The Shishiku Kogen Highlands is a ski hill famous for paragliding.
 
One day in November, my friends and I suddenly decided to try paragliding. Two of them were studying in Kanazawa for eight months as trainees, and were about to return to Mexico. Having exhausted the list of normal activities—Karaoke, Izakaya, Salsa dancing, and bowling—we wanted to spend our last days together doing something memorable. 
I sent them a message on Friday. “You guys interested in sailing through the air? Let’s go to the Shishiku Kogen Highlands to try paragliding next Sunday.”
The Shishiku Kogen Highlands is a ski hill famous for paragliding. Located between southern Kanazawa and Hakusan city, it's a short 40 minute drive from the heart of downtown Kanazawa. Finding the correct parking lot was trickier than I imagined. I parked my car near the gondola station, but the paragliding was actually closer to prefectural highway 103. 
 

The school has a parking lot next to the landing spot, so be sure to use that one!
When we arrived, a female instructor told us that it was too windy to take off just yet. She suggested that we watch a video introducing the school until the wind died down. Following that, we filled out our application, paid the fee, and took a bathroom break, just in case. 
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Time for our gondola ride to the top! They drove us and our equipment to the station, where we bought a one-way lift ticket. The gondola was backed up with people there to view the autumn leaves, who gave us and our huge chair bags curious stares. On our way up we were treated to a beautiful panorama of red and yellow foliage, and the pulsing adrenaline fed our natural high. “Who wants to go first?” Asked the female instructor at the top of the gondola station. We nominated our friend, Perla! Her fear of heights made her a tough sell, but we managed to talk some sense into her.