Situated at the foot of a mountain on the Turkish Riviera, is a small beach town known as Oludeniz. Not only is this town famous for it’s breathtaking landscape of brilliant blue waters and vivid green forests, but it is also arguably one of the best places in the world to go paragliding.
For many of the thousands of tourists every year, paragliding is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, a moment captured through a fish-eye lens and displayed proudly on their lounge room walls. But for approximately 150 of the local men, this is not an experience but a way of life.
Every year in April, when the peaks of Mount Babadag begin to see the sun again and the tourists slowly start to filter in, the sky becomes alive with flecks of colour floating through the air high above the beach. For the tandem pilots, paragliding is their not just their source of income, it’s their passion, their life. When they are flying, they are happiest. When they are not flying, they are talking about it, about their experiences of the day, or perhaps their encounters with passengers.
For the pilots, the drive up the mountain is their only time to relax, eat, and talk with the passengers, but once they arrive on take-off the jovial atmosphere quickly changes into one of intense concentration and seriousness.
They know how important it is to make accurate assessments of the weather conditions, check and double check all of their equipment, and of course instruct and reassure their passengers. Once they have gone through their ritualistic procedures, they take off with a few small steps, glide over the rugged mountain tops and down towards the sparkling turquoise sea.
The whole flight lasts for around 45 minutes, and finishes with a targeted landing on the beach where their colleagues await them. This is done up to six times a day in the peak season, requiring pilots to have the endurance of an athlete, and the ability to remain calm under extreme pressure.
They do this job from April until the end of October, and then spend the winter time hibernating at home with their families and friends whom they have not had much chance to see during the intensive summer season.
Although the pilots themselves agree that their chosen career is both physically and mentally very challenging, with 6am starts, 12 hour days, and over 400 flights each per season, many of them would not change it for the world. They feel honoured to have a job that brings such happiness and excitement to many peoples lives. By Zavodbig
