I headed to Le Grand Bornand and was disappointed to find that the chairlifts were not in operation. It must be maintenance time before the ski season. Okay, off to La Clusaz. Damn. Same situation. I contemplated hiking up to launch and first drove up to see if I could maybe drop my heavy paraglider off first, drive back down and park near the landing zone and then walk up but the drive must have taken at least 20 minutes...it would be a hell of a hike up. Okay, plan C...let’s just move on to Chamonix which was about an hour and a half away. I still might be able to catch a flight there.
Again the views were incredible and thankfully my HD camera was sort of working so I snapped a few pics along the way. Passing through St. Gervais, a town where I had camped before, I kicked myself later for not picking up three young, cute women who were hitchhiking but I only had a split second to consider the pickup and realized I had underwear and socks hanging from a clothesline in the back, discarded tissues on the floor (yes, my allergies still bug me here) and other things strewn about. Oh well, it was only 20 minutes further to Chamonix.
Gorgeous views en route to Chamonix:
Arriving in Chamonix:
I headed straight for the parking lot of the cable car that climbs up to the Aiguille du Midi, a station built at 3842 meters above sea level (with the town situated at about 1000 meters). I inquired at the ticket office about flying from the top and found out that crampons were definitely required to access the launch area. It was 2:30pm already and the last gondola from the very top was at 3:30. I also discovered that the nearby mountaineering shop was closed for a super long lunch from 12:30 until 3:30 so flying from the Aiguille definitely wasn’t in the cards today. An alternative option was to launch from the Plan de Aiguille, the midway station. I walked back to Betty, grabbed my wing and took a ride up in the cable car which climbs at an incredible rate of 10 meters per second.
Riding up in the cable car:
The view from the cable car:
The views were stunning as we rose from the valley floor. Reaching the midway station, the sight of Mt. Blanc was even more impressive. The launch was a nice grassy patch that must have been specifically made for paragliding as there was no other green anywhere, just rocks. Thankfully the wind was coming up the mountain nicely although it was obvious from the lack of cumulus clouds that it was a stable day so I could only hope for an extended sled ride. I hung out for about half an hour, soaking up the views and the massiveness of this place.
At the Plan de l'Aiguille:
Looking out from launch:
The nice grassy launch:
Some pilots taking off:
Enjoying the view:
Taking to the air I was disappointed that my HD camera that had behaved for the last hour decided to pack it in just as I took off. After ridge soaring for a bit, I decided to gamble and carefully removed my camera from my flight deck, careful not to drop it or anything else, and eventually got it sort of working, well enough to take a few photos.
Flying away from the mountain:
Chamonix from high up:
Yup, the wing's still inflated...
I headed out over the town and decided to practice some more wingovers before coming into land. I missed the spot I had picked to land at by about 3 feet...not too bad. After packing up I walked the couple of kilometres back to Betty, pleased that I had gotten into the air. Next up, find a campsite. I checked out one in town and after another half hour of recon I returned and stayed there for the night with a gorgeous view of the Aiguille platform and the white snow of Mt. Blanc. Tomorrow...I go for the top!
Looking up to Mt. Blanc:
My view from the campsite:
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