Niederhorn – Interlaken, Switzerland

MY MOMENT

Roaring through the valley. Quiet above the lake.

For anyone hoping to experience paragliding in Switzerland, Interlaken is a place to dream about. I wasn’t there to tick off another tourist attraction, but I had brought my wing—how could I possibly leave without flying? That day, I carried my equipment up Niederhorn alone, then flew down towards the valley and lakes.

Yet the scene that astonished me most happened just after I arrived: two air force fighter jets roared through the valley, and below them, a few paragliders were flying too. Seeing those thundering jets and quiet wings in the same view felt extraordinary. In that moment, to my eyes, they seemed to share some wonderful, unspoken understanding with the valley.

When it was my turn to fly, the world grew quiet again. Sitting beneath my wing, I looked out across the water and towards the mountains, enjoying the rare feeling of an empty mind. The roar of the jets, the effort of the climb, all the little things occupying my thoughts slowly faded. What remained was the light on the lake, the mountains, and a version of myself finally in no hurry to think about anything.