Archive For: NEWS

09/07/2015

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COMPETITION

France’s Elite at the Open du Lac d’Annecy

  • Goal at Perroix landing field
  • Roc de Boeufs
  • Crossing Lake Annecy looking South
  • Villaz Turnpoint 1
  • Competitors at Montmin Forclaz

Rock the Outdoor has been at one of France’s top ranked league competitions this weekend, the “Open du Lac d’Annecy”.

This Elite competition event attracts some of the countries top ranked pilots as well as being used as a training ground for France’s Young Hopeful’s, the “Jeunes Espoirs”.  One of many weekend comps on the French comps calendar, the Open du Lac d’Annecy is one of the most popular. When conditions are good, tasks between 50-100km are set over the scenic and often initimidating terrain of the Alps.

Meet Director for the competition, Fred Escriba, will be looking closely at the weather before task setting this weekend.  Strong conditions and over development in the afternoon will see shorter but more complex tasks involving crux turnpoints, preventing pilots using the usual milk-runs to reach the cylinders.

Big names like Jean-Marc Caron and Lucas Bernardin will be looking for some fast racing using the generous terrain and valley winds to obtain maximum points for the French League; the accumulation of these at the end of the season enables France’s top pilots to be selected for their Nationals, for which only 130 places are offered.

Although the Open du Lac d’Annecy is a French League event, if there are spaces available, visiting pilots can enter by turning up on the day (providing you have and IPPI5, competition insurance and current license).  The competition is not a Cat2 event, but for the small entry fee of €40, you get to play with the hot-shots plus all the added luxuries of launch transport, packed lunch and retrieves.

Saturday saw a 61km task around Annecy in 1hr42mins won by Yoanne Chavanne with an average speed of 36km/hr!

Sunday’s 44.7km was won by Julien Wirtz in 1hr53mins.

The overall event was won by Julien Wirtz; the Women’s event, by Bénédicte Saury-Jourdan.

Open du Lac d’Annecy and Scores: http://parapente.ffvl.fr/compet/2558

FFVL Competitions: http://parapente.ffvl.fr/competition/infos

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17/02/2015

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NEWS

French authorities recall the “no-fly” zone as pilots are spotted over Mont Blanc

For all the keen pilots out there who think that top landing the highest peak in Europe may be on the top of your wish-list for this summer, think again.

Mont Blanc together with the French Federation of Free Flight have just issued an official communiqué outling the dangers of flying in and around the Mont Blanc massif during the summer months.

Conditions during the hottest months of the year produce strong thermals and a turbulent air mass, both of which are not for the faint hearted.  The Federation advises that only very experienced pilots should venture beyond the valley and the Massif, and that flying over, or top-landing on the Blanc Blanc itself between the 1st July until the 31st August (inclusive), is strictly forbidden. Pilots will be sanctioned for breaking the law.

The no-fly zone map : http://www.pghm-chamonix.com/2012/08/19/info-parapentistes/

Official communiqué : http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000019720348&dateTexte=

More about flying in Chamonix: http://www.fly-chamonix.com

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01/07/2015

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COMPETITION

Red Bull X-Alps : new in 2015 is a one-day Prologue on July 2

go to the Red Bull X-Alps web site

Follow the Red Bull X-Alps on ROCK THE OUTDOOR’S Monitoring Dashboard

In partnership with Red Bull X-Alps press department, ROCK THE OUTDOOR has secured a privileged source of live information, giving you all the up to date news and info as it happens. Rock the Outdoor have created a “dashboard” which will enable you to follow each pilot at every stage of the race, with news, live tracking, pilot progression and a daily round-up of events.

Discover the Dashboard Monitoring

The “Power Traveller “Prologue” is a new edition to Red Bull’s X-Alps

Participants will have to complete an out and return circuit in the Austrian Alps of Fuschl am See. The first three athletes to cross the ligne will each be given a 5 minutes head start ahead of their competitors on the 5th July.

But that’s not all:  thsee three athletes will also be given an additionnal  «Nightpass » enabling them to travel through the night and gain an extra advantage over their rivals.

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26/06/2015

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COMPETITION

Clément LATOUR will not participate in this year’s Red Bull X-Alps because of injury

ROCK THE OUTDOOR Team in Salzburg for the X-Alps

ROCK THE OUTDOOR will be closely following this event.  The Team will be in Salzburg on the 3rd July to meet the organisers and pilots in person, and will be reporting on the opening ceremony and first minutes of the race direct from Austria.

In partnership with Red Bull, ROCK THE OUTDOOR have a special XAlps “dashboard”, where you too can follow the race “live” and keep yourself up to date with all the latest info and the stories from your favourite athletes.

Clément Latour, one of the favourites in this year’s Red Bull X-Alps, had to make a tough decision to pull out of the race because of a recurring pain to his hip, caused from substantial and repetitive impact.  Clément told us just over a week ago of the physical pain he was experiencing but wanted to wait for any signs of improvement before making a final decision to withdraw from the race.  A difficult one to make, particularly after the many months of intense tarining and personal investment needed to participate.

