Paragliding in and around the Chamonix Valley offers anyone who joins the courses the opportunity to fly in one of the most beautiful areas in the world.
At Alpine Ascent we will use the best flying sites available to us, from high mountain takes offs to lower alpine pasture take offs. We are fortunate to have a large variety of sites to fly in all wind directions with in Chamonix and the surrounding area.
To courses will begin with a brief on the first morning about the outline of the course, the weather for the next few days and the sites that will be best to fly. Gavin will then do a thorough check of your harness set up and reserve and make sure you have your vario’s and GPS set up correctly before we go flying.
All flights are preceded by a visit to the landing field and a brief on valley winds and landing field etiquette. The first flights are usually done from either the friendly sites of Plan Praz in Chamonix or just down the hill at Plan Joux. Both of these sites offer a good sized take off area, landing field and are good warm up sites.
For the rest of the course Gavin and the instructors will decide on the best site to fly depending on the weather and the overall goals of the group. At Alpine Ascent we always make the best of each day and pick the site with the most XC potential and give you a through brief on the site, route and best thermal sources.
On the courses you will learn a number of new skills along with consolidating old ones:
- how to master the alpine forward launch technique
- using your vario to centre in the thermal
- ground sources and how to pick out where the best lift maybe coming from
- flying with other gliders and how to use them as indicators of lift
- the importance of efficient gliding and use of your accelerator system
- psychology of flying and ways to motivate, reduce stress and prepare for a flight
- landing out and field choice
Course Dates for 2007
We are able to offer both 4 day weekends and a week stay in our chalet for groups of 6 people.
Course dates for a weekend are:
3rd – 7th May
10th – 14th May
17th – 21st May
And for week dates as follows:
5th – 12th May
12th – 19th May
19th – 26th May
