Getting your head in the clouds in Ibarra

Location:
Ecuador

Paragliding, adventure, Ibarra

By Hannah Cattanach

By Hannah Cattanach

Inspired by tales of freedom and flying, I find myself in an open field with my skin tightening red under the piercing midday sun. I'm strapped to a padded safety seat, waddling like a turtle on amphetamines and attempting to get airborne in my first ever brush with paragliding.

Around two hours north of Quito, in the colonial city of Ibarra, a breeze is shifting through the reeds outlining Lake Yaguarcocha. It's a small, welcome mercy for the farmers tirelessly pummeling their fields nearby, and of intense interest to a small group of paragliders here, all looking to the sky with eyes that are hungry for some adrenaline.

Paragliding emerged from some thrifty thinking on the part of training parachutists in the 1960s. Rather than squandering money and time rising to the sky by plane, parachutists would be strung to a towrope and hauled into the air with the help of a speeding four-wheel-drive. Once sufficient altitude was reached, they'd release the towrope and practice gliding back down. It wasn't long before the thrill of flying outweighed the fun of practice landings and so it was that the challenge to stay airborne the longest matured into a popular modern day adventure sport.

Paragliding was introduced to Ecuador by the skydiving community just over a decade ago. The splendor of Ecuador's contrasting landscapes renders it an ideal, if largely undiscovered, flying destination.

Mario Chávez has fifteen years experience in skydiving. Today he heads for the hills around Ibarra each weekend with his 14 year-old son Azeal, whose ambition is to become a paragliding guide.

¨The feeling of flying is incomparable and I want my son to experience that¨ says Mario. He adds that, while paragliding has its dangers, human error is usually always to blame for accidents; cockiness in particular.

Being hooked up to a parachute that spans 24 meters and boasts a mass of thin cords that I'm convinced could tangle and choke me unexpectedly, it's hard to imagine ever forsaking a single safety measure afforded to me in the name of cockiness. As I clutch the brakes and gears and throw my arms up the parachute launches with them. I skip a breath as it catches the wind and begin bouncing forward more vigorously than I had first anticipated.

For 24 year-old Luis Lalama the sensation is addictive - he drives from Quito every weekend to fly in Ibarra. Luis took up paragliding a year ago to counteract the tediousness of sitting in an office weeklong - ¨ I love the feeling of freedom. When you're that high up, among the mountains and following the birds, you realize just how insignificant you are¨ Luis says.

¨If anything goes wrong it´s easy and harmless to land in the lake. The worst thing is losing momentum and landing somewhere still in the mountains, ¨ he says. ¨It´s awkward walking back to meet your friends when you´re attached to a giant kite! ¨.

The flying conditions and views in Ibarra are amongst the best in South America and the city hosts an international paragliding competition annually. Jorge Duque, owner of local paragliding company FlyEcuador, reigns national champion of Ecuador in all three categories of the competition.

For those with no experience but an itching desire to get airborne, FlyEcuador offers tandem flights and paragliding courses. For between $30 and $50, depending on altitude, you can lap up first-class views over Ibarra while a guide behind you takes care of all the logistics. If you have a week to spare, $350 will get you around eight flights and a healthy dose of anxiety as you learn to paraglide solo. It's a sound investment, according to Luis - ¨Paragliding is probably less risky than driving a car¨, he says ¨and when something goes wrong but you make it through it safely, it makes your day!¨, he adds with a chuckle.

FlyEcuador was the first accredited paragliding school in the country and also offers rafting and kayaking tours in Ibarra. For further information visit www.flyecuador.com.ec.