To spend a day at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort is a foreign concept to me. Despite the fact that I live in the neighborhood of Teton Village, there really isn’t any reason for me to be there. When people ask me if I ski or snowboard, I tell them I charcuterie board. But recently, I found myself walking amongst all of those snow sports enthusiasts. I had a one-way ticket for a gondola ride, and I would not be strapping anything onto my feet to get back to the base. I was booked to go for a tandem flight with Jackson Hole Paragliding, and my only way down the mountain was by way of wing.

Not ever in my life have I considered paragliding, but the opportunity presented itself very unexpectedly, and I could not say no. As it happens, I also have a fear of heights. I have literally gotten vertigo from being seated in an upper balcony area, with a view from the rail. Thoughts like “I need to go paragliding,” or, “Let’s book a hot air balloon ride,” do not cross my mind. On this day, I would be challenging myself to say yes to something I was terrified to do.

It was Saint Patrick’s Day, and the Village was hoppin’. There was a DJ at the top of Bridger playing The Deck, the snow was fresh, the vibe was lifted, and it was a gorgeous bluebird day. It was over 40 degrees, and it felt like 60. Ordinarily, I would have happily said yes to a ride on the gondi, and then promptly ridden back down, it was just so beautiful. But no. Today I was going to fling my body off of a mountain, or however it was supposed to go.

Did I Google “tandem paragliding take off tips”? Yes, of course. I also looked up how to land and watched footage of a 105-year-old man who broke an age record with his experience. He was a client of Jackson Hole Paragliding, and the pilot who executed the record-breaking ride would be my paragliding pilot. This is Scott Harris, who is the owner and founder of JHP. He’s been doing this for going on 35 years, and I cannot even imagine the number of memories this guy has helped to create.

He told me to prepare for the ride by dressing as if I were going skiing. That made me laugh. I told him when he saw my GoPro, “Sometimes I use it to film myself cooking.” And that made him laugh. Then came the easy part. All I had to do was listen to what he said, because as he explained, once you are in the air, it all comes off with no problem. I intuitively knew that if I didn’t listen, this whole endeavor would be a farce.

As with any other JHP pilot, Scott’s instructions are made very clear to the passenger. “Walk forward, look at the horizon, and listen to me.” Despite my own doubt and the questions I asked about bird collisions prior to strapping in, we launched into the air. I was in shock that it worked. To that, the guy who is steering likes to say, “You are not supposed to feel comfortable about this. We are not made to fly. Your body is not supposed to be doing this.”

My fears were set aside with Harris’ professional attitude, and his continual reassurance that this is supposed to be fun. It is fun. It’s out of this world fun. We had the luck of the Irish on our side as far as the weather was concerned, and the view was clear and astonishing. Already that day, our gondola cabin had taken us to over 3,000 feet in elevation, and now we were soaring at around 8,000 feet in the air.

When you are staring at multiple mountain ranges from that altitude, and your body is cradled in the harness yet totally exposed, it is otherworldly. For me, it felt a little slow motion, and the air surrounding us was not frigid. The quiet and the rush of the air feels like a dream state. At the same time, I had adrenaline coursing through my body, and I was trying to log the view in my memory. I kept looking down at the pattern that the swanky housing in Teton Village held directly beneath us, and then to the horizon to try and absorb the mountain stacked view.

Paragliding has come a long way since it emerged in the late 70s. According to the US Hang-gliding and Paragliding Association, the advancement of the glider technology has made the equipment lighter, more stable and easier to fly. Safety has improved alongside the growth of the sport, and the opportunity to fly is an accessible option for one of your lifetime “bucket list” experiences.

Harris explained to me that his very tall manager, Dan Roof, is more apt to take larger-sized humans for his tandem experiences, and children. I had to laugh at that. Children? Of course. Kids can do so many things with ease, due to their lack of pretense. Get in the air and fly? Sure! Why should I be afraid of that?

In the end, I was completely enchanted by the entire adventure. Scott Harris got a big hug of gratitude, once we had landed safely. It truly made me feel alive and took me so far afield of my comfort zone, that I barely recognized myself. Experiences like that are meant to feed your senses and populate your memory bank with moments of mystery and happiness, where you say yes to the unknown and reap the true reward of living.