Free as a Bird; Hanglider Instructor Lives his Dream
the Golden Gate X-press online. Story by Jaime LeMaire

At the top of Mt. Tamalpais, 2,572 feet from the round, Bodhi Kroll is ready to take off from the edge. The wind is right, blowing offshore about 15-18 miles per hour. He runs down a steep golden grass slope, like an airplane taking off from the runway. Gaining speed, Kroll is lifted by the wind as he gets closer to the edge of the cliff. With only treetops and rolling hills below, he soars with the birds because he has wings. Not real wings but something quite similar: a hang glider.

Ever have dreams of flying through the air? Kroll has since he was a kid. Making the dream into his reality, Kroll, 36, is the owner of the San Francisco Hang Gliding Center, the first and only tandem hang gliding company in the Bay Area. He and two other instructors take thrillseekers soaring out into the air. Many times taking their customers to heights of 2,000 feet, at speeds of 25 mph, above a vast Pacific Ocean view that can't be compared. The 15-30 minute trip ends with a landing on Stinson Beach coming in at a speed of around 40 mph.

"I can park the hang glider between families picnicking on the beach like you would park a car,” Kroll says.