Introduction

These Club Pilot Training trips are to a stunning part of the French Alps the same venue as our Fly/Ski trip.

It can be quite time consuming trying to gain your Club Pilot qualification in the UK, partly due to your important time constraints and the unpredictability of the British climate. Hence our Morocco trips are hugely popular, however these take place in early Spring and late Autumn, if you cannot wait until then - well we just might have the ideal trip for you - in the middle of Summer.

We are offering a trip to an exceptionally beautiful area of the French Alps, overlooked by the spectacular Mont Blanc Massif, in the Beaufortain area.

When the sun is high in the sky and the thermals are really strong - the alpine climate always gives rise to predictably strong valley breezes, often making paragliding prohibitable in the middle of the day, so we use a UK sized training hill that is situated in the end of a valley, where we can make use of these valley winds, providing us with a nice soarable breeze.

This site is not unlike a UK training hill, providing us with the capability to carry out the BHPA syllabus, including top landings, reverse take offs, soaring, flying in company of others etc. In addition we can also complete ground handling practice in the area.

Here's the bonus... in the mornings and late afternoons you then get the opportunity to fly from some really big mountains with the Signall de Bisanne launch at 4000ft top to bottom for example!. We can then make sure you are highly competant in all of the other Club Pilot tasks such as big ears, speed bar, asymetrics etc. from this sort of height you will have plenty of time to nail each task with confidence.  

There are only a handful of schools who advertise BHPA club pilot courses abroad, but in practice they do not include the top landing and soaring elements, with students finding that these tasks need completing in the UK when they get home. This trip however is the genuine article, with the possibility for all of the UK syllabus to be practiced and mastered, together with an amazing opportunity to experience real alpine flying.

At this time of year the days are long and the views are breathtaking, make sure that you are up for the challenge, as certain individuals may be daunted by the height of the take offs and the scale of the environment.

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 Holiday

Based in our Chalet near the picturesque town of Beaufort, our aim will be to do as much flying as possible and achieve your Club Pilot certificate  (weather permitting) . The days will commence with the obligatory fresh croissants and ground coffee, we will be using the flyable parts of the days which will often include early mornings and also late into the evenings, obviously concluding with quantities of cheap red wine and delicious bbqs.

During the middle of the day we will be breaking for lunch at the chalet, this will include a week long table tennis tournament, and also all of the power point flying lectures and DVDs that we show to achieve your CP.  

We will be using our training hill every day, it will take a day or two of training to make sure that everyone is competent enough to launch from the high peaks. We will have an instructor on launch and one in the landing field, in direct communication with all students.

We are generally relaxed but also like to make the most of all the area has to offer, so we will of course be sampling the cuisine in the local restaurants and many times our clients like to show off their cooking skills in our chalet kitchen, this usually makes for some delicious and reasonable eating.

What Level Pilot is it for?

You will have completed as a minimum - 3 very good flying days of the Elementary Pilot course with us or elsewhere. You may be towards the end of your CP course, or CP rated but feel like you need a refresher after an absence of flying, or just more training. All customers will be treated equally as Club Pilot day 1 students from the outset.

Accommodation

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?

Summer is breathtaking in the Alps - the weather is usually warm and the countryside is lovely. 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, 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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