Mountain Wings

This place is AMAZING! I tried hang-​glider for the first time at Mountain Wings and the instructors couldn’t make me feel more at ease, safe and relaxed. Robert was leading the introduction class and his energy, patience and charisma made everyone have a great time learning how to fly. I highly recommend it.

This was a great experience and a lot of fun!

The best experience I ever had! I went 3 times already and I’m suprized for all the bad reviews greg black is actually a cool guy and for thoes that think he’s a jerk or mean eather your wrong or he changed. Now about the place its so cool. You start your first day by watching a short film then you go on the simulator then you start on flat ground. When you learn to trust the glider (it flies it’s self keep a light grip not a tight grip if you do it pulls the glider down and you won’t get air time.) Then you work your way up the training hill depends how good you get.
This is the school I totally recommend if you want to go hang gliding.

This was one of the best experiences I’ve had in my life… Hands down. My buddy and I grabbed a Zipcar for the day and got out of the city. We had a great time. The instructors are really cool, the vibe is really chill although the focus is still safety. I was in a group of 4 so I had tons of opportunities to take a stab and launching off of their training hill. Defiantly hooked. Definitely coming back with more friends. Robert is an experienced teacher and really cool. You’ll feel really encouraged by the end of the day.

I can take constructive criticism but I didn’t even start a lesson when I was rubbed completely the wrong way. Greg Black was a bit of a douche on the phone but I showed up to the lesson anyway. I should have backed out on the phone but I give people second and third chances all the time. Anyways, before I even met his egoness I was rubbed wrong by a female senior instructor. Forgot her name but she yelled at me for driving over their little bridge too fast. She was telling me all the crap that is wrong with the bridge and was all pissed because everyone drives over it too fast. I kinda yelled back at her that I did not FLY over the bridge and there is no sign posted anyways. I went on the say how much easier it is to put up a sign then to yell at everyone who goes over the f’d up bridge and that maybe they should think about fixing as well. I got the impression that she unconsciously liked that she had something to start yelling at people about at the get go. That would explain the absence of a sign. BTW, this happened over a year ago so maybe there is a sign now, I don’t know.
Anyways, you can see I was already not happy when I walked into the mold infested hangar they call home. Greg proceeds to sell me on the sport by starting with how dangerous paragliding is because I expressed interest in it. Fine, I don’t care about that even though I’ve done my research and know he’s full of shit. Both sports have their dangers, I know.
What I do care more about is his general confrontational and condescending attitude. He strikes me as the type of person who has to have the last word and be right about everything. I was the only one who showed up that morning for a beginners lesson so he was spending plenty of time with me and putting on the hard sell. I just didn’t like him as a person and knew I was going to end up in a fight with him eventually so I told him I was leaving. I respected myself enough to not put up with someone I really didn’t like. Later that day I was visiting a friend in Kerhonkson who knew Greg and said he is a total dick and that I made the right choice by leaving. Since then I started taking paragliding lessons on Long Island and I’m loving it. If you really want to take hang gliding lessons there is a guy who is the regional director for the USHPA and has his training right there at the same field as MW. His name is Paul Voight and his school is called Fly High. They use a tow system and people say nice things about him. I haven’t gone there yet but I am planning on it in the future. I know I’ll never go back to mountain wings. Here is the link. — flyhighhg dot com
Hope this helps.

They are super-​nice and are very willing to accept new people into their community of pilots, even if only for a weekend. I came as a beginner and got very good instruction — they were always supportive — even if the flight wasn’t the best.
Hang-​gliding in general can be a bit finicky because of how strongly it depends on winds and weather conditions, so it can be hard to predict and schedule the best flight times for beginners. But — when you are able to get on the hill (and in the air!), it is a wonderful experience!

Not too surprised to find all the negative reviews. All i did was call to get some info and the owner was rude and arrogant. I will avoid even attempt at going to this place.

My girlfriend and I had an excellent full day at Mountain Wings, under the guidance of Greg and Sharon.
We had read the Unilocal reviews before going up there, and were prepared for the «North Korean training camp» that was described in some of the reviews. It was nothing at all like a North Korean training camp. Although the instructors lost patience at times, and yelled often at the beginning, it was clear that this was more a sign of their determination to get us to learn (I am a High School classroom teacher myself, and know the difference very well). As I gradually made improvements, the instructors gave a lot more encouragement and positive reinforcement.
The other six students had only signed up for a half day lesson. My girlfriend and I paid for a full day, and spent several hours working with Sharon on our own. Sharon was an incredible instructor. The lesson was supposed to end at 4:30, but she stayed with us well beyond that… until past 7pm, just as the sun was setting. She was patient, encouraging, friendly, and gave us hours of guidance. She told us all about the sport, showed us videos during a break we took, and enthusiastically answered dozens of questions we had about hang gliding.
This experience was entirely due to a $ 90 deal we got through google offers (the same Zozi deal), which turned out to be one of the best deals I have ever bought. Mountain Wings should start offering tandem hang gliding within the next year, and I am dying to go back there, experience a real mountain jump, and learn more about the sport.

