Amazing experience. Mike was great. Safety was paramount and he made sure we had an awesome time…read more There is a reason Mike has 5 stars. It's very well deserved. My wife and I scheduled tandem flights with Mike. Mike communicated quickly and kept us updated. Here's the cool thing...during our first 2 attempts, the wind was not cooperating. It was unsafe to fly. Mike made the (correct) decision to try again another day. Mike also educated us along the way. You never know...we could become hang gliders! Thanks Mike (and his driver Tina!)

Mike delivered a super hang gliding experience! He was very responsive and easy to communicate with…read moreto set up our date and its subsequent reschedule due to the wind conditions. For the flight, Mike and his crew were excellent at explaining everything and giving clear instructions. He definitely created an atmosphere that made you feel safe. Mike is also very well respected by the others in the hang gliding community that were around us the park. Between his enthusiasm for the sport, his expertise, and his ability to make beginners feel at ease, I can't imagine have a better introduction to the sport. And, wow, what an experience to soar with the birds! Thanks, Mike!

Mike was super awesome! He has a ton of experience and has been all over paragliding and skydiving…read more Also, thank you for your service in the military! Me and my cousin had such a great time that we will definitely be doing this again and requesting Mike! Seeing the golden gate bridge in the sun light was great! And I even seen my grandma's old house on top of daly city!! Thank you again Mike!

Mike took my daughter up on her 15th birthday. He's a real…read morepro and gave her the experience of a lifetime. She says that it was the best birthday gift ever! Thanks, Mike!

Whether you're interested in a tandem flight or learning to hang glide yourself, you will truly be…read moreglad you went with John. He's an absolutely fantastic and safe pilot with a proven track record. I'm amazed at how accurately he can assess the weather and flight conditions (at one point while passing another glider John said "were going to feel the turbulence from their wing tips in 3..2..1.. *bump*" Pretty awesome!). Aside from his great flying abilities, he's just an awesome, hilarious, and down to earth character who loves sharing his passion for flight with others. I'm grateful to be able to train with John as I know I'm setting myself up for a safe journey into this sport and having tons of fun along the way.

There is no other way to describe except INCREDIBLE!…read more This is something I have always wanted to do. The BF purchased the trip for my Bday present. Paris Williams is a true professional and truly enjoys what he does. I was looking at the pictures and in every single one Paris has a huge smile on his face. The expressions on my face.... well there were a lot of smiles but a few moments of concern. We launched south of Fort Funston and landed at Ocean Beach for 30 minutes of the most incredible gliding! It was cold, a little foggy but I didn't care. Everyone must do this! Paris films or videos the entire experience which is included with the price. So much fun! I only wish it would have never ended.

My boyfriend and I took a hang gliding lesson with Mike bright and early on a Saturday morning (we…read morearrived ~8am) and had a LOT of fun! There were 2 other attendees other than my boyfriend and myself, so our class was a total of 4 people, all of us beginners. One person had taken classes before, but was doing more lessons in order to get his hang 1 license. Mike starts the class by introducing himself and teaching us some safety lessons. We put together the hang glide together as a group, and he teaches us the different parts of the hang glide and how they work together. Then, we roll the glider up a small hill and he gives us some pointers on how to approach the lesson and what to do what we start running and once the glider starts taking off! The lesson was from about 8am to noon. Mike REALLY works for the money he makes during these lessons - he is running up and down the hill, and coordinating to make sure that everyone gets plenty of time on the hang glide. His passion for this sport is palpable, and it's clear he is friends with all the other folks at the area / park that morning who are regular hang gliders. This is a really fun activity to do on a weekend morning, not to mention the VIEWS are amazing. Attaching some photos as proof! Overall I had a GREAT time and would certainly consider taking more classes with Mike!

I found Eric to be an excellent instructor. His patients and willingness to restate his…read moreinstructions, many times over, drives home the needed understanding for the skills he is describing. On those occasions when I was not getting the instructions, he restated them framed differently. His vast knowledge and experience was demonstrated through his patients and confidence. With his guidance I learned very quickly. I have no hesitation recommending Eric for hang gliding instructions. I would have no hesitation if I were starting over asking his support and training. Thank you Eric, for all your help and assuring I learned the skills needed to be a safe pilot! Mikee Bowen

What a great experience!!! Jeff was a trouper all the way from when I booked it to actually doing…read moreit! It took almost a year for us to get the right combination of day, time, air and wind conditions! But - we got it and it worked. He is super knowledgeable and I would trust and recommend him for any inexperienced person and even experienced. He stresses to have fun and makes it a lot of fun once airborne. He is calm and helpful. I trust and know now that he really does care for the customer to ensure that it is a safe and amazing experience for all. Sunni B

Jeff is a fantastic teacher. He taught me a solid foundation and tailored the lesson to my needs…read moreand ability. Super focused on safety and also fun!

