Tandem Instructor Juan A. Laos founded Advanced Paragliding in 2000. A San Francisco Bay Area native, Juan has been involved in aviation since 1983, when he began lessons in piloting small aircraft. Always interested in other forms of flight, Juan began paragliding in 1994, after he was given a hang gliding gift certificate from a friend. Ironically, Juan was not aware of the sport of paragliding, but the hang gliding school he attended offered instruction in both paragliding and hang gliding. Noting the ease and convenience of paragliding versus hang gliding, Juan opted to learn paragliding. It immediately became his passion and he embraced the sport completely, continuing his paragliding education and becoming an instructor in 1997 and a tandem instructor in 1998. Juan has been instructing non-stop since 1997, and has had thousands of injury free flights, including hundreds of tandem instructional and recreational flights.

Juan loves to teach and has a patient enthusiasm that makes learning to fly an easy and enjoyable experience for all Advanced Paragliding students. "I love flying and I love sharing the sport with others. Watching our students grow and learn to be pilots gives me an enormous sense of satisfaction. I strive to make our instructional programs comfortable, fun, and informative. I am very proud of the fact that none of our students has ever had an accident while under instruction or after they have left our tutelage. I have to admit that I get a bit jealous when I see one of my former students flying better than I do! It also makes me very proud!"

Juan is a USHGA certified Advanced Instructor, Instructor Training Program Administrator, Tandem Instructor and Tandem Administrator. In addition, he serves on the site committee for both Ed Levin and Mission for the    local flying sites administered by the Wings of Rogallo paragliding/hang gliding club.

Juan's instructional background includes many years as a California certified teacher, soccer coach, track coach, basketball coach and trainer.

Julie knew she wanted to fly the moment she saw her first paraglider in 1990. She completed her training that year and hasn’t looked back. It is safe to say that since learning to fly, she has not taken a vacation (or honeymoon) without bringing her wing along. Julie loves the quiet, meditative flying found when coastal soaring and also the more intense, exciting work to get high in thermals. After years of telling anyone who would listen how great it is to paraglide, she realized she wanted to introduce her friends more completely to flying.

As an Advanced-rated pilot, Julie brings 15 years of fun, safe flying and a broad knowledge of many sites and lessons learned from watching and sharing flights with many other pilots. With experience as both a coach and trainer, Julie has a keen analytic eye that quickly identifies where her students are having problems and where they are getting it right. Her mixture of positive and constructive feedback helps students assimilate the skills quickly and thoroughly. Now a Basic Instructor and Paragliding Observer, Julie is an Advanced Paraglider Pilot who prides herself on communicating both the key elements and bigger picture needed to become a complete pilot.

Where does the urge to fly come from? For Gever, he has been dreaming of flying for as long as he can remember. Starting as a teenager he polished aluminum aircraft in exchange for flying lessons at the Little River Airport in Mendocino County. Some years later, he would try hang-gliding lessons at Marina Beach in Monterey, before overhearing a co-worker describe paragliding. To him it sounded almost like a dream... two days later he was in the air, and two days after that he purchased his first paraglider. His intense desire helped him finish the course in record time, and soon after that he had his first teaching experience when he introduced his future wife to the sport.

Endless hours of ground handling in the absence of flyable conditions taught Gever patience and an intimate understanding of the aerodynamics of the paraglider. Years of casually teaching friends and family everything from snowboarding to programming, required him to communicate effectively and successfully. Altogether this has honed Gever's ability to teach the physical and mental skills required for Paragliding. Having completed his Paragliding Instructor apprenticeship in 2003, Gever is now a Basic Paragliding Instructor, Advanced Paraglider Pilot, Paragliding Observer, and Tandem Paragliding Instructor.