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SHOOT AN “EXTREME” ARROW
Extreme Archery, Mamaroneck
Our last shot—a dead-on bullseye. Our
flying. Definitely exhilarating—in a primal sort of way. But a very different sound came from next door: “Ouch!” The string had slapped our buddy’s bare arm reddening it, and instantly invoking the man-code rule that he not rub
it (he succeeded rather impressively). “Bend your elbow,” our instructor suggested, having forgotten that little tidbit in training. We were injury-free from there on out. Well, except for Mike’s ego. We took three bucks off him in the final round. Like we said, bulls-eye.
HANG GLIDE
for a native New
Yorker to live by,
but we got the
point. And yes,
it’s quick to get
started in the
temporal sense,
too. The adven-
ture starts with
a little reading,
lest one descend
into the pitfalls of “jackrabbit starts” or “ramp suck.” The former is a prohibition against run- ning too fast when taking off, and the latter... well, we’re not quite sure, but we don’t think we did it. Next, we helped assemble the hang- glider, checked it for safety, and wheeled it half way up a hill about the size that would make for a solid 10-second sled ride. And while the story does not end with us jumping off cliffs, it does include flight. We strapped on our wings, walked, jogged, and ran down the hill. And, wouldn’t you know it, our feet lifted from the ground...a few inches...for a few seconds.
W. Dyer Halpern is the area's foremost adren- aline expert, having written two feature arti- cles on the subject, the first for Westchester Magazine in 2009. He is happy to now be flying planes rather thanjumping out of them.
Our World Class Speakers & Panelists
GARY VAYNERCHUK Keynote VaynerMedia
DARI ALEXANDER Co-Anchor of WNYW’s Fox 5 News
BRANDON STEINER Founder & Chairman of Steiner Sports Memorabilia
BRETT PRESCOTT Global Marketing Solutions at Facebook
and many more
first shot, not so much. But in 15 minutes, our instructor at Extreme Archery had us feel- ing ready for the Olympics, or at least a little friendly competition. You don’t quite expect what you see inside of this Mamaroneck bow- and-arrow range. Next to a pretty expansive hunting store, there’s a long room with mul- tiple targets at the end and an elk’s rack that holds a number
of arrows split
down the middle
by other arrows.
Archers from
age 10 on up (it’s
very popular
with kids) spend
half-hour sessions
honing their skills
for between 10
and 30 dollars, depending on age. After a brief lesson, we lined up, feet squared, only inches away from our friend Mike who had accompa- nied us for the adventure. “A quarter for every arrow closer than the other guy’s,” we were challenged. We accepted, loaded an arrow, pulled back with three fingers as we were just taught, our heart pounding a bit as we lined up our shot, and—whoosh!—the arrow went
Bring a Friend: Yes. It’s fun to see who can stay in the air the longest.
We left saying: “We believe we can fly.”
Fear Factor: Low. Then again, so was our height off the ground
Just Do It: flyhighhg. com, (845) 744-3317
We left saying: “I so could compete at this.”
ly High, Pine Bush, NY FT
Bring a friend: Yes. Fear factor: None. Just
here are certain feelings you just won’t
bend your elbow.
ever quite “get” until you experience them. Think riding your first roller coaster or jumping out of your first airplane (What? You haven’t tried?). Now, imagine flying—not in a plane, or a balloon, or with a parachute. Just
a few dozen miles north of Westchester, you can strap on wings and literally take off.One of the best features of hang-gliding is how simple it is to get started. And not just in terms of speed, but in terms of method. Generally, the more relaxed a pilot is, the less likely he or she is to move the hang-glider the wrong way, and the more likely he or she is to take off. “Relax. Act like a sack of potatoes,” our instructor Brian often reminded us. Not the easiest words
Just do it: extreme- archery.com, (914) 777-7500
Recognized in Forbes.com as one of the 4 Lesser-Known Conferences That Deserve Your Attention in 2013
westchestermagazine.com
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