Meet The Team
Our world-class team allows us to deliver safe, top quality experiences to our clients. These individuals are experts in what they do and exemplify our values at Northwest Paragliding.
Matt Senior
Owner / XC Guide / Instructor
Matt started flying 18 years ago and hasn't missed a good flying forecast in Washington since. He has set almost every site record in the state at some point, including the Washington State distance record in 2014, landing in Deary, Idaho from Chelan Butte. Matt’s Passion for paragliding has taken him all over the globe competing at the highest level of competition, winning multiple National Championships and a Paragliding World Cup Task win. Matt has organized and guided international paragliding tours to Bali, Nepal, India and Thailand since 2007.
Austin Cox
Owner / XC Guide / Instructor
Austin learned how to fly in Washington in 2015 and since then has dedicated his life to becoming a balanced pilot in all areas of the sport. Cross country, acrobatics, tandem flying are all disciplines he has spent time training and perfecting. These adventures have brought him all over the world to fly paragliders from World Cups in Argentina to multi day bivy flying trips in the Indian Himalaya.
Bill Ford
Basic Instructor
Bill has been with Northwest Paragliding since day one. Starting as an apprentice instructor, Bill has put in the time and dedication to become a full basic instructor and a key member of our team.
Luc Lachapelle
Lead Instructor
Luc LaChapelle’s obsession with paragliding began as a young kid while watching people fly around his hometown. After he learned to fly in 2019, much of his life has been dedicated to progressing as a pilot. He now spends every chance he gets flying XC in the North Cascades. Luc views safety as the top priority and believes that risk can be mitigated through training.
Todd Andreas
Tow boat / Winch Operator
Todd is one of the most experienced tow operators in the United States. He averages over 300 tows a year and has an impeccable safety record. He is a mechanical savant. His winch is a unique design he built himself that includes safety features most standard winches offered commercially do not offer.
Brian Fletcher
XC Guide
Brian started paragliding in 2013, after finding himself in Nepal with a couple of weeks to kill after a month long kayaking expedition. Returning to the PNW, Brian slowly became immersed in flying, finding it to be an amazing vehicle to travel to new places, both at home and abroad. The flying ‘itch’ continued to grow, leading to a healthy mix of competition, XC and tandem flying, as well as a bit of acro training. In a past life, Brian owned a kayak school in Montana, teaching and guiding there and in Chile. He now takes some of that knowledge, along with other life learnings, and applies it when guiding clients of Northwest Paragliding.
Matt Pardis
Tandem Instructor
Matt, is a dual national of the USA and Philippines. Matt learned to fly in 2020 in Costa Rica and never looked back, dedicating himself to 3 years of intensive training to receive his tandem license. Matt might be the new kid on the block but his three years of training have taken him to four continents around the world and gained over 1300 hours of airtime. Matt fly’s most days making him current and consistent in his abilities, not to mention one of the friendliest guys you will fly with.
Robert Fitzgerald
Lead Tandem Instructor
Robert Fitzgerald has been working as a Mountain Guide and instructor since 2015. Since the first time he heard of Paragliding he knew it would be the total encompassment of his mountain pursuits. After 3 years of listening to podcasts, reading books, and ground handling Robert took his first steps off of the hill in 2020 and has been fully engulfed in the sport ever since. He loves to combine his love for traveling with flying, taking trips to Mexico and Colombia and all over the US.
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Forrest Cox
Tandem Instructor
Forrest has spent most of his adult life guiding horseback adventures, backcountry alpine skiing, and paragliding. Not only is Forrest a proficient tandem pilot but also a formidable contender for acrobatic paragliding in the USA. Since 2017 when he learned to paraglide he has dedicated most of his time to flying and building his piloting skillset. His love for the sport has taken him to various destinations worldwide, but he consistently returns to Oludeniz, Turkey every year for acro training.