Paragliding in Armenia is achievable for the disabled (PHOTOS)

By Vera Martirosyan

YEREVAN. – Mountain-rich Armenia is a very suitable country to indulge in extreme sports, specifically in paragliding. 

The Armenian Paragliding Sport Federation was established in 2008. Its members organize paragliding festivals in the country and, also, compete at the well-known paragliding tournament which is held in Sopot, Bulgaria.

As a result of the severe injury she suffered when she was only ten months old, Arevik Melkonyan is forced to walk with crutches and prosthetic legs. Despite her limited physical abilities, however, Arevik has participated in numerous expeditions and even climbed Armenia’s Mount Aragats.     

“I accidentally came across the paragliding club on Facebook. I applied to [Armenian Paragliding Sport Federation member] Armen Sargsyan and asked him to fly with him. We were to fly over the Aparan mountains. I was scared at first, but then it seemed I was sitting in a carousel. And, subsequently, the most important [thing] started. I felt the taste of freedom. You are somebody else in the sky. It is magnificent looking at the world from above,” Melkonyan said.     

And when she gets home, Arevik thinks solely about the next time when she will hover in the sky again.