Paragliding Courses and Holidays

our paragliding holiday center on lake Annecy

We provide a high quality service for Paraglider pilots.

Free Flying Paragliding

Mini paragliding course
Full paragliding courses

Tandem paragliding flights

Annecy Paragliding Sites

Montmin

Coche Cabane

Planfait

Entrevernes

Semnoz

Crete de Chatillon

Marlens

Others

Mini paragliding courses These are one day paragliding courses for pilots wanting to focus on a particular skill or activity. They are stand alone courses covering one of the following topics and tailored to suit your particular needs. Just click the line to find out more.

· An introduction to Annecy paragliding sites
· C P Alpine Refresher
· Active flying in Alpine air - Thermalling
· Making transitions – first XC
· Alpine XC

Mini Courses - 1 Day coaching / guiding plus transport

eg. 1 An introduction to local paragliding flying sites

1. The meteo wind which blows over the valley (indicated by the direction in which clouds are moving). This will affect the aerology of the site. It will change the nature of the flying and can of course make flying difficult or dangerous.
2. The valley wind which blows through the valley (indicated by windsocks on the landing field etc.). This will vary in strength and direction throughout the day, with the air mass and with the season. This may make it difficult or impossible to reach a safe landing area.
3. The wind on launch (indicated by movement of trees etc) This can be most deceptive as there may be no wind bringing the thermals onto the launch. In such cases there may be no wind on launch but flying conditions may be strong, rough or even dangerous.

This may sound daunting but your coach will make it clear and managable.

Your introduction to the local sites will help you to gain knowledge so that you may make sound assessments before and during your flying. Your day will take you to 3 sites. You will learn about the range of variables at each site and how to consider these so that you can decide upon sensible flight plans for your level of experience. So doing you can enjoy paragliding in fantastic surroundings. This is an excellent day to treat your partner to a tandem flight so that you can share the delights. Course price is 150 Euro for one to one coaching or 100 Euro per person in a small group. Book Now

eg 2 CP Refresher course

Paragliding in the Alps is quite different to the UK but you and your glider are just the same. This course is designed to refresh your skills in an enjoyable way so that you can become a top end CP pilot. You will become able to blend with the alpine environment and have fun.

Recreational pilots subject to the demands of career and family rarely have the time or weather conditions to be at the top of their game in every aspect of paragliding. This will naturally lead to some uncertainty and stiffness in action.

All aspects of CP tasks will be considered. They will be tuned to the needs of alpine flying. The areas - Take off - Rapid descent techniques - Landing & approaches - Flight planning will receive close attention. Video will be used in order that subtleties of technique can be analysed and perfected.

Your coach will enable you to play to your strengths and to raise your performance in all areas so that you can enjoy your holiday. Course price is 150 Euro for one to one coaching or 100 Euro per person in a small group. Book Now

eg 3 Thermalling/Active paragliding in Alpine air

Flying in thermic air will cause the paraglidier to pitch, roll, accellerate and decelerate - often in combiation with one another. Active flying is about anticipating and damping these effects. There is no magic to this. What is required is a programme of focussed coaching. In this way your paraglider control becomes more efficient and you the pilot far more comfortable. A day spent with an expert pilot focussing on the appropriate techniques will quickly bring you to top form. This course make use of Tandem Instruction where with you at the controls your coach can encourage your use of feel. In active flying you will come to make full use of the harness as well as the brakes. Timing rather than degree is the most important element in active flying.

Once you have confidence in your wing and an understanding of the air you can begin to thermal efficiently. Here again flying Tandem with your coach you can share an understanding of how and when to best vary the rate of turn and the angle of bank for various types of thermal. This is followed up with solo flying supported over the radio. Course price is 150 Euro for one to one coaching or 100 Euro per person in a small group. Book Now

eg 4 Making transitions – first XC

Many pilots spend most of their time flying in ridge lift. This sharpens up their min sink flying but they often have little experience of best glide. When making transitions either across valleys or between thermals three major components come into play

1 Knowing your gliders best glide 2 Managing best glide through speed control techniques 3 Planning the best route and arrival point.

