A little bit about myself...
Advanced Instructor and Tandem 3 @ USHPA.
Senior instructor ratings @ the Canadian association HPAC.
I have spent almost my entire life in pursuit of sports. Alpine skiing for 24 years; snowboarding for 8 years; 10 years mountain biking; eight years practicing and teaching extreme white water kayaking and 3 years hang gliding. In 1988, on a skiing trip to British Columbia, I discovered paragliding and it became an integral part of my life. I returned to Quebec with a desire to start a school...to teach and spread the sport. My engineering career and my workday in an office building were soon replaced by ecole de parapente Survol and the mountain summit became my new business venue.
From 1989 to 1994, SURVOL was under exclusive contract with the largest ski area in Eastern Canada, Mont Sainte-Anne. It was the most successful school in the province, and after five years, the business grew from just a tandem ride operation (about 3000 tandem rides to date) to a year-round school, a retail enterprise and a guiding service for pilot tours to South America and Europe. We had to develop training hills and open new take-offs to insure a high level of safety and access but after getting the news that the Blackcomb school located in Whistler BC was for sale, the decision was to GO West. Many of the students we trained opened schools all over the province in the years following the move.
After taking over the management of the local Paragliding school in 1995, I discovered what a marvelous area this was to paraglide. After developing new sites to improve safety and to accommodate more pilots "Beautiful British Columbia" became a Cross-country paradise with ceilings up to 14,000 feet, long valleys and glaciers everywhere. We had as many as 40 clients a day (more than any school in North America) but the wet weather became a hindrance and forced me to explore South of the border.
Having earned the privilege to compete on the Canadian National Team in the World Paragliding Championship in Spain in 1997 and being a certified advanced tandem Instructor (with ~ 5000 logged tandems with perfect safety record), I feel especially responsible for providing comprehensive attention and information to those who have become as attached to this compelling sport as I have... most of all to our students (about 1,500 in the last 15 years), to the instructors we have trained and certified.
The decision to move to California was easy. Three hundred plus flyable days a year (BC has about 300 wet stormy days a year on average) and a variety of sites that make it perfect for a school. Ojai is where I organized 2 competitions after negotiating with the Los Padres National Forest rangers to open up (clearing and landscaping to improve safety and ease of use), the main site "Chief" and structuring the local Association (South Coast Paragliding Association) with the USHPA chapter and insurance.
The years 2000 to 2002 were the years to develop the most innovative PPG, "the SYNERGY". California being a very good place to develop, test and manufacture a product like this one. It is now selling in 4 continents!
In 2003, the logical progression was to develop new sites with high visibility, closer to Los Angeles. What will probably become one of the best areas to paraglide in the USA, year round, paved all the way up access, landing on beaches and access to National Parks and Santa Monica Mountain Conservancy! Thirty miles of coastal mountains with amazing fauna and flora with clean air and scenic views! Not mentioning a training facility right on the coast where the temperature is about 20 degrees cooler!
In 2006, I have worked for many reality shows as well as filming for movie production companies and music videos. Cold Turkey, He’s a lady, Date my mom, Blind date, I propose,.. Get out Los Angeles, Love on the Rocks, The big Makeover, Envy, Ten Years Younger, Great Adventures, Couple's Night Out, Smash Lab...
I hope you will give me the opportunity to convince you our products and services are superior in many ways! Our sport is at its infancy, we (pilots) have to educate the population and work with local communities to expand the sport and the best way to get there is to work positively as a structured group to keep everybody happy for years to come.
Thank you very much for your support!
BTW, we need help this summer. Are you a certified instructor or tandem pilot? Are you experienced, clean, polite and skilled?
Send a brief resume today.
