500 Adrenaline Adventures (Frommer's) - Lois Friedland [12]
With this in mind, you can now get even higher than the peak without even wearing out your hiking boots. From your perch in a tranquil helicopter, gliding right above the snow-covered peaks of the Alps, you can enjoy a panoramic look at this picturesque region—before jumping straight into it. In tandem with an experienced skydiver, you can leap straight out of your ride at 4,000m (13,123 ft.) and soar through the air over the Eiger. With one of the biggest adrenaline rushes you’ve ever experienced, you race toward the ground in a 1,500m (4,921-ft.) freefall for 30 seconds at 200kmph (124 mph) before your parachute launches and you gracefully float back to earth. —JS
10 Hot-Air Balloon Rides to Lift Your Spirits
Hot-air balloon rides aren’t a cheap thrill, but the experience will undoubtedly knock you off your feet. When French brothers Joseph Michael and Jaques Etienne Montgolfier launched the first modern hot-air balloon in Paris in 1783, they used the smoke from a fire to blow hot air into a silk bag attached to a wicker basket. Today, the same basic engineering plan is used to carry adventure seekers high above the ground.—JS
Sacred Valley of the Incas, Peru: A version of a hot-air balloon may have been used 5,000 years ago in Peru’s Nazca desert as a tool to draw the famous ground lines that are still visible there today. While there’s little if any proof of this theory, the idea was enough to inspire the country’s first official hot-air balloon company. Before flying, you make a traditional coca leaf offering to the mountain guides at dawn. Then your pilot will heat up your balloon and off you go from Maras over the Urubamba mountain range and high above its many small villages. www.globosperu.com.
The Alps, Switzerland: During the weeklong Festival International de Ballons that takes place in Chateau-d’Oex every January, competitors show off with daring stunts like parachute drops right out of their balloons. But for non-experts, simply climbing into a basket and floating over the snow-covered Alps is one of Europe’s coolest things to do. After you take off in Chateau-d’Oex, you travel from Mont Blanc (see ) to the Eiger (see ), passing over the Grand Combin, the Cervin, the Jura, the Lemanique, and the Fribourgeouse region. www.ballonchateaudoex.ch; www.hb-as.ch.
Cappadocia, Turkey: Flying over this yellow and pink moonscape is surreal. Ever since Mt. Erciyes and Mt. Hasan erupted here more than three million years ago, the wind, rain, and other harsh weather conditions have molded their volcanic ash and soft rock into a strikingly phallic setting of jagged cliffs, oddly shaped peaks, tall pillars, conical formations, and caves—creating what is known today as the Goreme Valley. www.goremeballoons.com.
Serengeti National Park, Tanzania: For a bird’s-eye view of east Africa’s most acclaimed wildlife park, a hot-air balloon does just the trick. Depending on the time of year, you may see herds of wildebeest and zebra thunder across the savannah; a cheetah lurking in a tree, perhaps stalking its prey; a lion and lioness cuddling in the grasslands; or elephants splashing mud on themselves to keep cool. Serengeti Balloon Safaris donates a percentage of its revenue to conservation efforts in Tanzania’s national parks and primarily employs locals. www.balloonsafaris.com.
Sedona, Arizona: There’s only one way to fully appreciate the vastness of Sedona’s vast crimson canvas. You have to rise above it. As you climb into a basket at dawn and float through the air as the sun rises overhead, the craggy red rock formations