Only 30 minutes outside of Jasper, Darryl Bossert is teaching people to fly.

At Alternative Adventures Zipline and Eco Camping he is offering a zipline adventure, which is allowing patrons to overcome a fear of heights, get an introduction to hang gliding, base jumping or skydiving, or simply achieve an adrenalin rush that the entire family can do.

Just outside of the JNP east gates off of highway 16 lies a unique air-sport system that is surprisingly gentle, but at the same time can give you the rush of a lifetime.

Unlike many zipline adventures around the world that have a more passive approach – most involve sitting upright in a harness and enjoying the ride – this zipline is designed to fly.

“It’s got a participatory element – you are trying to steer and align your body like the direction the system’s swinging you. You are truly learning to fly like your favourite superhero, and there’s no other system in the world that’s doing that,” says owner and creator, Darryl Bossert.

Bossert has been hang gliding and teaching hang gliding for more than 30 years, and the former Jasperite understands what it’s like to be afraid of heights. For years, he would go to the ski hill with his parents and was always terrified of being on the chairlift. You can see that understanding has gone into the design of Bossert’s zipline system, and his devotion to assuring you have complete trust and understanding in his system prior to leaping off his launch ramp and flying high above the tree line will take away any fear of failure, leaving you with the pure rush of flying.

“With everything Darryl says at the top, you do get the safety aspect of it, I wasn’t worried a bit about safety,” says Jim Krysko, who was staying in Jasper with his wife and two kids and booked a time to try it out on their way home to Edmonton.

Krysko and his fourteen-year-old daughter and eleven-year-old son all leaped off the launch ramp. “It was a lot of fun, it was a real adrenalin rush. Like I said, I think it’s a totally unnatural thing to step off the edge of a building, or a cliff or whatever. It’s something we don’t normally do, and that’s the part that is sort of mind over matter,” Krysko said.

The zipline is a two-fold experience based on running down and having a nice clean launch off of the launch ramp built on the top of a hill and steering in the air, which Bossert says is exactly what is involved in learning to fly.

As Bossert hooks you up to his line and explains how everything works, you certainly feel comfortable with the zipline system, and like Krysko said, the hardest part is convincing yourself to leap off the edge of the building.

It looks like a long way down, and the valley the line crosses makes it seem even further. However, the first ride is always the same for everyone Bossert says, regardless of what they think their ability is, and the flight is so smooth there is very little, if any, drop when you step off the ramp and out into the air, which makes for a surprisingly smooth transition from ground to air.

If you decide to have a second go at it, that’s when the fun really starts. Depending on your comfort level and what Bossert thinks your ability is, he can loosen the drape (slack) on the line, allowing for more of a freefall drop, and launching off the ramp on an angle allowing for not only a bigger drop but a swinging movement during which you can steer yourself through the air, as well as a ride with more speed.

“I tell people, it’s 10 times the experience the first one is. To say that it’s twice the ride or five times the ride, that’s not the truth, it’s way more than that. And nobody’s come back and said that I was exaggerating.”

After trying the first ride and then a second ride, I can agree there is no exaggeration. This zipline that inspectors have told Bossert is of world class quality and safety is a bit of a hidden gem located in a quaint area outside of the national park and only a few minutes from Hinton.

Although don’t be fooled by its location outside of the park – Bossert has been so busy this summer that many people dropping by without a booking end up waiting an hour to get a crack at the ride because Bossert is so busy.

A call to Darryl Bossert to book a time to take your family, friends, visiting guests or just for someone looking to get into aerial sports won’t leave you disappointed.