My first but not the last paragliding experience was awesome and stress free! Thank you to my super…read morecool and caring instructor Danny who made my flight unfergetable and really special! If you are looking for paragliding instructor in Bay Area for sure reach out to Danny, he is professional, knowledgeable, experienced and very friendly! Thanks again Danny for making my dream come true!

Very professional, experienced and knows a lot about the industry. Elite paragliding is affordable…read morecompared to others and very helpful when I was looking at purchasing a glider.

What an amazing experience! Absolutely breathtaking views of Napa Valley!…read more The pilot and crew were fantastic! They operate like a well oiled machine and focus on your safety and your happiness

Overall we had a good experience. I wish they would've…read morecalled us sooner to tell us what time they were picking us up. I ended up calling them the day prior to make sure what our pickup time was. She told me they don't usually call until the afternoon of the day prior. They picked us up from our hotel and brought us to the meeting location at 6am. Coffee, water, tea, muffins, and granola bars were available. The muffins were very tasty. There was very minimum communication. They never said what time we would be leaving. They gave us a bathroom reminder and then a long wait and then suddenly it was time to go. They fit a lot of people in a small waiting area. Which is outside btw. The staff was nice however, the person calling names for groups said our last name so wrong we didn't even know it was us and she was so quiet you could barely hear her. If you're in a later group, you will have a long day. We were in group one and got back to our hotel by 9am and other balloons hadn't even landed yet. Our driver, Bailey, was so sweet and nice. Our pilot was Chad, and you better hope you get him. He was informative, funny, nice, communicated well and considerate. Once we went to the launch site, it was a 20-30 mins wait for the balloon to be ready. We were in the air for about a half hour. We landed and then the vans came to get us, brought us back to the meeting location, and the our hotel. We had a good experience. Plan your day accordingly as you might not get back to your hotel until 930-1030.

I've had lessons at three different schools. First with Morningside Flight Park in NH; then with…read moreKittyhawk in NC; and finally with Mission Soaring. I enjoyed all of it, but I have to say that the professionalism, quality of instruction and safety at Mission Soaring is outstanding. Pat, Eric and team have tons of experience and know exactly the right thing to say to help students progress *safely* through each stage of learning. The community of pilots at Tres Pinos is amazing and supportive. Experienced graduates often return to take advantage of the unique combination of consistently flyable conditions and expert help with any lingering bad habits. At Tres Pinos you can make friends that will gladly help you at every stage... from your first flights and landings to your graduation to coastal and mountain flying. This is a great place to learn to soar but also to practice humility and grit along the way.

Holy poo that was fun!…read more My buddies and I had our first hang gliding lesson with Mission a couple weeks ago. Since the Milpitas office was closed during Memorial Day week, we didn't have to do the one hour orientation in Milpitas (although most people normally do). They instead sent us the packet with the waivers and directions to the Hollister site via mail. We called the instructor when we arrived and he drove us up through some dried up grassy hills with his truck. There were 4 of us (two per hang glider) and one instructor, which meant that we got plenty of attention, each did 7-8 jumps off the hill each& got 8 ft of air at the end of the day- yea we no beginners yo! I must admit I was scared, but with each jump, the instructor ran beside us and reminded us of what to do (e.g. to steer left/right/up/down). He also reminded me to breathe& relax each time before I took off. Breathing is important! We spent a good 4.5 hours that day on that hill. For $160/per person, this lesson was about $40/hr which in my opinion is much cheaper than sky-diving or tandem hang-gliding. We put away the hang-gliders just as the sun set. Exhausted &hungry, we walked back to the truck ready for the long drive home. To our surprise, our instructor pull out a huge cooler and handed us some beers. "My students always get beer!" He smiled. Already dehydrated from the sun, the beer hit me fast. And then like he can read my mind, he hands me a soda and Iaughs.

I have been training with Jesse (and Dave) for almost 3 years at this point. Jesse is hands down…read morethe best instructor for paragliding in the bay area. As a high intensity sport, you want your instructor not to make decisions for you (except in intro), rather impart skills that you can make better judgement by yourself in variety of conditions. Jesse does just that. He'll help you get started and then push you to improve yourself over time. And the lift community Jesse has built is amazing. People share when and where they plan to fly, lookout for each other and share their knowledge, helping everyone get better.

When you begin flying with Lift, you become part of the Lift family. Jessie, Dave, and the entire…read moreLift crew are more than just paragliding educators, they are mentors, safety advocates, and most importantly, fun people to be around. Grateful for their ongoing education and mentorship as I continue to progress in my paragliding career!