Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 14, 1994 TAG: 9408160002
SECTION: DISCOVER PAGE: 6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Not a scared kind of feeling, just uncertainty.
I imagined the rush I would feel when the parachute whipped me into the air and held me there while a ski boat 400 feet below raced around Smith Mountain Lake with me in tow.
Thrilling, adventureous, noisy and dangerous were thoughts that ran through my head when I first decided to go para-sailing.
It wasn't like that at all.
My brief ride above the lake was eerily quiet, soothing - and dry.
A promotional magazine for Smith Mountain Lake lists para-sailing as a water sport, and I naively thought that meant I would get wet.
I pictured myself whizzing behind the boat on water skis until the parachute attached to my back caught the breeze and picked me up.
Wrong again.
Para-sailers take off from a specially platformed boat, and then circle a lake for eight to 10 minutes before an electric winch pulls them back onto the boat. There's no need for a bathing suit.
This is the third summer Bridgewater Para-Sail has offered parachute rides at the lake. The company is based in Bridgewater Marina at Hales Ford Bridge, but the flying is done at the widest part of the lake, near Bernard's Landing.
At $38 per person, the rides are a tad costly considering their length, but it does offer a great view of the 40-mile-long lake.
Little compares to seeing the reflection of the towering Blue Ridge Mountains as it shimmers on Smith Mountain Lake's greenish-brown surface.
Located along the borders of Franklin, Pittsylvania and Bedford counties, the lake is the largest body of water in the region. The Roanoke and Blackwater rivers flow into the lake, which was created in 1966 by the hydroelectric power dam located at the base of Smith Mountain.
For years, the biggest rap on Smith Mountain Lake was that it was only for people who could afford vacation homes or boats.
That began to change when a public beach was opened in 1989 at Smith Mountain Lake State Park. It costs $2.50 per car to get into the park and then an additional fee - $2 for adults and $1.50 for children - to use the swimming area.
Be forewarned, however, the public beach is crowded on sunny, weekend days.
The lake also offers the chance to rent jet skis and boats, take hot-air balloon rides and enjoy a dinner cruise.
And then there's para-sailing, a definite alternative to someone like me who's always wanted to parachute, but hasn't had the guts to jump out of an airplane.
HOW TO GET THERE: There are dozens of ways to get to Smith Mountain Lake from the Roanoke Valley, but one of the quickest and easiest is to cross the Walnut Street Bridge and take Virginia 116 until it ends at Burnt Chimney in Franklin County. Then turn left onto Virginia 122 and drive about 10 miles until you see signs for the lake. The trip should take between 30 and 45 minutes.
by CNB