For the Improver and advanced
pilot
Flights of 3000’ are
available in the locality with plenty of thermal and cross-country
potential for the more advanced. The area was used for the 1999 World
Championships and offers massive XC
potential .
Improvers
-
(Anyone
below CP AND at least 25 hours AND mountain experience)
Cost 7 nights
£395.00 Plus insurance and flight
BOOK NOW
Using your own kit and
requiring Guidance and site advice only - not instruction.
Advanced
-
(At least
Pilot standard)
Cost 7 nights
£285.00 Plus
insurance and flight
BOOK NOW
Using own kit or hiring
(list below) and requiring only transport and guide. Must be
Pilot rating or higher. Absolutely no instruction included.
Non-flying Partners
Cost 7 nights
£150.00 Plus
insurance and flight
BOOK NOW
Non-flyers are welcome to join us
and, provided they have taken out
insurance, tandem flights can be provided by the current British Tandem
Champion and International Competition Pilot, Tony Delaney. (these must be
pre-booked in the UK)
*accommodation
shared with another pilot unless you have booked
private room and paid
the extra cost. Group will share fuel costs.
How do you get there ?
Once you have reserved
your place with us we will advise of available pick up times from Geneva
airport
to the destination.
********************All courses exclude insurance ************************
You may
provide your own, but it must provide complete paragliding cover including
helicopter rescue, hospitalisation, repatriation, third
party liability. You should ensure that a copy
of the relevant cover is provided at our office 4 weeks before departure.
If your insurance is not valid, we reserve the right to cancel your
holiday. If less than 4 weeks before departure there will be no refund.
We are able to arrange this on
request, no later than 4 weeks before departure at a cost of £65 for
one week.
***********************************************************************************
Parapente -
French Alps Revisited
Date ....3rd September
Location....Liverpool
Airport ( a portacabin on the banks of the Mersey with a runway short
enough to test the spot landing skills of a EP)
Our mission ... a week
in the French Alps with Airborne
The story......
Liverpool Airport
security were alerted to some dodgy characters lugging around rucksacks
and excessively overweight hand luggage. Tension mounted as they took over
the queue for the EasyJet flight to Geneva but it soon became apparent
that they were not an extremist rambling association break away group but
Airborne International on their most recent foray into the French Alps.
The 8 intrepid
adventurers, fed up with "flying" in good ol' blighty, had signed up for a
weeks thermalling continental style in the birthplace of parapente (that's
paragliding for the francophobes amongst us) with our trusted alpine guide
- Tony. The flight over was event free (and food free), 2 hours long, with
a chance to see some fantastic cloud formations and practise the
franglaise. We landed at Geneva and met up with the final member of the
party, Roger, who had the great fortune to fly in luxury from Luton,
centre of the aviation universe.
Once reunited with our
canopies we made our way to the minibus. We knew this was going to be a
classy trip.... a brand new blue Mercedes minibus stood waiting for us.
After an initial inspection we realised that this was not a minibus but
was in fact the Tardis.....10 people, 9 paragliders and assorted hand
luggage into a bootless 9 seater Mercedes does a Tardis make. Tony's eye
glinted with a sadistic satisfaction safe in the knowledge that the bus
would never be the same again as John and Steve leapt upon it's virgin
roof to strap on as much luggage as we thought would avoid the attentions
of Hertz and the Swiss Police.
As we toured the road
network of Switzerland it became apparent that the Swiss did not want us
to leave for France due to the complete absence of road signs. But despite
the combined efforts of John (map reader extra-ordinaire) and Tony (the
Mikka Hakenen of the minibus world) the party arrived at Mieussy. Madame
Bouffant and Rene Artois (aka our hosts) welcomed us with scepticism to
the Hotel L'Acceuill Savoyard as pilots and baggage brought reception to a
standstill. Dinner was waiting for us - full board for the week was a
wonderful thing for hungry pilots. It was a mixture of table d'hôte and
DIY, the hungry soon learnt to fry their own minute steaks or turn their
hand to the French equivalent of Fondue. Meals were 4 or 5 courses with
plenty to squabble over and an excess of local cheese, wines and coffee.
The rooms were great with on suite facilities, all with alpine views and
the hotel boasted an outdoor swimming pool for the brave, the fool hardy
or Pete!
Our first day dawned and
after copious cups of coffee and croissants we set off towards Samoens.
