Learning To Fly
QSF Magazine, October 2001, by David Ortmann

From the time I was a little boy, I dreamt that I could fly. Last month my dream came true, thanks to the San Francisco Hang Gliding Center whose tagline is "Come See Why the Birds Sing!" They don't exaggerate. I heard the birds sing. I saw the ocean crash. I felt the famous Bay Area fog kiss my face while flying 2,300 feet over the Marin hills and Mount Tamalpais, with Stinson Beach a yellow and indigo speck far below me.

As instructed by the Center, I made my reservations a few weeks in advance due to their heavily booked schedule. I telephoned the morning of the scheduled flight, again as instructed, to determine if the weather would be a safe and enjoyable one for flight. Factors such as wind, fog, precipitation and temperature must all be taken into account. I was told the day in question was a perfect one for flying and, since I didn't require transportation from the city, I met the instructor at the predetermined point of rendezvous in Marin. From there we caravanned to "the launching site," perched almost three-quarters up Mount Tam. The Center uses several points on the mountain as launch sites in coordination with Marin County Board of Supervisors and the California Department of Parks and Recreation.

With apologies to The Beatles, the drive up Mount Tam is a long and winding road. I would recommend motion sickness medication for those prospective flyers who cannot tolerate frequent twists and turns. By the time we reached our destination, however, any possibility of motion sickness was overruled by the sense of excitement each of us shared.

We were greeted at the launch site by the owners of the San Francisco Hang Gliding Center, Bodhi-Dharma Kroll and his wife Hayley Marsden Kroll, a lead singer with the Bay Area band Superbooty.

"Yeah, that's really my name," laughed Kroll. "My parents were radical hippies at Berkeley in the 1960's and wanted their son to have a unique name. I guess they pretty much succeeded." Kroll, with his military haircut and muscular build, looks as far from the typical son of radical Berkeley hippies as possible. That is, of course, until he laughs or smiles, which is often. His smile conveys the warmth and openness of a genuinely good guy. He's the kind of guy you'd trust your life with; a reassuring thing, since I was about to do just that.

The San Francisco Hang Gliding Center specializes in tandem hang gliding, paragliding, and aquagliding flights. "Tandem," Kroll explained, "is the official term applying to two-person flights: a passenger and a certified instructor."

Kroll tells us that after only five minutes of instruction we will have a high altitude flight side by side with a certified instructor. The training, I found, was simple, inclusive, and would provide reassurance to even the most reluctant of flyers.

Once the rider is securely strapped into the glider, the instructor asks that the passenger not touch anything, as this can interfere with the instructor's ability to steer the craft. Second, when it is time to launch, both rider and instructor must run quickly down the launch until the glider picks them up. On windy days, this doesn't take very long.

"It's really pretty simple." Kroll said, wrapping up his introductory speech on safety and security. "It all boils down to 'run like hell and don't touch anything.'"

The glider itself is portable, lightweight, and consists of aluminum tubing and steel cables as well as dacron and mylar sail material. Every component of the glider is aircraft quality. It took Kroll and the other instructors about 15 minutes to set up their gliders, while their four passengers debated whether or not to wear gloves and jackets. Heed my advice-wear gloves and jackets! The rider and instructor are each strapped into a harness with a variety of mountaineering cables that Kroll said, "Could hold a truck."

Before I had time to develop reservations, Kroll and I were strapped into the glider and standing 15 feet from the edge of a mountain ridge that overlooked Stinson Beach. "We'll run out down the launch and before you realize it the wind will take us up. We'll land down there." He indicated the beach with his finger.

"Are we going to do a practice run, first?" I asked. "Nah, the wind's perfect. Let's just go for it!" "Okay." I said. From where we stood, that beach seemed really far away. "Keep your right arm around me and do whatever you want with your left, only do not touch the control frame."

Simple enough, I thought.

"Now, let's review our main rules. One…" "Run like hell, and two, don't touch anything." I finished. "Good man. We're ready." Kroll smiled.

Standing on the edge of the mountain, I couldn't really say I was frightened. I think a huge reason for this is that each of these people really seemed to know what they were doing. If I am ever going to jump off a mountain, I remember thinking: it might as well be with these folks.

"Run!" Kroll called, and we were off.

I ran like hell and only managed about 4 or 5 good steps until the wind whipped under the glider and the ground disappeared beneath me. When I next looked down, I saw the tops of pine trees several hundred feet below and Kroll next to me smiling, "Cool, huh?"

Now, I realized Kroll had been flying since he was a kid, but "cool" was definitely an understatement. Tom Ammiano is cool. "Will and Grace" is cool. This was epic! For once, words failed me. So I stopped trying to find them and just flew.

Kroll is an expert at maneuvering the craft. Riding what felt like a wall of wind, we zoomed back, hovering over the launch site for a few minutes and diving in and out of the mountainside fog. I felt as though I was breathing for the first time. The bay air never felt so fresh and strong. Without loosing any altitude we swept up and then down, riding the natural rhythm of the wind far, far away from our initial launch site. Our glider dove in and out of cloud and fog banks and sailed out over the face of the mountain. At one moment all I could see was white fog surrounding me, and then the glider broke through and rode the wind's crest out over the ocean where the sun was bright and warm. With a shift of his shoulder, Kroll surfed another gust of air and we sailed back up over the mountain and into the fog again.

It's quiet up here, I remember thinking. The only sound was the constant wind, which wasn't a sound so much as a consistent presence and support. I heard the cry of birds. Kroll caught me searching for them.

"You're looking the wrong way." He said, pointing downward.

Looking down, I saw he was right. A flock of Stinson seagulls were chatting, hundreds of feet below us.

Together we swooped over the tops of pine trees whose bottoms were too far away to be visible, and then caught an alternate current of wind, soared back up the face of the mountain and into another wall of fog. I loved the Bay Area before this flight, but I love it even more now.

Under Kroll's expert hand, our glider touched down on the sands of Stinson Beach 35 minutes later in a landing smoother than any plane ride I'd ever experienced. Not even in my wildest imagination did I expect to be airborne for over half an hour! Kroll and the other instructors packed up the gliders quickly and then drove their still amazed passengers back up Mount Tam to their waiting cars. The whole adventure had only taken a little over two hours.

For a group of passengers who had some fears and reservations as we stood on the edge of that beautiful mountain only two hours earlier, the only question we asked now was, "When can we do this again?"

Without question, tandem hang gliding can be one of the most exhilarating and liberating experiences a person could wish for. Under the instruction of Kroll and his experienced staff, it can be much safer than driving down Gough Street during rush hour. So treat your partner to a Saturday flight! Fly the folks in from New Jersey and strap them in! Bored on a Sunday morning? Forget that tired old Sunday brunch and Bloody Mary's. Instead, come see why the birds sing.

The San Francisco Hang Gliding Center has been providing the Bay Area with the gift of flight for three and a half years. Located 15 miles from downtown San Francisco, the Center can provide transportation to and from the flight location upon request. Every instructor is certified by the United States Hang Gliding Association (USHGA) and has between 12 and 26 years of flight experience. They also offer solo lessons. Rates are $295.00 per person, Monday - Friday; $325 on weekends, including an exposed roll of film from the entire adventure. The camera is strapped securely to the glider itself and captures the vistas the rider sees during the flight. Contact the San Francisco Hang Gliding Center at (510) 528-2300 or visit their website at www.sfhanggliding.com.