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Entire News Archive

Annecy 2015 - 4th day
Annecy 2015 - 3rd day
Annecy 2015 - 2nd day
Annecy 2015 - 1st day
Handy Hammock Launch
Outdoor Trophy - Press Release
More Niagara Flying
Niagara Flying
Jason and Roy resume training
Closing down sale
Ike
Slovenia Paragliding Trip - 1
Free paragliding magazine
Paragliding Accomodation in France
DVD Review - Flying the Falls
Himalayan paragliding
PPG Training (Sunday)
PPG Training (Saturday)
Annecy - Jason's 2nd dbag - final day
Annecy 2007 - Mont Blanc - day 7

Who Killed The Electric PPG
Who Killed The Electric PPG
Christmas Presents for Paraglider Pilots
Christmas Presents for Paraglider Pilots
Come fly with us
Hi Mark
Hi Mark
Hi Mark
Hi Mark
Where are you based
Where are you based
Finger Lakes this weekend
Finger Lakes this weekend
Don't unclip your leg-straps if you might re-launch
Don't unclip your leg-straps if you might re-launch
Italy valley flight
Italy valley flight
Italy valley flight
Italy valley flight
Free Paragliding T-shirts designs

Alpine Sky Tours - 2004

I would like to thank Dave, Toby & Fritz at 'Alpine Sky Tours' for two excellent holidays. It's just a shame that I now live in Canada. I guess I'll have to start saving for the air fare! If you've not flown in the Alps before you don't know what you are missing. Car parking near take off, launch matting/ramps. Cafes at launch and landing. Stunning, massive scenery and great food. I can't wait to be back there.
(Day 1) (Day 2) (Day 3) (Day 4) (Day 5) (Day 6) (Day 7)

Day 4

We were fed and ready to go by 10 am. Piling in to the minibus we arrived by just after 12 noon. Noone was in the air yet as the spring thermals were not yet strong enough to keep anyone aloft, so Dave decided to show everyone the landing field first. We were at the take off nearest the old town close to the "Foret D'Aventur" (a tree top rope climbing assault course). Already there were more than fifty pilots at launch which was about 1100m asl. By 1pm there were a few pilots up in the air. Now began the jostle to get a space on the launch matting. For anyone who has not flown at a busy site the routine is simple. Sort your kit out off of the mat. Bunch it up. Join the end of the queue, and when it is your turn launch quickly.

I launched first out of our group. Jason was soon up with me. Despite taking-off with helmet-mounted camera and all the gear for some great video footafe Jason did not manage to record anything! (Apart from some stills) due to a lead coming lose during his launch. Bugger! It would have been some stunning footage. It gets quite crowded in the air around take off.

Initially thermals were weak and it took Jason some time to climb from 1050 (below launch) to 1400 m asl. At 1400 m asl he caught a nice thermal all the way to 2300 m asl and during the climb was swamped by about 20 paragliders who'd seen him mark the thermal for them. I was soon one of these sheep. Thanks Jase!! He has some great photos of the lake from this altitude.Whilst Jason was happy to land after two hours i was in no hurry to leave this beautiful place. Only problem was my bladder was getting rather full. This is where my aerial urination skills honed from previous trips came in!! Now depending on the amount of liquid and flow rate.... it takes about 1500ft to have a pee. Plus it is good manners to make sure you are away from other gliders below you. The into wind downward aim technique is infinitely more successful than anything else I have tried. You certainly don't want to start messing about with any gadgets (some people do). With everyone else down I decided to come in to land burning off excess height with a nice little spiral dive. As I am executing this I hear and feel I tidy little ripping noise (see video at the point where I look down (6 secs into clip)). Oh dear..... I thought this is not good. With my heart rate a little elevated I gently eased out of the spiral. After a quick check I worked out what had ripped. It was a minor strap affecting the geometry of the harness slightly (letting my right leg hang slightly lower). I blagged a simple repair, packed up and was soon picked up by Dave who had just picked up South African Steven from the landing field by the lake and then headed back to the foret d'adventure to pick me up. He also gave a lift to a random French pilot on the way to the next take-off at Montmin (following signs Col de la Forclaz). We arrived at take-off at 6:10pm and launched soon afterwards. This launch was higher (1288 m asl) and less crowded as it was now early evening and many pilots were happy for the day. The lift was smooth but weaker and the flying was much more challenging. With such weak lift it was still relatively easy to maintain height, but height gain was difficult. I set myself a goal of 400m height gain before I set off to land. It took a while but eventually I made my goal and headed off to the landing field with enough height for one last spiral.

If you have never flown Annecy GO THERE.

The content of this site is ï¿½ Mark Andrews 2005-12, mandrews1973@gmail.com