Born and raised in Jasper, Darrel Bossert said he was practically bred for adventures. From an early age he had a hunger for thrills, from motorcycle racing to extreme gymnastics. However, when it came to conquering his hometown’s terrain, he said there was one little problem—Bossert had a crippling fear of heights.
“I have three younger sisters and they all learned to ski before I did because I couldn’t get on a ski lift,” Bossert said. “I couldn’t look over cliffs—hell, I even had a terrible problem getting on ladders.
“I would have this vertigo reaction and I would get really dizzy.”
Determined to conquer his fear, Bossert started experimenting with heights. At first it started slow, climbing to mountain peaks and crawling on his stomach to peer over the edge of cliffs as friends held onto his legs.
“I used to tell my friends to put their full weight on me just so I knew my body was still touching the ground,” Bossert said.
By the time Bossert was 16 he started getting into more extreme mountain climbing, trusting harnesses and ropes to keep his fear at bay. Walking home after one particular triumphant climb, Bossert stumbled across a poster advertising hang gliding.
“Never mind just getting to the top of a mountain,” Bossert said as he reflected on that day many years ago. “From that moment I couldn’t stop thinking about what it would be like to fly from the top of a mountain. I knew it would be the most amazing thing.”
And for Bossert it was exactly that.
From the first time he was harnessed in and felt the wind carry him through the sky Bossert was hooked.
“Hang gliding changed my life. I went from being so scared to gaining this newfound personal confidence,” Bossert said. “Flying gave me this whole new self-gratification, but it was much bigger than that. Being up there gives you a whole new sense of freedom.”
As Bossert got older he said he became obsessed—he’d rather be flying than doing anything else. And he knew that he wanted to share his passion for the sport, however, at the time he didn’t know exactly how to go about doing that. So, he started going through life experimenting with various other jobs.
“It was getting stressful for me because I knew I had to focus on something. I had conversations about this with my dad and he basically told me not to worry,” Bossert said. “He told me that the right thing would come along and that when it did I shouldn’t stick my head in the sand and let it pass me by.”
With that advice, Bossert packed up and moved to Edmonton where he worked as a hang gliding instructor. After a few years, he wanted more. He wanted to establish his own school specially equipped with a unique training device, which would harness up and coming gliders to an elevated cable, allowing them to practice steering and height management before free flying.
After many years of planning and lease woes, in 2001 Bossert finally acquired a large stretch of land for his school along Highway 16—about 10 minutes west of Hinton. By 2008, Bossert had established a full launch site and the elevated cable. However, after all that work Bossert was faced with a new problem.
“After opening we found that the general public was very overwhelmed by the idea of flying a glider for the first time—it was just too much and people didn’t want to do it,” Bossert said.
For Bossert it was back to the drawing board.
“I had put everything I had into this place, but I remained inspired and I truly believed in the idea,” Bossert said. “I’m not a particularly religious man but I felt destined to do this.
“I wanted to help others conquer their fears the way that I did mine.”
After some contemplation, Bossert ditched the glider and opted for a more simplified zip line system, which is how Alternate Adventures: Jasper-Hinton Zip Line was born.
Eight years later, Bossert said his business now attracts between 2,000 to 3,000 visitors each season.
Instead of hooking people up to gliders, most of Bossert’s work days are spent driving people up to the launch ramp, hooking them up to harnesses and watching them soar through the mountain-filled horizon.
“We develop superheroes here every day. I truly believe that super powers come from going beyond your own personal limitations,” Bossert said as he secured a pair of nervous girls into their harnesses. “Every day I get people that are nervous and afraid of heights, but by the time they get to the bottom they are ecstatic.
“It’s kind of like base jumping—you have to physically take yourself to the edge and leap off.”
Along with zip lining adventures, Bossert still offers hang gliding lessons and gets a few students each year.
He said one day he hopes to expand the business to include more zip lining options.
“Everyone told me I could never make a living doing this, but here I am,” Bossert said. “Helping people get over their fears the way I did is something significant to put back into this world.”
Kayla Byrne
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