So. Oregon Paradise For Beginning Paragliders

YONCALLA, Ore. - After five years teaching paragliding, Larry Pindar's biggest frustration still comes when potential students confuse his sport with another type of air adventure that tourists enjoy on Mexico's beaches.

"People say, 'Yeah, I did that in Acapulco. We drank five or six shots of tequila and had a blast,"' Pindar said. "I tell them they're talking about parasailing, where you get towed up in the air by a boat and use a round parachute to float back to the ground. Parasailing is a carnival ride.

"Paragliding is more like hang gliding, except it's done at slower speeds and is easier to learn. Almost anyone can learn to paraglide."

The owner of Over the Hill Paragliding of Gresham, Pindar travels 150 miles to teach lessons to Portland's novice paragliders because it's the best available location he's found. The small teaching hill is a half-mile east of Interstate 5 in Douglas County's Elkhead Valley, 38 miles south of Eugene.

Known for reliable summer winds, the teaching hill is on a farm owned by the same family since 1865. State law protects landowners from liability when they allow recreationists free use of their land, but it's still difficult to locate private landowners who will allow paragliding.

The sport has grown slowly as a result. Pindar, a 48-year-old former blues musician, estimates his five-year beginner student count at 400.

Unlike parasailing in Mexico, paragliding is a sport that requires complete concentration. Oregon has not had a paragliding fatality, but accidents have resulted in two cases of paralytic injuries to members of the Cascade Paragliding Club.

Since arriving in the United States from Europe a dozen years ago, paragliding has attracted a handful of pilots who have taken the time to master the sport. The nylon canopy - shaped like a rectangular parachute, but designed to fly, not fall - has taken pilots as high as 20,000 feet above sea level in Colorado and 179 miles across West Texas.

Most paragliding pilots settle for less serious challenges, but that doesn't mean they aren't having the same fun as experts.

"I love paragliding because it's exciting, plus it helps me conquer my fear of heights," said Dana McCormack, 38, of Beaverton, a mother of two boys who was flying for the third day. "It's quite an adrenaline rush. I think everyone should try it."

Pindar's beginner lessons cost $115 for one day, which includes all equipment except boots. Students in one of his recent classes had 10 flights on their first day, each about 300 yards and lasting about a minute.

Pindar waited at the bottom of the hill while co-instructor Brad Hill of Vancouver, gave instructions at the top. Both were in radio contact at all times with the students.

Unlimited instruction, to a point where a pilot is certified to fly solo, costs $1,000. The paraglider canopy, commonly called a wing, sells for as little as $500 used or an average of $3,000 new.

"It's not a cheap sport to get into," Pindar said. "But unlike golf and skiing, once you have the equipment and the skill, everything is free except your travel."

When the paragliding bug bites, it can bite hard. Serious pilots usually immerse themselves in the sport so they can keep their skills sharp and learn the patience to wait out periods when flying conditions aren't right.

Tom Chesnut, 39, owner of a company that cleans window blinds, spent a recent weekend driving from his home in Springfield to Pine Mountain, an advanced flying site in the desert east of Bend. When the wind was too blustery to fly Saturday, he drove back across the Cascades for four short flights Sunday near Yoncalla. Along the way, he picked up a $300 traffic ticket for making an illegal pass on the highway. But he wasn't complaining.

"It was worth it because it's so much fun when I get into the air," Chesnut said. "I taught stunt work in Hollywood for seven years, but nothing is as good as this.

"It's like going from snorkeling to scuba, when all of a sudden you can stay down for an hour, or when you get air (while) skiing, but don't come back to land. I'll be paragliding the rest of my life."

To prove his love for the sport, Chesnut showed off a tattoo - a 10-inch drawing of a paraglider coming in for a landing - on his lower leg.

"I'm going to put a raft on my other leg. That's the two sports I love," Chesnut said.

Adrenaline sports often provide the pool of newcomers drawn to paragliding, but not everyone automatically switches, according to a pair of river kayakers drawn to one of Pindar's classes.

"Kayaking dominates my life," said Johnny Johnson, 28, carpenter from La Center, Wash. "I need to get a creek boat before I commit to paragliding."

Kayaker Joey Hodgson, 32, who lives in a fire lookout in Portland's Bull Run watershed, said he doubts he'll become a full-time paraglider anytime soon.

"It's pretty hard to afford lessons when my wife and I work as volunteers for the Forest Service," he said.

A couple of young Alaskans also joined Pindar's class so they could safely learn the sport before exploring the potential of paragliding at home.

Melody Fehl, 24, a health food-store employee from Kodiak, stopped everyone's heart when she launched and flew back over the top of the hill, rather than straight down to the landing zone.

Paragliders who want to be prepared head for a small hill in Southern Oregon, not the beaches of Mexico.