Introduction

This trip will be a superb trip to fly in this stunning part of the French Alps - the same venue as our Fly/Ski trip. We plan to fly from the superb sites in the area such as the Signal de Bisanne and Annecy. The week will culminate in a visit to the amazing flying festival at St Hilaire to watch the world famous fancy-dress fly-off, the Coupe Icare. Every pilot should try to see this at least once - thousands of spectators enthralled by a stream of funny, large, small and in many cases outragious costumes beneath paragliders. We will be based in a traditional French chalet on the edge of the pretty village of Villard-Sur-Doron. It's unlikely you know the area, however, the 3 nearby stations of Les Saisies, Les Contamines and Areches have plenty to offer, both summer and winter.

This is a stunning corner of the Alps - beautiful and unspoilt, not like some other areas. The chalet is in a quiet area, deer and other wildlife can often be seen - from a herd of Chamois on an alpine slope to a deer grazing in the garden!

The flying sites are renowned as excellent starting points for big distance flights and are well suited for the less experienced pilot too. The landing for the main site is 2km up the valley from the chalet and is large and easy. It is also possible to land in the garden in settled conditions! Our base is also only 40mins drive from the Annecy landing area, so the flying potential is excellent. If your french is good enough, take a look at the local site guide.

The Holiday

We have chosen this trip to coincide with quieter conditions in the Alps - both from a number of pilots and thermal conditions point of view. On the trip your guides will help you get the most from your previous experience and to help you improve your skills, be it your first trip to the Alps or your 10th! We will work on improving your understanding of the conditions experienced in the Alps and the following flying skills:

• Take-offs in light winds
• Landing approaches, predicting the conditions
• Where to find lift, how to exploit it
• Thermalling techniques
• Finding the next thermal
• XC techniques

We will also have a tandem glider available for non-flyers to get into the air or to use as a coaching tool.

The closest site, Bisanne, is immediately in front of the chalet and faces south-east so works well from early in the morning to midday. Lunch in the sun and then theres still time to go to Annecy which works well into the evening. (Last September we were still thermalling at 7pm!!)

The week will culminate in a trip to St Hilaire (about 1 hour away) for the biggest paragliding party on the planet. If the weather cooperates we'll watch with the other 30,000 spectators as every manner of costume imaginable hurls itself off the 2500' launch! There is also a huge retail exhibition and all sorts of other stuff going on. Check out the Coupe Icare website for more info on this, or take a look at the Youtube video below to get a feel of this amazing event:

Our 2007 strip was a huge success with 6 out of 7 flyable days and all pilots enjoying some memorable flights. Most days we managed to fly at two different sites! The last flight of the trip was one to remember with a top to bottom of 4500' and a distance travelled of 8.5km! Take a look at the Gallery for some mouth watering images!

What Level Pilot is it for?

You need to be CP qualified. Apart from that we will pick the time or launch point according to your experience. Do remember that this is a coaching trip, not a teaching course so a reasonable level of flying technique is required.

Accomodation

We will have our own chalet which is in the valley bottom at about 650m altitude. It sleeps 10 in a variety of double and twin rooms. The maximum group size is eight so this should be comfortable. The chalet was built in 1813 and is of traditional savoyard design. It has central heating and two wood burning stoves, two bathrooms and large lounge and dining areas. It is set alone with a nice west facing aspect which gets afternoon sunshine. It is at the base of a 2400m mountain and a footpath beside the chalet takes you up into the unspoilt woodland. The chalet is adjacent to the road from Albertville to Beaufort so access is easy. The pretty village of Villard-Sur-Doron is about 15mins walk. There you can find a supermarket, and post office. Beaufort is a stunningly beautiful town and is 10mins drive. In the other direction Albertville is 25mins. Breakfast will be provided (cereals, fresh bread, croisants etc). We envisage a mix of group cooking and dining out - its up to you! Please note that unless the trip is not fully booked, you will be sharing a room with one other person.

What else is there to do?

September is a lovely time of year in the Alps - the weather is usually starting to cool down a touch and the countryside is lovely as it takes on its Autumn hues. However, as always there is a chance of unflyable days so we need to be ready for this. Other activities include:

• Table tennis - we have a table at the chalet!
• Walking
• Climbing - theres a bolted natural crag just up the road
• Mountain biking
• Site seeing - lots of lovely towns and villages to roam in
• Chilling - dont forget, its a holiday!

Getting There

We will pick you up from the airport. You can fly into Geneva from most UK airports. Easyjet are one of the cheapest.

Easyjet fly to Geneva from Liverpool, Newcastle, Gatwick, Luton and other airports. You just need to choose a flight that arrives sometime near the following, recomended flight.

Our recommendations:

If you want to book other flights than these, please talk to us beforehand. We cannot pick up from other airports and these are the times we will be there. You may need to arrange your own transfers if the times do not coincide.

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