The thrill of skydiving minus the plane

For two minutes on the Dora highway you can feel like you are flying. A new vertical wind tunnel installed near City Mall is drawing people keen to be shot nearly 15 feet off the ground by a powerful blast of air. In the wind tunnel, fliers get the sensation of skydiving without having to go more than a few meters off the ground. Donning skydiving jumpsuits and helmets, fliers experience the feeling of being lifted off the ground by air and of free falling almost simultaneously. “The first time is a bit difficult because it’s something new and you get the air in your body and your face. Some people get panicked a bit,” said Carlos Karam, general manager of the outdoor activities club that brought the wind tunnel to the country. But after that, Karam says, the experience provides an awesome sense of freedom only rivaled by jumping out of a plane and falling to earth. At LL40,000 for a two-minute go, fliers can try to keep their balance while held aloft by a 195 kilometer-per-hour wind generated by air turbines positioned below a crash pad. Five meters of safety netting surrounds the landing zone. Fliers must be over 6 years old and weigh between 25 and 90 kilos. Those who want more practice can pay LL80,000 for five minutes or $100 for 10 minutes. Karam says the activity is particularly popular because it is good training for skydiving. Instructors at the Dora facility can give training certificates for people who learn the proper wind tunnel technique. “Especially right now a lot of people are trying to travel to Dubai or elsewhere for skydiving, and this is the training for skydiving,” Karam says. Certified fliers and trainers can soar even higher than the four-meter limit for new users, Karam says. Once they learn proper body positioning and techniques, experienced fliers can be lifted over 10 meters off the ground. “You can regulate the [wind] power depending on the flyer,” he says. Karam first discovered the wind tunnel on a visit to Orlando in the United States. After that he worked to find a way to bring one to Lebanon “Three years ago I was in the U.S. in Orlando and I liked this game, I liked it so much that since that moment we started looking for it in European countries, and we found it.” While the tunnel is usually at its Dora location, over the coming weeks Karma will take the portable apparatus on tour to different festivals and events around the country. Jounieh and Faraya are scheduled as two of the first stops. Karam’s advice for first time fliers: Don’t eat for two hours before you try the machine, after that, enjoy yourself. “Since it’s safe and it’s not skydiving, everyone wants to try it,” he says.