LITTLE did Grassington's Rowena "Bunty" Leder know when she set off to see her son and family in the French Alps, that her trip would involve her gliding high above Mont Blanc.

The concert secretary of Skipton Music, former artistic director of Grassington Festival, and in addition, a former Bluebell Girl and international air stewardess, had been booked in by her son, Chris, for her first ever paragliding flight - at it proved to be one of the experiences of her life.

Rowena, who will be 80 next year, was the oldest person instructor Philippe had ever taken to the skies, and as the "best instructor in the Alps'', according to son, Chris, he will have taken up many, many hundreds of people.

And despite a false start, and being convinced she would never manage it, she got into the air and now is looking forward to her second flight.

Here, she tells her story:

As soon as we arrived at Geneva Airport my son whispered 'I've booked you a paragliding session'. Quiet anxiety set in. We had to be on the top of the mountain at 1pm and drove the car most of the way but then a mile walk in very thin air and by the time I arrived at the flight zone, I was feeling very shattered and weak. Nevertheless – it was rather like having a baby – there was no going back.

Philippe, the best instructor in the Alps according to my son, was waiting for us and he immediately strapped a harness on me and gave instructions to walk three or four steps and then run two or three steps while leaning forward. This I must add was to be done on a vertical hillside. I managed the short walk but to lean forward on a vertical hillside was so alien, and I really struggled. I started digging my heels in to stop falling forward, but this, I found out, was exactly what you are not supposed to do.

Philippe was strapped to me very closely and after a few running movement, I sat down. He fell on top of me and we rolled a bit. ….but the wing, this is the thing that hold you in the air, crashed down behind us in a fairly mangled mess. I was acutely embarrassed and could not apologise enough - all in French of course. I was also pretty sure there would be no way I could jump off the mountain and actually paraglide and said I would walk back down the mountain. They paid no attention to me.

The whole thing was set up again but this time, with the wing right on the very edge of the mountain. Philippe said to take one step and then stand still. By now, I realised what was going to happen and so did as he said. As I took the step and then stood still, he lifted me off the ground and then I promptly sat down but in the harness with legs flying in the air. In five seconds we were flying. It was the most thrilling experience and I couldn't stop shouting 'Oo la la – c'est magnifique, c'est magnifique'.'

The day was perfect, not a cloud in the sky and I thought no wind. But there was a huge amount of wind and we lifted high into the sky and then started circling round the take-off area waiting for my son to finish photographing and laughing and to get his harness on and jump off the mountain to follow us.

We circled and circled and I could see Mont Blanc and all the snow covered Alps. It was truly glorious.

We stayed in the air for more than half an hour and then gently started to descend over the town of Samoens. My son had said Philippe would put me down 'like a feather', and he did. It was incredibly easy because we landed very slowly and he told me to sit down, so I did and he half collapsed on me and the wing landed behind quite perfectly.

I cannot wait to do it again, even though I will be 80 next year.