DOC POW
 New for 2010 at Revelstoke Mountain Resort is paragliding – giving guests the perfect bird's eye view of the resort. RICK MACDONNELL/SnowSeekers |
REVELSTOKE, BC — A first class flight into Revelstoke Airport is one way to fly, but forget the small size peanut packs, the security line ups and the packed 737s – I’ve got a flight experience that is all you. Revelstoke is known for incredible thrills both on and off the slopes, but now this powder-packed playground is known for adventures up and away above the slopes.
I had the chance to catch a lift with the folks from the Revelstoke Outdoor Centre for a flight I will never forget. Paragliding is a sport that allows you a bird’s eye view of the Canadian Rockies that will leave you speechless.
For everyone
Just before takeoff I asked my paragliding pilot, Steve Watwood how long he had been doing this for; his immediate response was simple, “What time is it now? Okay, well about 12 years. But I will say that you have to fail miserably at everything else you try and then you can become a paragliding pilot,” joked Watwood.
Watwood is a rafting guide in the summer but has his own paragliding business and has taken people out aged two through 72.
 Doc Pow enjoys tandem paragliding at Revelstoke Mountain Resort in British Columbia. Behind him is his pilot, Steve Watwood. DOC POW/SnowSeekers |
Riding tandem, we strapped in at the top of the black diamond run called Hot Sauce, just off the top of the Stoke Chair on Mount McKenzie some 5,600 vertical feet from the village below. Just before takeoff, Watwood went through what we could expect and the specifics behind what we were going to experience. We hit the run, stuck it straight and all within the span of five seconds we were up and away.
Lives up to imagination
It’s the first winter that Revelstoke is offering paragliding and it’s an experience you are not going to want to miss out on. In my prior journalism days I wrote a piece about Revelstoke with a soundtrack attached: Fly like an Eagle by the Steve Miller Band.
Revelstoke is known for epic turns with massive fall lines that allow you so much speed all you needed was a little bit of a wing under your arms and you could lift off. Well paragliding couldn’t be closer to the words in this tune.
The parachute is attached to a seat that allows you to get comfy and look out over the incredible valley that this community of 8,500.
“I have had a lot of people say to me that this is the best thing they have ever done in their lives,” said Watwood.
The programming offered by Watwood and his team out of the Revelstoke Outdoor Centre is the highest vertical tandem flight in North America with a fully qualified pilot, trained and approved under the standards of the Hang Gliding & Paragliding Association of Canada. Catch your flight and fly like an eagle at
http://skiittobelieveit.com/ski-resorts/revelstoke/
Snowmobiling is another fun activity to try in Revelstoke. Check out this video!
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