Hang Gliding and Paragliding Volume 44 / Issue 12:December 2014 | Seite 13

less than a week’s time. As a typically
broke college student, he couldn’t afford
lessons or gear at the time, but soon
after graduating and landing a job he
contacted Andy Macrae with Bozeman
Paragliding, finally realizing his dream
of flight in 2011. “The flying was absolutely captivating” Josh says, recalling his
early days, “but the group of pilots in the
greater Bozeman area was even more
so. These people have become some
of my closest friends.” Josh’s tastes in
paragliding experiences are eclectic; his
list of favorites includes traveling to fly
in Valle de Bravo, Mexico; hike-and-flies
on peaks in Montana and dune soaring
on the Oregon Coast.
Committee member Frank Drews
learned to hang glide in 2001 at the
Point of the Mountain in Utah.
Although he loved flying at the Point,
he found the time investment in hang
gliding to be problematic. In 2008 his
wife suggested he check out paragliding,
partly to reduce the set-up/breakdown
time, but also because there’s a paragliding mountain site much closer to
home than the Point. Frank credits Ken
Hudonjorgenson’s patient instruction
for helping him make the transition
from bones to bags.
Committee member Neil Hansen
is another biwingual pilot who first got
airborne at “the Point”—he started with
Cloud Nine Paragliding in the fall of
2008, and since then he’s been mentored
by some of the big names in paragliding:
Chris Santacroce, Brad Gunnuscio, Ken
Hudonjorgenson. Last fall he took hang
gliding lessons from Rob McKenzie at
Marshall, in California. “I fly a lot,” Neil
admits; since #