Summit Lake, Hatcher Pass

Crave Life Episode 44
Summit Lake is a really popular place for paragliding in the summer. At times, more than 10 paragliders can be in the sky simultaneously. With the right winds, they can fly up alongside the mountains for hours. Wind coming up the mountain valley hits the slopes and creates a narrow band of lift. This type of flying is called ridge soaring.
When learning to paraglide, you want to wait for good weather conditions when there is light or no winds. In such conditions, usually in the evenings, the student will not gain elevation but simply glide down to the landing zone. Once landed, you can continue to try to kite the wing for some extra practice.
In this video, you can see my brother Vitaly and I, along with my 11-year old son Ben on some of our first flights.Ben tagged along to our kiting lessons and was watching us train closely, so the instructor offered to let him try to kite and he immediately kited the wing for 5 minutes.
At Summit Lake, elevation change from top launch to LZ is about 800 feet (240 meters).

[@godiswatchingyou765]

That's what you need to do as a parent... introduce your children when they're young to activities like this, so that they do not grow up fearing the unknown and so that it affords them the opportunities of growing their confidence... for as we age, that fear of the unknown can take hold and cause us to not squeeze the joy to be found in such activities that take our feet off the ground. Much admiration that you're teaching this to yours... Blessing's Abundant.

[@CraveLife]

God Is Watching You thank you for your comment! I agree with everything you wrote! We need to do something in order our children were interested in real world more than in devices and social networks.

[@bonahisme]

Really really cool dude! You have got to be one proud dad.

[@CraveLife]

AK skyshadow Thank you! I am!

[@TheKeenTribe]

Wow! Beautiful!
About a month ago I took my 5 kids up to Hatcher Pass 1:00 in the morning just for the heck of it! It was one of those spontaneous moments that'll be talked about while sharing family memories!

[@CraveLife]

The KeenTribe, all these trips and adventures creates lifelong memories for our children! They deserve to have a happy childhood, and we need to do everything we can for it!

[@TheKeenTribe]

@@CraveLife Absolutely!

[@dianelively8582]

Awesome! 👍🏼😁 Your son is fabulous. I actually got to parasail in Mexico in Cancun way back in the 80s and I almost went out to sea!!

[@CraveLife]

Thank you, Diane!

[@leos2098]

Your son is a great paraglidig pilot👍👍👍
He has a realy good feeling for the wing and also for the wind! 11 years old? Great job! 👍👍👍

[@CraveLife]

Thank you Leo, he loves it

[@Bee_Charming]

Hatchers pass is amazing

[@CraveLife]

Bee Charming, absolutely!