DUNLAP, Tenn. – St. Louis resident Lindsay Matush was a little girl when she first traveled to Dunlap for hang gliding.
“My father was a hang-gliding pilot,” she says. “I grew up on this launch. My very first tandem was with my dad when I was 7 years old.”
Among the people watching her take that first running jump off the side of a mountain at the Tennessee Tree Toppers property that day was Dunlap resident Rick Jacob, a hang-gliding enthusiast since the mid-’70s.
Last week, a special event has brought them together again: the Team Challenge, an event that matches an experienced pilot with three less-experienced fliers.
People from around the country and the world brought their hang gliders and paragliders for the event, though rain kept them grounded for much of the time. Friday was the best day for weather, but overcast skies and light winds delayed the start and altered some of the fliers’ goals on Saturday, the final day of the event.