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Annecy 2015 - 4th day
Annecy 2015 - 3rd day
Annecy 2015 - 2nd day
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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
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Hi Mark
Hi Mark
Hi Mark
Hi Mark
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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

Annecy (the sequel!) - 2005

This was a great trip. I got to fly with my twin brother Jason, parents Janet and Brian, girlfriend Emmalyn and friends Suzanne, Andy and Chris DAYS NUMBERED AS -4,-3 etc WERE BEFORE THE TRIP (this was confusing Jason a little bit)
(Day -4) (Day -3) (Day -2) (Day -1) (Day 1) (Day 2) (Day 3) (Day 4) (Day 5) (Day 6) (Day 7) (Day 8)

Day 6

Sunday 31st July 2005

After yesterday`s adventure in communication failure, I had (in my haste!) promised Emmalyn that I would not fly unless I got a mobile phone working. The credit had run down, earlier in the week, when I received a call from Andy. Jason had forgotten his password for a credit card top up (idiot!) so my only options were to buy a top up card or new sim card.

Since there would be no flying until midday we drove into Annecy`s touristy centre. This place is a postcard photographer`s wet dream; old buildings, church, canal, hanging baskets everywhere.

We spent a while looking for top up cards ` no luck. After a good look around we settled on a restaurant with outdoor seating (to avoid the cigarette smoke that accompanies good food, in France). I chose a seat that meant I was able to see the mountain in the distance. That way I could monitor whether anyone was flying or not.
The food was delicious. Actually, all the food we ate on the trip was superb. I was getting anxious at the time we were taking to eat lunch, much to Emma`s amusement as she ordered dessert and proceeded to savour every mouthful very slowly.

We finally made our way to the launch mat. Emma had agreed that I could fly using the radio to contact Jason in an emergency. It was not a foolproof plan, but then I wasn`t planning on any emergencies!

Launch area was pretty crowded with pilots of both persuasions, although today was really the hangies day. They were able to fly without us annoying `jellyfish` swarming all over the place and pushing them out of lift.

After watching a couple of tandem guys struggle (a bit) and seeing some performance wings barely penetrating most pilots decided to stay grounded for now and wait it out. I say most pilots because I do remember one guy who seemed to take off vertically and then fly backwards over take off. This was something that the rest of us were keen to avoid....so we waited....and waited.

Two and a half hours later, I was sat on the edge of the mat watching with keen interest as the first pilot (for a while) decided it was calming down enough to launch. He was right and soon pilots were rustling their kit out of their bags. Not me! I was laid out on the mat ready to go within minutes and managed (again) to avoid the scrum to get on the launch mat.

Once up I headed out over the ridge towards La Tournette, gaining height all the way. It was lifty everywhere, and really smooth. I went to Jason`s little zig-zag path spot. This is the area which seems to give you a free ride above La Tournette whenever you wasnt it. I was soon the highest paraglider as far as I could see (which was nice...).
Since I was well away from other pilots I had a quick pee, losing about a thousand feet in the process, but feeling a lot better for it. By the time I got back to my pr-pee altitude I was joined by several other pilots. One of then in particular, a purple glider, was really getting close. He seemed to fly straight at me unaware that he was causing a problem. This guy was a health hazard so I left him to it and headed off to Les Dentes.

I arrived at the rocky outcrop (does it have a name`) between La Tournette and Les Dentes with stacks of height, and was surprised to see Jason coming over to meet me, only much lower. He seemed to be struggling to find lift. I deliberately lost height to meet him. I wanted to fly with him, but the bugger then proceeded to outclimb me in a thermal and dash off towards Les Dentes. I followed, but had missed the thermal and was now low myself. Then I saw Jason climbing high in a nice thermal over Les Dentes before heading off to cross the lake. He was going for a `petite tour du lac`, something he had done a few times before after learning from other pilots that it is pretty easy. I wasn`t sure how high I would need to be and decided that following him 1000ft below was not the best thing to try.
(In hindsight I now know I had loads of height to play with!).

I played around back and foth along the ridge, but I knew I should have gone too. My flight lasted two and a half hours in total, but I was dissappointed for not making a positive decision to go for it across the lake.

When I did land about an hour later Jason was beaming. He loves beating me at anything, and he knew that I had bottled out. I was determined that tomorrow would be my chance to do the petite tour, after all if Jason can do it how hard can it be?

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