Corinne learns to paraglide 2007. Page 1

I have been flying hang-gliders fairly regularly since 1981, amassing just over 400 hours on my Airwave Magic IV. However, much as I love hang-gliding, I am having increasing trouble carrying my glider which isn't exactly light ! Although I live less than 10 kms from the Col de la Forclaz which is one of Europe's best free flight sites, I rarely manage to find the time necessary for an afternoon's flying. It entails heaving the glider onto the roof rack of my car, driving to the Col, and carrying the glider, harness and parachute, helmet and flying instruments up a steep path to where the take off ramp is situated. After flying for a few hours I am obliged to land at the bottom landing since top landing is not possible at this site, de-rig the glider, hitch-hike or, if there's no-one around, climb, back up to where I parked my car (700 metres higher up the mountain) drive back down to fetch the glider, heave it back onto the roof, drive home, take the glider off the roof and put it onto my balcony. Not the sort of stuff a single girl wants to do really... So I decided it was high time I learned to paraglide.

First day

A couple of days after my return from Egypt in april 2007, I drove to the village of Doussard at the south end of the Lake of Annecy not far from my home. I was due to meet my flying instructor Didier, of Libre Envol paragliding school, at 09.00. As it was too early in the season for the paragliding school to be open, Didier had agreed to give me a 4 or 5 day one-on-one conversion course. My hang-gliding experience obviously precluded the need for relearning a lot of background stuff, such as principles of flight, meteorology and how to touch up one's lipstick while dangling 2000 metres up in the air, but I hadn't a clue how to fly a paraglider. A previous attempt many years ago when I'd borrowed a friend's antiquated paraglider and tried to take off with it, equipped with the most rudimentary instructions and a good dose of optimism, luckily had come to nothing as the performance of the glider was woefully inadequate for the slope I'd chosen and I never actually lifted off !

Soaring above the cowpats at altitudes of up to 2 metres !!!

After dispensing with the paperwork while having a coffee outside in the sun, we chose my glider and harness then set off to the school slope situated at the base of the Roc des Boeufs mountain overlooking the south-western part of the lake. Great consternation on our arrival: the slope was unusable because it was covered in cows ! We went to another slope, this one situated at Verthier on the south-eastern shore. No cows here but plenty of cowpats which, I could sense, were just waiting for me to fall face first into them. I couldn't help teasing Didier who seemed like a really nice fellow, and let him carry my equipment up the slope. He remarked that this was the first time he'd ever carried a student's stuff. I just played the part of the helpless blonde which amused him no end. I was certainly dressed for the part in my little white t-shirt and hotpants ! I had, however, brought a strong pair of climbing boots.... and a pair of trousers in case I fell over.

Oh, this is such fun !

Well, Didier soon revised his opinion of me when he saw the enthusiasm and energy which I applied to my first half day's course. I learned how to lay the canopy out on the ground, and untangle and make sense out of the spaghetti of different coloured lines. Then I got into the harness and pulled the canopy up into the air... and ran as fast as I could down the gentle slope all the way to the bottom before gathering up the canopy and lines and walking back up to the top. The morning was spent running up and down and Didier remarked that I had boundless energy for a woman of my age. I developed a lot of nasty bruises on my wrists and arms and stomach because the harness was rubbing against them. My tits hurt like hell and we had to devise a method of stuffing my jacket down my front to act as a cushion. Here I am making my first flight with 2 metres ground clearance. Sorry about the camera shake but my poor instructor almost had me landing on his head.

Corinne takes her flying instructor for a flight in her microlight.

At lunchtime Didier said we had to stop so I begged one more go. This time there was a bit of wind and I managed to rise 2 or 3 metres up in the air and actually fly ! It was marvellous and brought me back to my first flights on a hang-glider 25 years ago at Steyning Bowl in the South Downs in Sussex, England. We joined a friend of him for lunch in an outside café and discussed flying. Since conditions in the afternoon were much too strong for a beginner, I proposed a flight in my microlight to Didier and, once he'd overcome his initial surprise that I knew how to fly one, he accepted happily.

A flight around the lake.

We drove to Annecy airport, took off and flew directly to the very picturesque 1821 metre high Dents de Lanfon, which is the mountain above my house and which is the most thermic mountain in the area. The violent lift above its vertical sunbaked cliffs is often home to upwards of 30 or 40 paragliders and hang-gliders on a summer afternoon and I have spent many hours at cloudbase here when flying my hang-glider. We hooked the more or less permanant thermal at the north end and circled rapidly up to the summit (500 feet per minute with the engine throttled back somewhat to save fuel). Didier was in seventh heaven as he'd never been in a weightshift microlight before. Overflying the top of the steep cliffs is always a bit dramatic and not for the weak hearted as you get the impression you are falling into the abyss. Unfortunately Didier didn't get any good film of my favourite mountain (except for the previous photo in which you can see it just above my glove) so here, instead, is the Col de la Forclaz, bottom left, and the Tournette 2351 metres, behind.

A satisfied flying instructor.

After flying over the Col de la Forclaz, 1150 metres, which is the main take-off for paragliders and hang-gliders, we traversed the lake to fly over my little girl's house above St. Jorioz with its clear green and blue water ressembling the colours of a coral reef when seen from above. We recrossed the lake over the cliffs of the Roc de Chère (visible on the left centre of the picture. The Dents de Lanfon are at the extreme top right), and returned to Annecy. Well, I think this is called making a good impression on one's instructor !