My mother gave us a beautiful gift of flight this past Christmas. We each received a beginner’s lesson to hang gliding from a company called Mission Soaring Center. Prior to our departure, Justin and I decided to go for an early morning run. There is really no better gift to your soul than an hour and a half of day dreaming along in a gentle gait. Showers, breakfast burritos, and we were off to our day adventure.
We arrived at the Mission Soaring Center in San Jose, CA around noon for an introduction prior to going into the field. Justin and I had no prior knowledge of the Center or hang gliding in general. When we first entered the warehouse, we were drawn to a large, topographic raised map of California hanging along an entire wall. I walked to the map and rolled my fingers across the mountains I knew so well from our pacific crest trail hike a year prior. It was as if I was feeling the braille of a story I’ve read a hundred times and I immediately felt at home. This map showed, using string and pins, hang gliding routes across the state. Some were upwards of 400 miles long!! I can not even fathom flying 5,000+ feet in the air for hours along the California valley. Sounds pretty spectacular!
We were directed to the center of the room where there were three fold out chairs facing a screen and one fold out chair facing the three others approximately two feet across. A tall, thin man by the name Pat sat in the seat across from us as we introduced ourselves to the other beginner, Michael, a computer tech from Germany currently residing in the Bay Area. Pat stared at us all through wide brimmed aviator glasses and took a long, deep inhale and exhale. The silence slightly graces the point of awkwardness before he chirps, “So, you guys excited to fly? You thoroughly read through the website correct?”
“Website? Oops.” I thought to myself.
Pat, who you can see a great photo of on the header of their website, proceeded to talk about his glory days of flying in the 70’s for a few minutes before entertaining us with two 15 minute videos made in the late 80’s about how to hang glide. An hour later we were driving in our respective cars to the course (Justin and I stopped for quick sushi on the way). I later learned that Pat has a sit down, face-to-face meeting with every person who flies his hang glides and deems them acceptable or not. This made more sense why the interaction felt a little strange.
About 2 hours later, Justin and I found ourselves south of Hollister surrounded by beautiful rolling hills and grazing cattle. Dave, our instructor, came rolling up a dirt road to pick us up and led us to a shed filled with hang glides. We built two big gliders and spent the afternoon running down a teeny tiny hillside (maybe about ten feet in elevation gain) learning the basics.
Look straight ahead, not down at your feet. Do not hold onto the triangle pole in front of you, trust the glide will carry you (you are attached with a harness to the wings). Lightly pull in and out with the softest of touches to move the hang glider which ever direction you want to go.
Dave is an excellent instructor and we truly appreciated his patience and endurance running back and forth to help us all begin to understand how to be a bird. Dave told us tales from his favorite flights. He was a student of Pat’s in the 70’s and has worked with the school as an instructor for many years. He has soared at an altitude of 18,000 ft over Mt. Whitney, the highest point in the continental U.S. coming in at 14,505 ft! Imagine that – you truly are flying with birds. He pointed out that birds always show you the wind pattern, where there is a shoot of air that will float you up higher or where the jet stream turns choppy and you should avoid.
You must obtain a hang gliding license from level 1 to 4 in order to be able to fly on your own. Level 4 allows you to soar in places like Yosemite! Just imagine the views of the valley in a hang glider! 
After our day playing outside, we came home to our loving family for some delicious cake from Rick’s Dessert Diner in downtown Sacramento. I met a parent, Ahmed who went by the silly nature name Sticky Buns, at an outdoor school I taught for in early April. He brought a sample of his chocolate tort and I was hooked! Justin surprised me with it -such a true treat!
In all, the day’s experiences were terrific. Justin and I both agreed, if we had a more disposable income, maybe we would get into the sport. For now, hiking, biking, and chocolate tort give us enough fill of adventure.
~ Melissa
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