Matt Beechinor grew up wanting to fly. He tried to make his bicycle fly, his motorcycle fly and his skis fly. “I tried to make everything fly,” said Matt, “and it broke me. I finally found the right tool for the job.”
Today, Matt is a local tandem pilot and paragliding instructor in Sun Valley and his excitement about the sport is contagious—you can hear his cackling laugh and birdcalls from miles away, whether he’s on the ground or circling overhead.
In 1998, Matt was working in Ketchum as a carpenter for Garth Callaghan who, at the time, owned the local flight school. They were on a job at the Crestview Condos, and Matt became mesmerized by the wings flying over Baldy. “I can show you how to do that,” said Garth. He’s been hooked ever since.
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In 2004, Matt went to a paragliding competition in Brazil. He did horribly but had a great time, and said it was both fun and challenging. “I knew it was something I wanted to pursue, and contests would expose me to a lot of good knowledge,” he said.
Matt has come a long way since then. He competed in the 2009 Paragliding World Championships in Valle de Bravo, Mexico, and the 2012 Paragliding World Cup Superfinal in Roldanillo, Colombia. He’s been on Good Morning America and Nightline. All impressive accomplishments (although I think he is most proud of getting his handlebar mustache on national television).
Matt started teaching paragliding in 2009, when he guided a tour for Eagle Paragliding in Valle de Bravo. He had knowledge of the area from competing nearby, but lacked teaching experience and tandem capabilities. He then spent the next year working for Eagle Paragliding, a school based in Santa Barbara, California, honing his teaching skills and learning how to fly tandems. The time paid off. “I kicked butt on this tour in Columbia,” said Matt.
After competing in January 2013, Matt worked three weeks of tours in Colombia, again for Eagle Paragliding (what Matt considers to be the best paragliding school in the country). He helped a bunch of people experience personal bests, whether that be flying in a thermal for the first time, getting to cloud base or longest duration and distance. “Teaching and guiding lets me experience that same stoke that I had when I first learned to fly,” said Matt.
For the last couple of years, Matt has been flying tandems and teaching students for Fly Sun Valley on Bald Mountain. And although Baldy is a world-class site, it's also a complex one. Mountain flying requires more knowledge because there are valley winds, turbulence and the weather in deserts can change quite rapidly. Students could go elsewhere to learn the basics of paragliding but would still need to connect with a local to fly in Sun Valley.
After traveling all over the world, Sun Valley is still Matt’s favorite place to fly. “It’s so unexplored,” said Matt. There are only a few pilots working on cross-country routes that no one has ever done before. “It’s an adventure from beginning to end,” he added. He covers terrain in one flight that would take him a lifetime to explore on foot. And, he does that all summer long, year after year.
The adventure doesn’t end after he lands either—he still has to figure out how he will make it home. Matt has had rides on the back of donkeys, llamas and kids’ bicycles and, last summer, after flying about 190 miles to Montana, it took 14 hours and seven hitch hike rides to get back home. The flight itself was eight hours.
“Cross-country flying is the best thing on earth. The views are breathtakingly beautiful,” said Matt. “It’s an unobstructed view that you can’t even get in a plane.” To see the views for yourself, Matt can take you tandem or teach you how to fly. Even if your feet never leave the ground, you’ll still enjoy the flight.
