Glider Pilot Gets Hang of Mount Tam
by Carolyn Jones. San Francisco Chronicle, North Bay edition. June 5, 1998

Bodhi Kroll has to fly hundreds of feet in the air to get a taste of nirvana.

"For me, a great day of hang gliding is when there's low fog, you play with a bird or two and taste those little puffy clouds. They taste like heaven," he said.

Kroll, one of only 100 licensed hang-gliding instructors in the country, can now share that taste with the public. In April, he became the first pilot to acquire a permit from the Marin County Board of Supervisors to take people hang gliding on one of the most spectacular spots in the Bay Area: from the top of Mount Tamalpais to Stinson Beach.

"I guess exhilarating would be the best word," said Nora Daniels of Redwood Shores, one of Kroll's first clients on the Mount Tam excursion. "It was breathtaking, but not like jumping out of a plane. It was gentle, graceful, peaceful, calm. It was a slow soar."

The trek down the slopes of Mount Tam, with stunning views of the Pacific coast, has been a favorite for hang-gliding pilots for 25 years. But due to the numerous jurisdictions overseeing the terrain and the difficulty of getting insurance, the site never has been open to commercial enterprise before.

Until now. With his permits from the county supervisors and the state Parks and Recreation Department, Kroll can take customers in a tandem glider from one of several launches along Bolinas-Fairfax Road for $165. From there, it's 2,000 feet down to the sparsely populated north end of Stinson Beach.

"I view hang gliding as an art form, a constant pursuit for perfection," said Kroll, a Berkeley native." To that end I've wanted to constantly build my skills. Then it dawned on me one day that this could be commercially viable."

Kroll has worked for other hang-gliding instructors, mostly in Australia, since 1990. Upon returning to the Bay Area, he started his own company, San Francisco Hang Gliding.

So far, he said, business is good, but he's trying to keep the enterprise as low-key as possible to avoid pushing his luck with the park service, the county, the public or other hang gliders.

Despite his low profile, Kroll's enthusiasm for the sport is boundless.

Everything about hang gliding - the simple technology of the equipment, the interaction of the wind and topography - makes him beam.

"It started with dreams about flying when I was about 5," he said. "They were so vivid. Whenever I was terrified about something, like in a nightmare, I'd fly away."

He began watching hawks and vultures soar above the Bay Area hills, "wanting to fly with them so badly I could taste it," he said.

So, at 10, he saved money from a paper route and took hang gliding lessons. Eight years later, over his parent's protests, he bought his own glider and learned to fly.

"The first time I did it I knew it was something I wanted to keep doing. It was just magical," he said.

That desire to soar with the birds is what drew Daniels to hang gliding. But it wasn't until her 57th birthday that she worked up the courage.

"I'd never jump out of a plane or go bungee jumping," she said. "But this just seemed so graceful. Then I started thinking, ‘Gee, I better do this before I get too old.'"

Kroll, in his early 30s, has earned two degrees in music composition but hopes to make his living in the air.

Luckily for him, he comes from an area famous for its hang gliding conditions. Moderate ocean breezes, easy-access peaks and relatively mild, year-round temperatures make the Bay Area one of the world's best hang-gliding locales.

No matter where a pilot chooses to fly, though, the best experiences might catch you by surprise, Kroll said. You might be accompanied by a bird or two, you might catch a a rising pillar of air, or you might see your shadow casting a rainbow on clouds below.

For hang gliders, life doesn't get much better than that.