comment.

× WhatsApp Chat