It’s always a pleasure to instruct and spend time with Tabor, he demonstrates his commitment every time he’s with us and the results show, we were especially proud to see him compete in the Acro World Cup with us in 2024 and look forward to big things in 2025.
Why choose RISE?
I registered for my first RISE course in October 2022. A friend of mine, JD Cutler was a longtime student of Theo, so it was a natural next step. It was an amazing course, in Jack’s group. So like many others, I picked the course because I knew the guys had the experience. The real question is why have I done five courses with RISE?
It’s almost easier to answer that one: RISE is a family. An international, trilingual, passionate and welcoming family that will support your flying journey all over the world. I wrote once in post something that I think sums it up: Legends become mentors, mentors become friends.
Really, I should have written one more thing: friends become family. And that is something I need as an American with big acro goals. I spent over six months in 2024 on the other side of the planet from my home, my (original) family, and other friends. Chasing acro dreams can be a lonely, frustrating, painful, and sometimes Sisyphean task. But since that first course, Jack, Cesar, and Theo have been there. Pointing me in the right direction, reminding me that I need to enjoy the process, sitting on launch together, sharing the sky, and sometimes even making family dinners.
Here’s to the constantly growing RISE family.
This year’s goals?
Fly somewhere new
Stay healthy
Fly for fun, but train hard
Fly in all three AWQ’s
Where will / did you paraglide this year?
2024: Arizona, California, Colorado, Spain, France, Turkey
2025: The same, plus at least one new place. Still undecided. The AWQ will bring me to new spots in the Alps, but I’d like to find somewhere new and chill to just recharge and enjoy.
What harness and glider do you fly?
Emilie Peace 2 18m, Woody Valley Mk1.
I’ve been flying the Emilie for almost four years now: first a 22m I flew until it was soft as silk, a 20m I flew until it needed a new lineset then nearly split in half, and am now on an 18m. I’ve tried many of the other acro gliders, and they’re all impressive and fun machines. But the Emilie has taken care of me in so many situations, and the consistency in feel across the sizes has smoothed my transitions between them. When you start flying with an Emilie, you can expect soft and forgiving brake pressures, easy to catch in backfly when things go sideways. As you progress, you’ll discover that the Emilie provides an incredible amount of information through the brakes. It’s the only wing that I can say feels like an extension of my body.
When not paragliding what do you do?
Work
Audiobooks
Hang out with ravens
OneWheel
Lego
Board games
Juggle
One piece of paragliding advice for the year ahead?
There are so many hard-learned lessons I’m bringing into the 2026 season. So I’ll boil it down to one thing I’ve taken from each of the guys.
Blaise: remember the work you’ve done; you didn’t get here on accident
Jack: practice with intention
Theo: find balance between full power and zero confidence
Cesar: believe and commit; tell myself “you got this”
You can follow Tabor’s progress on Instagram