Back in May, we told you the story of a true Idaho outdoorsmen Andrew Dunning who moved from the big city of Los Angeles California, to the tiny town sun valley to immerse himself anything he can do in the outdoors. Well, Dunning is truly flying high with his new adventure speed flying.
“When you are a little kid you run down a hill put your arms behind you and pretend to fly and that's the exact same way you launch a glider is run down a hill with your arms behind you and you actually do take off,” said, Outdoorsman Andrew Dunning.
Speed flying has allowed Dunning the chance to fly within the terrain much like a skier would descend down a mountain. It is a sport that was pioneered in Europe roughly about 10 to 12 years ago and once he saw one of his friends do it he was hooked.
“Seeing someone else do it. It was my friend Will Burks and he flew in and landed in the parking lot of the ski resort in sun valley. I ran straight over to him I asked him what is this your doing and how do I learn,” said, Dunning.
Dunning's whole approach when hits the outdoors now is to see how can he take it to the next limit.
“If you are a skier or something you look for a line that you want to choose down the slope. On a glider you want to do the same thing, you want to choose a line hike the mountain and you fly that line and you are going 1000 feet every minute. A 3,000-foot mountain takes about 3 minutes,” said, Dunning.
His new adventure can be done year round, as long as there is good weather but it depends all on the timing of your descent.
“There are definitely some risks involved with flying sports obviously especially speed flying because a lot of times we fly close to stuff. The weather is the number one most important factor. You are only flying when the weather is ok. You need good conditions and you constantly have to make good judgment and good decisions in order to have fun doing it,” said, Dunning.
Dunning recently made a trip to fly Idaho's largest mountain, Mount Borah, Along with Borah, he has climbed Idaho 5 highest peaks, and he is making traction in earning sponsorship for his journeys.
Dunning says he is so active in the outdoors because he wants to inspire other people to hopefully go do something fun outside and to have passion! If you would like to follow Dunning on facebook, and instagram.
