Hang Gliding and Paragliding Volume 44 / Issue 3: March 2014 | Page 14

PG Instructor of the Year
Jesse Meyer's students heaped praise

on every aspect of his instructional style.
They were, of course, impressed with
his patience, focus on safety, the extent
of his knowledge of the fine nuances of
paragliding, and his ability to encourage students to stretch their boundaries
without losing the “safety first” priority.
But Jesse’s style included many more
perks for his students. He organized
numerous trips to a variety of flying sites
that many students found especially
beneficial. One student relates, “Despite

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HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING MAGAZINE

the group often being quite diverse, with
many different skill levels, Jesse managed to set up those trips so that everybody got something out of it and pushed
on his or her personal limits.” Another
adds, “He introduced me to a lot of his
flying friends so we can fly together and
learn from each other.”
Several students pointed out Jesse’s
frequent presence at the Bay Area flying
sites, and identified him as a significant role model: “He is consistently at
multiple flying sites, both thermal and
slope-soaring, and is a true resource to

Paragliding Instructor of the Year, Jesse
Meyer. RiGHT Hang Gliding Instructor of the
Year, Mitch Shipley.
LEFT

the entire Bay Area flying community.”
One pilot, who’s been involved in
aviation for nearly his entire life but only
recently came to paragliding, compared
Jesse to the numerous instructors he’s
encountered over his flying career, and
concludes Jesse is “without a doubt one
of the best instructors I’ve had in my
aviation career.”
Just about every one of Jesse’s numer-