Mountains, Mountains, Mountains!

As a girl from Iowa, mountains have always fascinated me.  Oddly enough, my first thought when I see a mountain for the first time in a while usually is, “Wow…I wonder how much that thing weighs!”  Here in Chambéry, we are nestled nicely into the mountains.  They aren’t huge ones (not big enough to have snow caps), but they’re a beautiful sight while we walk to school in the morning.  We’ve recently had two mountainous adventures, and both were blog-worthy!  So this post will be split into two parts:  Mont Blanc and Parapente.  Here we go!

Mont Blanc

Mont Blanc was gorgeous from every
angle!

Last weekend (June 25^th), we took a bus trip to Chamonix, a charming little town at the base of Mont Blanc, the tallest mountain in the European Union.  The town itself was full of tourist shops and restaurants, and we often heard passers-by speaking English.  To be honest, that was pretty bizarre.  I have become so used to hearing French in the streets that English seems out of place.

 We took a cute red train to the “Sea of Ice” glacier on top of one of the mountains.  The train ride was great!  It was bouncy and kind of slow, and we went through tunnels as it climbed the mountain.  I felt like I was on a roller coaster, and often had to remind myself that the situation was real.

Inside the glacier there were colored
lights.

The views from the mountain were indescribable.  I could’ve spent an hour sitting on a bench, looking around.  Instead, though, we took a cable car half way down to the glacier.  After the cable car, we descended a humongous staircase to the entrance of the glacier itself.  The staircase was obviously pieced together over time, and there were periodical signs on the rocks denoting the level of the glacier in intervals of five years.  It was kind of sad to see how quickly it is melting, but I’m sure it’s aided by all the touristic activity.  I learned later that Dad went to the same glacier when he was in high school, and it’s incredible to think that he probably only had to descend one small staircase, not the hundreds of stairs that we braved.

The “Sea of Ice” was gorgeous!  The inside was lit with colored lights, and there was a bedroom and kitchen carved into the ice.  It was a great experience.

Parapente

A couple of our friends ready to land

I can already tell that being here without anyone that I know has helped me grow.  It has been a good exercise in thinking for myself, searching myself, and discovering everything that I am capable of.  It has certainly required courage and willpower.  A test of my courage came on Tuesday the 28^th.  Our animateur (the guy who schedules all of our excursions) scheduled a trip for 12 students to go paragliding.  Living in the mountains, I suppose this was inevitable.  I signed up, and was really excited to give it a try!

As the day approached, I got more and more excited, but there was still that voice in the back of my head saying, “Are you crazy?  You’re really going jump off of a mountain with a stranger in a foreign country?”  Yes.  That’s what I did.

The jump zone from the top...the
ground is way down there!

The paragliding site was next to one of the big, beautiful lakes in the area.  There were three pilots for us, so groups of three students at a time were bused to the jump site on the top of one of the surrounding mountains.  For most of the time to wait, the other nine of us lounged in the landing zone (a grassy field surrounded by trees), talked, watched people land, and watched for our classmates.  We looked up at the mountains and said, “That looks a lot shorter than I pictured.”  Silly us.

I was in the fourth and final group to go.  As each group landed, there was a wide range of reactions from “I’m going to puke” to “It wasn’t crazy enough for me” to “Wow, that was AWESOME!” so I didn’t really know how to feel or what to expect.  We hopped in the van, and off we went!

Our jump zone is that light clearing.

It was about a 30 minute drive from the ground to the jump site.  Every now and then, Alyssa and I would catch a glance of the ground, and we quickly realized that we were crazy to think the mountain was too short.  We were getting so far off the ground!  The van was full of our three pilots, we three students, and Guillaume (our animateur).  The entire time, it was loud French banter.  I was unnaturally calm.

At the top, we were paired with pilots, handed our large back-pack-like harness, and were led out onto the jump pad.  That’s when my nerves came.  There are no words to explain the view from the little flight pad.  As soon as I cleared the trees, I saw a large patch of Iowa-esque gravel at a steep decline to the edge of the mountain, pilots setting up their canopies on the gravel, paragliders in the air, and finally, the ground waaaaaaaay in the background.  We were so high! 

Cedric took this one - he insisted.
I was afraid he'd drop my camera, but
it was fine, and kind of a cute photo!

Cedric, my pilot, was clearly amused by my amazement at the sight.  He just came over, gave me my helmet, and set up my harness while I oogled at what was going on around me.  My harness was much like a large backpacking pack with a loop harness around my thighs, clips across my torso, a camera holder on my chest, and a large rounded chair that hung to the back of my knees.  My pilot was clipped to a strap in the middle of my back.  Kyle (my friend) and his pilot were ready to go before Cedric and me, so we got to see him take off.  Something went wrong, and Kyle slid on his behind down the gravel for a few feet toward the edge.  Cedric was explaining how to take off, and all he really said (in French) was, “Run forward, definitely not like that (pointing to Kyle).  Do you understand?  That is forbidden.  It’s very dangerous.  Just run.”  Ok.  Just run.  Got it.  As Kyle’s pilot was re-arranging his canopy, Cedric and I were ready to go.  He told me to go, and I ran straight for the edge of the mountain.  Suddenly, he yanked me backwards and the canopy fell.  I was pretty scared, as we were maybe four feet from the edge.  I asked if it was my fault, but the wind just wasn’t right.  Cedric unclipped himself from me and went back up to get re-situated.  He left me on the edge.  I was terrified, and when I moved my feet the gravel would shift under them.  As I was down there, Kyle took off.  I could hear him yelling, and was getting nervous.  Preferring not to fall off the edge of the mountain, I just waited there until Cedric told me to come back up.  I hurried up and grabbed his hand before I could fall.

Take 2:  He told me to run, and I did.  Soon, the ground just disappeared from under my feet.  Crazy!  I was flying!  Cedric pushed me around a little until I was sitting on my chair piece, and we were good to go.

There are no words to accurately describe flight.  It’s a great sensation, and I would suggest it to everyone I know that is not afraid of heights.

Cedric and I in the air!  He insisted on
photos while we were up there, and I
am glad we got some!

Cedric and I chatted a little in French, but we were mostly quiet.  As soon as he discovered that I was not going to get sick, he started to have fun with our flight.  We did spins and loops in the air!  The view was always amazing, and he pointed out the surrounding cities to me.  He even let me drive for a little bit, though I was reluctant.

After about 30 minutes, we landed on our feet in the grassy field.  Andy, one of our friends, was waiting at the bottom with an ice cream for me, an ice cream for Alyssa, and a beer for Kyle.  It was the best ice cream I’ve had in a long time, and it made the day perfect.

Of the entire experience, the only time that I was truly scared was when I was out on the edge of the mountain by myself.  The flight itself was serene and beautiful and fun.  Even the landing was fun.  I hope to go again someday, though I don’t think I’ll ever drive.

Living in the mountains here has allowed us to have these two great adventures.  Every week gives us something new to do!