ROCK THE OUTDOOR are very sad for Clément and his Team, who we had chosen to support in the race as one of his sponsors, but his decision is a wise one.   As he told us, “There was little possibility of me being able to deliver 100% in terms of performance and our ambition for the podium. It would have been physically too painful to participate and unwise to begin the race under the circumstances with such looming uncertainty.”

Clément finished in 2nd position jointly with Antoine Girard in 2013.  His withdrawal gives Chrigel Maurer one less contender to keep an eye on, but there are still a number of others to watch who are at top of their game.

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15/06/2015

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COMPETITION

FAI Cat2 – Iceland Paragliding Nationals 17-21 June 2015

Source : Airtribune

Source : Airtribune

The competition will take place from the main take-off area of Mt Burfell, Reykjavik in Iceland, located in the southern part of the country. Iceland is an incredible country to fly in, with almost 24hrs daylight, and although most tasks will be flown from Mt Brufell, the weather will dictate which other sites may be used during different days of the competition.

Competition, transport and accommodation details are available at Airtribune’s website

source photo : Aitribune
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15/06/2015

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OLYMPIC GAMES

Paragliding for the 2020 Olympic Games at Tokyo?

The FAI has selected Paragliding for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Following the invitation from Tokyo’s Olympic Games Organising Committee (IOC) to 35 international federations, these were asked to select a potential additional sport and so the FAI has selected Paragliding. The FAI HGPC (CIVL), the Japan Aeronautic Association and the Japan Hang and Paragliding Federation have proposed to Tokyo’s Olympic Games Organising Committee, the disciplines of Accuracy and XC as feature sports.

The Committee will chose from 26 sports in total and will unveil their short listed selection on the 22nd June, with a final decision made by the IOC in Rio in August 2016. This decision will be based on specific Olympic evaluation critera, including the popularity of the sport by the hosting country and the percentage of National Federations that organise their own National Championships.

Competition pilots in each of the two disciplines will certainly be looking for best performance in forthcoming seasons as incentive, in the event that Paragliding is indeed selected for the 2020 Olympic Games. Team Coaches will also be closely following the Olympic decision in Rio 2016.

see article on FAI

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13/06/2015

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WEBCAM

Site info “live” with Sky Dreams Gradient France (Verel)

Sky Dreams Gradient France have recently installed a webcam on the top of their outlet in Sonnaz, France which will pan three local launch sites. The webcam currently points to the Verel launch opposite SkyDreams, and will soon provide images of two other nearby sites of Le Sire and Le Revard (Chambéry, Savoie, French Alps).

Tony de Oliveira, Owner of SkyDreams, says there is still a few “tweaks” to be made before the other launch sites can be perfectly visitble, but pilots can currently benefit from the camera’s first hand panorama of conditions on the Verel take off during key times of the day. The webcam also stores images of the previous day’s recordings which can be found on the website.

Direct link to the webcam

Sky Dreams are exclusive importers of Gradient in France, and based in Sonnaz, France. They are distributors of other free-flight equipment and offer services to pilots throughout the year. Tony de Oliveira also owns a Brewery and makes local Savoie bier, another good reason to pay them a visit!

– go to SkyDreams
– go to brasserie B.A.S.

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12/06/2015

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NEWS

Bear Grylls receives backlash after admitting his children never wear helmets

Bear Grylls, UK celebrity adventurer, receives backlash after admitting taking his children paramotoring without a helmet.

Grylls told the English Daily Mail press that he was aware of the risks, however believed that his flying experience and risk management could override any danger.

The ex-army solder admitted that he did not make his sons wear helmets, which is a breach of the UK BHPA regulations, because he preferred to help them get-wise through a better understanding of where danger could from. When asked to elaborate, he told the press that safety on a paraglider was more about protecting one’s back and legs and that wearing a helmet didn’t make it any safer. After someone pointed out that when taking children sailing it was safer for them to wear a life-jacket, Grylls did admit later on that it was indeed safer to wear a helmet when flying and would make sure that his children wore one in future. However, his “bones heel” and “chicks love scars” attitude didn’t go down too well, and has left the public wondering about his parenting skills in general.

See item on Dailymail – see video

photo : Alan Davidson
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07/06/2015

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COMPETITION

Guarnieri International Trophy & Pre-PWC Feltre

Results are out for the XXXII Guarnieri International Trophy and pre-PWC which took place in the province of Belluno, Italy from the 31st May to 6th June. 136 pilots competed in conditions for which the Meet Director was able to set the maximum of six tasks, which is always positive for any given flying site’s reputation; in this case Monte Avena. Each year the Italians hold this competition and pilots come from Pedavena as well as other parts of Italy to fly thewide pastures and big mountains of the Dolomites.

This year’s 32nd edition of the Guarnieri Trophy was also in conjunction with the pre-Paragliding World Cup Feltre, Italy.

The main results are as follows:

source photo : