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Zephyr's International Headquarters
A Zephyr is defined as a west wind; a breeze from the west; a gentle breeze. The word Zephyr is derived from the Greek word Zephyrus, the god of the west wind.
In the Bay Area, the majority of our flying sites work best when there is a west wind, or a western component in the wind (WNW, NW, WSW, SW). If you hear that the weather forecast is calling for moderate westerly winds, you can bet that Bay Area pilots are either heading to the hills or wishing they were. After a safe day of flying, remember to drink a toast to Zephyrus!
Zephyr currently offers information about flying in the Bay Area to new and visiting pilots. We are happy to provide site intros and guided tours to local and other sites. We enjoy coaching post-P2 pilots in improving their thermal and soaring flights. As USHPA Instructors and Observers, we can instruct new students and sign-off on the tasks required for all paragliding ratings. We update our web site regularly. Since there are so many sites on the Internet that relate to foot-launched flying, we have decided to go for quality, rather than quantity. We only link to the web sites that we regularly refer to and find particularly informative. We only recommend instructors and products that we know are of the highest quality. While we are primarily focused on flying in the San Francisco Bay Area, we list the flying sites outside the Bay Area that we have personally visited and that we think are particularly special. Although our flying is currently limited to paragliding, we make every effort to include hang gliding in our references, when appropriate. This website is designed and maintained for you. If you come across a "dead" link or if you want to recommend additional links or content, please let us know. We are happy to hear any suggestions you may have that would make this site more useful. The following individuals have been tremendously influential in our paragliding education: Wally Anderson; Joe Gluzinsky; David Jebb; Jean-Luc Lejaille; Bob Ost; Philippe Waffelaert and all the talented and generous pilots of Sky Sports in Ölüdeniz, Turkey. A special thanks to Steve Thorpe, the designer of the Zephyr logo.
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Home About Zephyr New & Visiting Pilot Info Useful Info For All Pilots PG & HG Flying Sites Our On-Line Magazine Links Guide To Our Website Kim
Galvin |
About Zephyr
Zephyrus
is believed to live in a cave on Thrace. He is the son of Eos and Astraeus and
the brother of Boreas, Eurus and Notus. He abducted the goddess Chloris and gave
her dominion over flowers. In Roman myth, he is Favonius, the protector of
flowers and plants.
Kim
began her paragliding training in the fall of 1995, with her husband Mike. Kim is
a USHPA P4-rated paraglider pilot and an Advanced Paragliding
Instructor and Observer. She has been a member (and former officer) of the Bay Area Paragliding Association and
other hang/paragliding clubs.
Mike had dreams of flying as far back as he can remember. His first
"launches" were from just about anything he could climb up on and his
"LZ" was a pile of pillows. Mike ultimately went on to get his private
pilot's license and P4 rating. Although he was passionate about
paragliding for about ten years, Mike quit paragliding a few years ago to pursue
fly fishing and high altitude hiking.
Since Kim was never very athletically inclined, she
tended to gravitate towards less
adventurous activities. She never had an interest in aviation; in fact, she
preferred beaches to mountains. Kim was pretty klutzy, and she still manages the
occasional trip and
fall, but she is proud of her safety record (USHPA Gold
Safe Pilot Award) in the air. Paragliding changed Kim's life (in a good
way) by sparking her interest in
pursuing other outdoor activities. An true adventure addict, Kim now enjoys camping, hiking, sea
kayaking, diving, snorkeling and back-country skiing and snowshoeing.
We were blissfully clueless before taking our first paragliding flights.
Then, we became hopelessly addicted to soaring. We have flown on four continents and have made many lasting friendships along the way. It has been an
interesting road and we hope the journey continues for a long, long time.
USHPA Advanced Paragliding
Instructor & Observer