Those of us used to the more relaxed Delaney 10.30am Tenerife starts were
a bit shocked at the "up and at 'em" 9.30am kick off but low airtime
pilots and those with hangovers soon realised the advantage of this -
beautiful smooth flying! Samoens gave us all the chance to get to grips
with paragliding alpine style - nil wind forward launches proved something
of a novelty for the "I can launch in 20mph winds" reverse launch
pilots... so practise those "big legs".
The local scenery is
stunning with views to Mont Blanc.Every other field in the valley is a
potential cop out landing site, but that's no excuse when the main landing
sites are massive, manicured all with spot targets, wind socks, club
house/shop and vehicle access. Luxury!!. The valley sides are forested and
quickly give way to shear rock faces up to a thousand feet high, the white
rock being an excellent thermal trigger - in addition to that well known
thermal source - the river bed - experienced at Samoens. The launch sites
are grassy, well laid out and top drivable ( at least for the mad buggers
from Team Rally Airborne who just prayed that Hertz didn't do tyre checks)
Typical top to bottoms
are 3000ft and provide a 15 - 20 minute morning or evening smooth glide
for those who want to take in the views. Mid day thermal activity and
anabatic wind give limitless potential for the more experienced pilots.
Low airtime CP's can get their first taste of 10km out and return flights
and most people got 2 -3 hours airtime a day. The Arcus Display Team (aka
John, Steve, Roger, Pete) treated themselves to a 14km XC from Mieussy to
Samoens. It wasn't planned but John decided he wanted to buy a "I've been
to Samoens" T shirt - and the rest just followed. How they ever managed to
navigate themselves down that long straight valley remains a mystery. John
just beat Steve to "goal" by an unorthodox route through the trees. Rowan
also went along for the trip but it was never certain whether he was after
the T shirt or just going to the Super Marche for more gin.
The team flew everyday
and the weather was warm (no need to pack the damart) with blue skies
building to spectacular cumulus clouds - but watch out for the 'orriblegraphic
just before lunch - compasses are recommended. After a while we got bored
with 2 hour flights so when arriving at the landing field with just
2,500ft to spare the B- line boys decided to find out just what all those
lines really did. The next few days saw a procession of B- line stalls,
wing overs and spiral dives. John even decided that this was the place to
go for a full stall but for some reason no-one followed him!
This aerobatic display
necessitated the invention of a competitive scoring system - from which
was born the sphincto and colongraphic rating. Winner of the week was
Julian who's impromptu spiral dive and fastest top to bottom earned him a
score well into " change into clean underwear" and new lederhosen for the
Dutch trainee EP's who happened to have ring side seats. (Rule No1 for
Alpine flying - check those lines before launch). Second by a rasping fart
was John who's dedication to finding 101 ways in which to make a perfectly
good flying canopy resemble a bag of washing had us reaching for the
Andrex.
The highlight of the
week had to be Tony's historic reconstruction of the first ever parapente
flight. Our host, Rene, had produced what resembled a shopping bag from
his cellar and proceeded to explain that it was his own parapente dated
1985 - he had in his day been one of the pioneers of parapente. Having
cleared out the moths and wiped off the mildew those of us with our feet
firmly on the ground declared the 9 cell "Mighty Mac" airworthy and it was
presented to Tony for a "bit of ground handling".
Next time we looked the Mighty Mac was airborne at 3000ft
and making for the landing field. Pilots cleared a hole in the sky as Tony
and the Mac glided (or was it falling with style) at a 1 in 2 glide ratio
- the cruciform figure of Tony a testament to the tight fitting,
minimalistic but totally authentic 1985 harness. And for a finale Mr
Delaney cleared the trees and landed a mere 10 metres from the spot -
smiling in triumph and only slightly compromised in the "wedding tackle"
department.
After each day's flying,
tired but satisfied!!, we capped off the evening on the gin balcony - with
enough alcohol to fill lake Geneva. The back drop of mountains was
spectacular and a steady flow of Dutch trainee pilots over head provided
the early evening entertainment- what more could you want!!
Six days of top alpine
flying saw us at the end of our trip and our mission completed. The week
had allowed us all to experience the French Alps in our own way and had
provided great flying for all pilots, ranging in skills from CP +2 to
experienced pilots. We'd also met pilots from France, Holland, Germany and
the States and got to know new fellow paramaniacs from the UK. We'd seen
stunning scenery, experienced off roading in a Mercedes minibus and DIY
dinners, flown at the birthplace of parapente and bought the T -shirt!
Are we going again?...
you bet!
(Er...there will be
another trip won't there Tony?)
France,
