It may be an innate human biological instinct to want to fly across the sky. The story of Icarus, someone who wanted to fly like the bird in the Greece-Roman mythology, reflects the long-standing human desire to fly. Icarus succeeds in flying after making a pair of wings with the bird feathers that he has picked for a long time.
The myth of flying we read as kids led me into the world of paragliding after I grew up. Paragliding, which is flying across the sky with just a parachute, is the closest you can get to what Icarus instinctively desired thousands of years ago.
Paragliding first requires you to go to a higher place, appropriate to spread the wings and ride the wind. It means you first have to conquer the rough off-road of the mountain before flying across the sky. The road to 860m above sea level flying field is short, about 30 minutes, but it’s not open to everyone. You have to ride the narrow and rough off-road for 30 minutes straight, so it’s important to have the conditions of a standard off-roader SUV. For instance, Body on Frame structure, 4-wheel drive system with Low Gear, and the function of Differential Lock are needed.
MOHAVE is strong on off-roads. On top of the basic off-roader composition including 4-wheel drive, low gear, differential lock, it’s also equipped with the terrain mode which is optimized for various off-road situations, allowing you to climb up the endless rough road that leads to the flying field. You can go enjoy paragliding after the rain or the snow with this, as it can drive through the muddy and slippery off-road environment.
It’s also part of paragliding fun to drive towards the top with dust flying around you. With the colored leaves looking exquisite, autumn landscape invites you to drive up the road. Sometimes I don’t know if I’m driving off-road to go paragliding or I’m paragliding to drive the off-road.
The irregular surface doesn’t leave the car alone for a second. Your hands on the steering wheel are tightened from angst as you try to straighten the constantly shaking car. But this process is never displeasing. With the solid frame, new steering system and suspension, it delivers the rough attraction of the off-road but never gives you stress.
The puddles you sometimes come across are not a problem. Sometimes I look around to see if I could find any to go through them. It’s like being a kid who plays with water.
The autumn color is full in place, perfect timing. Sometimes I intentionally slow down and ride the road as if I’m taking a peaceful stroll. I ride slowly, very slowly, in case the dust covers this beautiful landscape.
I would feel sorry for myself if I had to rush down this beautiful scenery with clouds of dust around me. I’d bring down the windows and get really into it, feeling the refreshing mountain energy and scent.
When you reach the top of the hill where the paragliding field is located, you will no longer see autumn leaves but a wide field of silver grass. It has the image of being bleak and lonely, but anyone who has seen the silver grass of late autumn will beg to differ. Silver grass, which remains stubborn during spring and summer, blossoms and blooms along with the colored leaves when the year reaches late autumn. The beauty created by clusters of silver grass after passing by a forest of colored leaves brings up the anticipation of what you will see on the sky in a few minutes.
And now I have reached the top. I love this moment. The journey to go paragliding suddenly changes mood.
The off-road traveled was beautiful but rough and difficult. But once you reach the top, you can experience the maximum leisureliness, disturbed by nothing. MOHAVE, which have egged me on to drive rougher and stronger, becomes a relaxing shelter and a shoulder to rest on when we have reached the top, assuring me that I have done well.
When I got off the car, I can see MOHAVE covered in dust. The bold letters MOHAVE between the rear lamps somehow seems to match with dust. The name MOHAVE is short for 'Majesty of Hightech Active Vehicle.' It also derived from the Mojave Desert in Las Vegas, U.S. So maybe it’s only natural that I find the vehicle with dust all around it really cool.
Now it’s time for me to fly. You don’t need much for paragliding. All you need is the body which acts as the wings for paragliding, the harness to fix your body onto it, and the suit, shoes, and helmet to protect yourself from the wind.
All set, ready to go. Now I just need a little bit of wind to lift my wings
I take a few steps with the wind, and the big body wakes up, spreading its wings. Once I check that the wings are fully spread, there is no need for me to hesitate. I just have to run a few steps down the hill as the wind will take me off to the sky naturally. After experiencing this, I learned to take courage. When you hesitate in life, you just have to take a few steps, and then the wind that blows from somewhere will take you off.
When Icarus’ dream has turned into reality, myth becomes my reality and a great thrill. No matter how many times I do this, it’s thrilling to the max. The flow of heavy wind around my body and the beautiful scenery before my eyes in the sky make me wonder whether I’m in another world.
Actually, paragliding is not such an active leisure sport. An average speed of paragliding is about 20∼40km/h, and amidst the vast sky, it feels even slower. When I get to fly slowly in the sky and have the time to think on my own, I can feel that life is a bit more special than usual. And at some point, the sense of relaxation when looking down the world from the clear blue sky has headed toward my own life, not the world.
I was led to paragliding by a myth, and now it has brought my life so many things: the beauty you find after a difficult, rocky road, the sense of leisureliness when you reach the top, the courage to get yourself to a higher place, and the exhilarating feeling you get when you look down the world from a place no one has reached. Thus, I encourage you to take off; it doesn’t have to be paragliding. If you start your journey that will make your life special, whatever it is, it will make your life special just by trying.
Photography by. Jang-heon Ryu
Model. Joon-hee Han