My boyfriend and I took a full day class here this weekend and I’ll tell ya, we got a great deal! We used a google offer for $ 90 per person and started at around 8:30 or 9am and didn’t leave the place until a little after 7pm! This was thanks to Sharon who stayed late with us even though we were the only students :-)
When we first got there I was skeptical that this was going to be any fun, seeing as how the day would mainly consist of running up and down a hill with a large heavy contraption on your shoulders. But I have to admit, it WAS a lot of fun! And a great workout too!
At one point in the afternoon we waited out some bad wind inside the office/​garage and hung out with Sharon, the owner’s girlfriend and her dog for a bit and watched hang gliding videos and discussed the sport and all the things you can do with it. My impression of hang gliding very different prior to coming here and now I think it is something I would actually think of taking up, if I had the funds. They staff said they will probably be offering tandem hang glides from a higher altitude next year, maybe in the Spring and I’d definitely be down for that!
I supposed the reviews might be accurate when it comes to Greg… not sure why he is like that. But I didn’t work with him for too long so I can’t say much. But I thought Sharon was awesome! And since we had her all afternoon for just the two of us we really got to see what a great teacher she is. She obviously loves what she does since she stayed with us so late, doing one run after the other. She really wanted us to succeed as well as enjoy ourselves.
I’d definitely recommend this place to others.

As other reviewers have noted Greg can come off as tough on students. Stanford researcher Nir Eyal has shown that it’s important to focus on mistakes and mental toughness when learning a technical skill or adventure sport:
Within the USHPA, Greg is considered one of the best instructors in the country and produces excellent pilots. In order for Greg to work at that level, he DOES need to focus on mistakes and correcting them to prevent students from developing bad habits. Sometimes that involves negative reinforcement.
Greg’s two other teachers, Dave and Sharron Hopkins, are also amazing. Dave has been teaching for 25 years and has set the Northeast record for distance flying– flying all the way from Ellenville to Boston. He is incredibly generous in sharing his flying experiences and discussing launch technique. Dave is very patient with beginner pilots and is an excellent instructor to work with on the first day.
For first day pilots:
–80% chance you will get in the air your first day– probably a few feet off the ground on the training hill; 60% chance you’ll get multiple flights. Listen to Dave, Sharron, and Greg and try to relax and keep a lose grip on the glider.
–You’ll know if you want to spend thousands of dollars doing this after your first day or not.
For pilots who thinking about the full package:
–Get ready to carry a glider up the hill hundreds of times. Sometimes in warm, humid weather.
–There will be some yelling. Sometimes. You need to focus on your mistakes now to avoid making them in the future.
–Ellenville’s weather doesn’t always cooperate with you. Sometimes the wind is too strong, sometimes there is rain, sometimes the wind is coming in the wrong direction. Hang gliding teaches you patience.
–It’s more fun than you can imagine.
–I’ve never seen someone get more than a bruise or two on the training hill. Just downtubes broken. Because of better gliders and training, hang gliding is a much safer sport today than it was 30 years ago.
–It’s totally worth the time, effort, and money. Totally.

Surprised to see all the negative reviews. I had an awesome time at my introductory lesson at Mountain Wings and am considering signing up for more of them (did anyone else know that Metro North goes all the way out to Port Jervis — 20 miles away?).
A few things to know before you take your first lesson here: you won’t be getting (solo) airtime on your first day, so ignore the LivingSocial ad that shows the aerial view of the Catskills (you can do a tandem flight though, which would probably be mad fun). And it’s a lesson, not a tour, so you need to have a good attitude, take things seriously, and be ready to accept and internalize constructive criticism (otherwise you will be running down hills all day). That’s what you’re paying for, it’s not like the instructors do anyone a favor by patting them on the back all day. And you shouldn’t be in the air if you don’t have the two fundamentals — taking off and landing — down pat (unless you want to crash and die).
And it’s a fun workout. Didn’t even realize how many times I ended up running up and down the hills (I won’t pretend I was good at getting off the ground) but throughout the day I felt like a kid, which says a lot, given my haggard lifestyle.
Moreover, they’re extremely accomodating for people who are interested in taking lessons. With permission, you can set up camp nearby and just hike over to the lesson the next morning. Could be an affordable way to get into an adventure sport (still waiting on that bonus to come through so I can take up alpine mountaineering, you know). If you live in the area, they offer unlimited lessons for a full year for just under two thou. Unlimited?!

The activity of hang gliding can be a lot of fun and very exciting. Unfortunately, when the instructor/​owner (Greg) is a total jerk and a bad teacher, it pretty much takes all the fun out of it. The assistant instructor, Kit, was a terrific guy and I probably would have had a much better experience had I taken the lesson with him. If you’re interested in learning hang gliding, I would highly encourage it but I would also suggest going else where.

The owner and main instructor, a man by the name of Greg, is some sort of bitter wannabe dictator whose only accomplishment these days is to make his students feel miserable. The guy manages to take the fun away from learning the sport. He runs the training center as a military academy in North Korea.
So unless you are in the mood to be yelled by a grumpy, old dude, stay away!!! However, if you are a shrink, please have a go at him!!!

Came here with a meetup group and a Zozi deal for an all day introductory class into single hang gliding for 90 bucks. It has a nice open field and small hills perfect for training. While Greg, the primary instructor was very knowledgeable — not a lot of us liked his yelling and condescending/​sarcastic attitude. It’s apparent he’s probably the owner or something and have done it for too long. The other guys were great though — most particularly the new guy Kit hailing from Texas. Very sincere and patient. The facilities are ok but I suppose the gear could use a bit more washing. Not gonna lie, I sweat like a pig. I loved the dogs running around in the field — but it’s not particularly fun when you mistep into poop. 4 stars nonetheless!

mountain wings is awesome, excellent training hill and excellent instructors.

Got a great lesson a while back. It was awesome. By no means am I a hang gliding pilot, but maybe someday with more lessons. Everyone says this is the best training hill in the North-​East region. I’ll update this review when I get more lessons.