Learning and developing these skills and applying them to the alpine environment will vastly improve your XC flying.

This coaching day has a sound theoretical base of planning and application. This is complemented by transitions and short XC rounded off with a thorough de brief using GPS analysis of your flights. Course price is 150 Euro for one to one coaching or 100 Euro per person in a small group. Book Now

eg 5 Alpine XC

This is for those pilots who want a companion in the air to help them fly the biggest distance possible. eg Chamonix - Annecy, Annecy - Morzine, St Hillaire - Annecy etc. We've done them all. Course price is 150 Euro for one to one coaching or 100 Euro per person in a small group. Book Now

Full Courses

Full courses are for one week and include the following:-

· Airport transfers
· Transport to launch
· Retrieves
· Flying guide / companion
· Private radio channels for security
· GPS upload, download flight analysis
· Course notes, lectures and maps
· Pre flight briefings, coaching and de briefings
· B&B Accommodation with optional arrangements for lunch and evening meals

· Airport transfers Just give us your flight details and we can pick you up from the airport (Normally Geneva just over an hour away)

· Transport to launch You and your equipment will be whisked to launch in comfort.

· Retrieves You will be shown how to text your GPS landing co ordinates to the retrieve driver. When you do this your driver will reply with an ETA of the vehicle. We use a luxury 4x4 people carrier with air con and fridge. The 2.8 turbo inter cooler ensures that we have the power to pick you up from far up the mountain. This is so that you will not be forced to land in narrow, windy or tree covered valleys but can always choose the safest option. You can then relax and enjoy your return to base. The driver will also be tracking radio communications so that she can stay close to the gaggle. Hopefully your driver will see you land.

· Flying guide / companion Irwyn and Gareth are a highly experienced and competent pair of well qualified alpine mountain XC paragliding guides. They also have the best safety record in the industry - not a single flying client injury in more than 15 years! As resident mountaineers they have walked, skiied and climbed the alps giving them considerable local knowledge of the terrain and climate. They have the experience and ability to set tasks to make the very best of the current conditions. You can be confident of being on the best launch and at the best time to extend your performance to the limit. No Faffing No Waiting Just Flying.

Tactically we do not favour follow the leader or the devil take the hindmost approaches of other courses. We teach gaggle flying so that like wild geese we can support one another to fly even greater distances. This will be interspersed with racing tactics and mini comps. Theoretical preparation sessions are reinforced with in flight radio support on our private channels. We go further because we try harder.

· Private radio channels for security We have ensured that you will be able to talk to the staff and other clients without interference from others. This gives you an unrivalled level of comfort and security. If you don't have a 2 Meter radio you will be able to hire one for the course. If you are bringing you own please remember the manuals so that we can set the frequencies.

· GPS upload, download flight analysis We use CompeGPS / Google Earth and if you bring your laptop you will be able to download a copies for your use. You will also be able to use our wireless broad band internet service. Waypoints and maps are also available for download and full use of the GPS will be taught on the course.

· Course notes, lectures and maps / Pre flight briefings, coaching and de briefings Gareth left school to become a teacher (Maths and PE) whilst Irwyn had an exemplary teaching/management career for 30 years. Class room practices and the management of learning are not just up to speed - they define best practice for others to follow.

· B&B Accommodation with optional arrangements for lunch and evening meals

Our clients keep coming back year after year - often two or three times a year. Every autumn we have fun continuing the restoration of our ancient home. The rooms, showers decor have received their share of attention so Joan has great plans for the garden - bigger terrace, better parking - all sorts of things to fit in between my flying. We often think of the place as a club house and we are always pleased when our clients appreciate the changes. Joan also takes similar care with menus. More and more people have dietary needs and she enjoys the challenge.

Examples from previous years:-

1 Alpine flying Intro to Expert XCLINIX

2 Custom Alpine course for the SHGC

© Maison du Moulin Paragliding courses and holidays-Annecy France