Introduction

This trip has been greatly enjoyed over the years despite the poor flying record! And that is exactly why we think this is such a great holiday - it is designed to be a fun week in the Alps taking full advantage of whatever weather is thrown at us; if its flyable we fly, if its not or we've had enough flying, we slide! We will be based in a traditional French chalet on the edge of the pretty village of Villard-Sur-Doron in the Beaufortain massif of the French Alps. It's unlikely you know the area from a skiing point-of-view, however, the 3 nearby stations of Les Saisies, Les Contamines and Areches have plenty to offer skiers/boarders of all levels.

This is a stunning corner of the Alps - not often visited by foreign skiers or fliers - beautiful and unspoilt, not like some of the big ski areas. The chalet is in a quiet area, deer can often be seen grazing in the garden!

The flying sites are renowned as excellent starting points for big distance flights and are well suited for the less experienced pilot too. The landing for the main site is 2km up the valley from the chalet and is large and easy. It is also possible to land in the garden in settled conditions! Our base is also only 40mins drive from the Annecy landing area, so the flying potential is excellent. If your french is good enough, take a look at the local site guide.

The Holiday

The prime motive is to fly or slide. We will try to do whichever is most appropriate for the day, and sometimes we may do both! We will decide each morning what the majority of the group wants to do and the bus will go with that decision. However there are free buses from town to the ski areas, so individuals can do their own thing if preferred. No formal tuition is offered but your guides are experienced pilots and skiers so coaching in each discipline is available. We will guide you to the best skiing/flying for the day - the rest is up to you! If the weather isnt suitable for either flying or skiing, we'll find something else to do, the area has loads of interesting stuff to do such as walking, cross-country skiing, snow-shoeing, shopping, visiting the Sup'Air factory etc, etc

The Flying

At this time of year it will probably be big top to bottoms. The main launch gives a flight of 3600 feet to the landing in the valley! This is a good 20 minute fly-down. However if we are lucky, then we may get some nice thermals allowing extended flights. You need to have a CP rating, but its a good chance to do your first alpine flights under our guidance. The launch areas are big and easy and the landing area is similar. Check out the winter flying in this lovely clip:

The Skiing

The range of skiing on offer will suit all abilities. We can arrange day tours into the surrounding back-country for more advanced skiers/boarders. If you have never skied or boarded before, then you will need to take lessons. These can be booked at the local ski hill and usually comprise of 2 hours per day. This may make it difficult to liase with the rest of the group as the rest of the group may want to go flying when your lesson is booked. We will try our best to accomodate this.
This little video gives you an idea of the fantastic scenery on the local ski station:

Accomodation

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, bar, restaurant 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.

If you are still not sure, why not check out the gallery photos from previous fly/skiers!

Getting There

We will pick you up from the airport. You can fly into Chambery using the following flights.

Jet2 fly to Chambery from Leeds Bradford, Manchester, Newcastle and Belfast. You just need to choose one of the following flights or another that arrives within these times.

Our recommendations:

Flybe fly to Chambery from Birmingham, Exeter, Southampton, Newcastle, Manchester, Belfast, Edinburgh, Glasgow and the Isle of Man. Please check the Flybe website to see the flight times. The Birmingham flight is as follows:

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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