Jumping off a cliff at the base of the Andes Mountains is a bit risky. With that being said, It would’ve made me feel better if we hadn’t been picked up to do so in a beat-up, rusted-red, Chevy Neon. Maybe it was the broken windshield or the stalling at red lights but something doesn’t sit well when we are supposed to trust the reliability and functionality of our equipment. However, my concerns quickly diminished as we took the half-hour drive towards the mountain. Wany from Magic Fly would be our driver to the mountain and my co-pilot on the fight. Although his car might not have given me the best of first impressions, his 10-years of experience and overall domineer made up for it.
We met two more guys at the base of the mountain to change automobiles and pack all the gear. One guy was your typical extreme athlete complete with long hair, crazy sunglasses and a sol patch, while the other was more of a wild card. He was a very healthy 80 year-old chap who would be our trusted driver up the ridiculously steep mountain and also our air traffic controller.
The scariest part of the trip by far was the drive up the mountain. Not only were we driving up the edge of a cliff with hair pin turns and no guardrails, but our lives were in the hands of the driver – “Blue” from old school. It was like the beginning of a roller coaster as it pushed its way up to drop point, however the difference was we felt relieved when we made it to the top rather than stomach-less.
The sun hit our faces as soon as we stepped out of the 4×4 once at the peak. It was a beautiful morning without a cloud in the sky. The guys wasted no time preparing the shoots while dad and I checked out the amazing view of the city of Mendoza and the snow capped Andes in the distance. Once the gear was set the guys called each of us over to suit up. My harness and helmet fit nicely, however dad’s suctioned to his head like a Power Ranger.
They went through very simple instructions. “When I say run you run towards the cliff. Don’t sit down until we get over the side.” – That was it, easy enough. There was a small gravel runaway where we’d be running up to a straight drop off. We had to run fast enough to get the parachute open and lift us before we hit the edge of the cliff.
Next we played the waiting game. All geared up and ready to go the anticipation was killing us. This is when Blue kicked in with his Native American like tactics to track the wind for take off. He paced around the edge of the mountain using his hands as binoculars to check flags in the distance and he would kick up dust to see which way the wind was going.
Finally after about 15 minutes of watching his antics, he gave the guys the sign that it we were ready to roll! Dad’s instructor said “okay let’s go” and they started walking fast towards the cliff. However, as they were supposed to begin running dad thought he heard his co-pilot say “no, no, no” instead of “go, go, go”. So you see this 165lb guy trying to run behind my 240lb father who was dragging his feet along the gravel runway. After all of us started yelling dad realized the confusion and made a few solid strides in the right direction to allow his parachute to fill with air and take off. He quickly caught wind they were away over the mountains.
After watching that blunder my man Wany and I decided to attempt a little smoother approach. We gave dad a few minutes to clear the area and then a made a run for the edge of the mountain. The parachute popped up and with one faithful leap over the edge we were flying.
It was breathtaking and peaceful. We soared around for about 20 minutes gliding over mountain tops and feeling the warm brisk air on my face. I could watch dad as he flew below me. We were at the foot of the Andes and it was remarkable. We did some fun tricks with the parachute before pulling up a bit to miss some power lines and then setup the landing gear. As we hit the sandy parking lot we touched down and ran a few feet to stick a perfect upright landing. Success!
Just like that we unhooked our gear and I gave Wany a big thank you hug. After this excursion I would definitely have to say, if I had one super power it would be the ability to fly.
After an afternoon siesta, trip to the pool and workout we celebrated our day by having a great parilla at a place called Don Mario‘s that was recommended to us all over town. The way I see it, any day is a great when you can run, swim and fly!
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