It Couldn't Wait...

I was going to wait and write one big post about Switzerland, but this morning was honestly just too great.  It deserves its own post.

So this morning at 10:30, I was picked up in front of my hostel to go hang-gliding.  The only other passenger was a guy from South Carolina and of course our pilots.  The driver promptly informed us that the most dangerous part is the drive up the mountain...and then we took off.  On the way up, the view just kept getting better and better.  And we kept driving higher and higher.  We finally stopped and Ed and Bernie (pilots) let us know that we were at the launch point...unless of course we'd rather start from a higher one.  That was obviously not even a question, so we drove further up the mountain to the high takeoff point.  Much better.  Here's a before picture where we got out of the van:

Then we grabbed the gear and had about a 10 minute hike to where we actually took off.  The views from up here were absolutely stunning.  I asked our pilots how far up we were and they said it was just over 800m (2600ft) above the landing zone.  Not too shabby of a drop if you ask me.  We went through some basic instructions on takeoff, flying, and landing.  Learned the two most important things to remember: don't stop running (for takeoff) and look good for the camera.  And then we were off:

Thumbs up for a good takeoff.  Then, Ed went crazy taking a bunch of pictures and turning the glider through the air to get every angle we could.  He did get quite a few good pictures though.

Superwoman:

 I can fly!!

 That's Interlaken behind us.  It's also conveniently written right above the city on the glider.

 Love the no hands pictures.  And this lake is beautiful.

 Of course...I was happy to land safely.

Now just seeing the pictures clearly isn't enough, so here is the video clip they threw in for free as well.  Or a link to it at least.
Hang-Gliding!  (note: there's a lot of wind in this video...turn down the volume)

Ed (my pilot) made this clip at the end of the flight and did some tricks while he was making it.  I had no idea he was about to do these tricks, but it definitely made the end of the ride thrilling.  There was one point where he "stalled" the glider and we just completely stopped in midair, pointing up, before switching and doing a nose dive at the trees.  The landing was a lot faster than expected, but really easy nonetheless.

I have to say, I'm definitely glad I decided to spend the money on this.  Worth every penny.

Tomorrow I think I'm going to Trummelbach Falls and Schilthorn.  Then canyoning on Saturday.  You will definitely hear from me on those.

Until then,
KT