Paragliding the Big Lost Range, Idaho

Paragliding the Big Lost Range, Idaho

Photograph by Jody MacDonald

"There were insane vistas for 7.5 hours," recalls paraglider pilot Gavin McClurgof this record-setting flight over Idaho's imposing Big Lost Range. "Imagine flying over some of the largest terrain in the American West—at between 9,000 and 18,000 feet—underneath a piece of highly engineered plastic and some impossibly skinny lines. It was surreal."

McClurg flew from Sun Valley, Idaho, for 240 miles, breaking the previous North American Foot Launch record of 204 miles. "The conditions that day were the strongest I'd ever flown in," says McClurg, who lives in Sun Valley and has been been paragliding in Africa, the Himalaya, Europe, and over the Pacific. "When I was low, it was frightening, extremely stressful, and, of course, dangerous; but when I was high, it felt like the world was in my hands."

"Sun Valley is one of the best spots in the world for paragliding because of the huge mountain ranges, a vast desert to the south, very strong thermals, and long summer days," says McClurg. "We have only just touched the surface. Much larger flights will be done from here in the years ahead, I am sure."