The San Francisco Examiner from San Francisco, California • 447

IV If the practice doesn't set your heart to pitter-patter, the moment before you and the jumpmaster vault into the cold air will. You may expect to feel as if you're fall-but you don't. You ride a cushion of air under the outstretched arms of the jumpmaster, as if you're standing up in a convertible going 100 mph. You are flying free, on your own column of air, through cubic eons of space. That blue bowl you once called the sky is now a place: You can touch it, taste it, smell its crisp freedom.

All too soon, the jumpmaster yells in your ear, "I'm going to pull now!" You feel a strong tug as he pulls out the parachute and hear a fwapping as it inflates with air, the brightly colored fabric wing springing into life over your head. The jumpmaster gives you a lesson in parachute control. He shows you where to place your hands in straps below his on the steering lines. You both pull the right straps and sail gracefully i in a turn to the right. The sky is yours to play in.

If you don't get queasy on carnival rides, the jumpmaster will treat you to some fast spirals. If that sounds unappealing, you'll spend the next eight or nine minutes gently gliding toward a grassy field. As you swoop to earth, you and the jumpmaster pull down on the toggles to slow the parachute so you can plant your feet firmly on the ground. If there's no wind to help you come in for a stand-up landing, you'll ride in the lap of the jumpmaster as he slides gracefully to a stop. The safety record for this new training method has been good for the first few thousand jumps.

Men and women from eighteen to 84, including the physically handicapped, The tandem ram-air parachute sets passenger and jumpmaster down gently. have made tandem jumps. No deaths have occurred. In fact, the worst injury reported to date has been a sprained ankle. For more information about tandem jumping, contact Action Air Parachutes, 1223 Ninth Street, Alameda 1950.

The price for the first jump is $125. Reservations are recommended. GREY STEVENS COLOR COLOR Classical Pleasures: Grass Valley's Music in the Mountains or over a century the hills surrounding the foothill towns of Grass Valley and Nevada City echoed with the sounds of mining activity--the rattle of ore cars, the pounding of stamp mills. Now the hills ring with entirely different sounds, the lush strains of classical music. For the past five years, Music in the Mountains has offered Nevada County residents and visitors memorable evenings of music-making in evocative Victorian buildings set among fragant pines.

Though the organization offers concerts throughout the year, its summer -which begins tomorrow, June 16, and runs through Sunday, June 29-is its most ambitious presentation, with over a dozen concerts, lectures and master classes offered. The gentle evening breezes, crisp mountain air and occasional warbling of birds create a crystalline environment for concert-going. This year's festival's highlights include a performance of the Beethoven Violin Concerto with Russian-born Alexander Treger, concertmaster of the Los Angeles Philharmonic (June 20); chamber works by Martinu, Saint-Saens and Schubert (June 20); a comprehensive "Celebration of Song" from Dowland to Rorem (June 25); and a rousing, closing pops concert with works from Mozart to Richard Rodgers at the spacious Nevada County Fairgrounds (June 29). Other musical options include an open- cupies Music in the Mountains presents evocative evenings of classical music in the foothills of Nevada County from June 16 through 29. COLOR ing symposium discussing the festival's musical repertoire (June 16); a voice master class (June 22) and workshop (June 24) with Ross Rosazza; a string master class (June 21) with Alexander Treger; and a free kinderkonzert (June 25).

As Bay Area and Sacramento symphonies take a hiatus for the summer, many musicians are discovering the pleasures of performing in the festival orchestra. This year visiting players comprise 80 percent of the orchestra, with members hailing from the San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose and Sacramento symphonies and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Numerous performers from Nevada County- -vocal soloists, orchestral musicians and members of the Foothill Madrigal Singers, the Festival Chorale and the Nevada County Youth Chorus-also take part. The majority of concerts and classes are given in the intimate setting of St. Joseph's Hall, a whitewashed chapel dating to around 1860 that is set in a lovely garden.

In addition, two pops concerts are given at the Nevada County Fairgrounds, said by many to be the most beautiful in California. The Music in the Mountains 1986 summer festival takes place from June 16 through 29 at St. Joseph's Hall and the Nevada County Fairgrounds in Grass Valley. Concert tickets are $6, $8 and $10; classes and symposia are the kinderkonzert is free. For tickets and more information, call (916) 272-4725.

FELIX RACELIS June 15, 35.