SPORTS 'N SPOKES

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Wings on Wheels

It doesn't get any better than this—soaring through the air like a bird.

It was a different, curious sort of sight. A tour bus used by the Upper Similkameen Indian Band to transport tourists to their renovated Mascot Gold Mine, high on the mountainside, had a different cargo on this day in early May 2006. Out of it piled a dozen or so paragliders, including two who are paralyzed—Jedrzej Jaxa from Poland and Andy Campbell from the United Kingdom. A third, Lars Taylor, from Vernon, British Columbia, Canada, drove up in his own truck. They were gathering in Hedley (British Columbia, Canada) in the heart of BC's interior, for what was said to be the world's first "paraplegic Fly-In."

Often mistaken for parasailing or parachuting, paragliding involves stepping off (or in the case of wheelchairs, rolling off) a sloping mountainside launch with a parachute-like canopy, which acts like a wing. In the early years after the sport's inception in 1987, technology only allowed for short flights, often called "sled rides."

Technology gradually improved the wings' glide ratio, and staying up for hours by "thermaling" became possible. The evolution led to being able to soar like sea gulls along seaside cliffs, and basically attaining the closest feeling to being a bird. Before trying paragliding, I had been to the mountains a lot, but flying added that final third dimension—the last piece of the puzzle to my alpine experiences.

Having played in the mountains for many years and experiencing a number of serious accidents while climbing, skiing, and flying, I always wondered what it would be like to be paralyzed. It's hard to philosophize something like that. Now, however, I am certain I would start paragliding as did Jaxa, Campbell, and Taylor. Of the three, only Jaxa was injured while paragliding. Campbell was hurt in a climbing accident, and Taylor while mountain biking.

The only difference between someone with a disability paragliding and a person who is able-bodied doing it is at takeoff and landing. Campbell and Taylor fly in their chairs or specially constructed "buggies." Campbell has the simplest technique for launching—he sits in a regular harness at launch, waits for the right wind, and brings up the kite behind him as someone on each side lifts him to get him airborne.


Find out more about the evolution of paragliding events for people with disabilities, as well as events planned for the future.

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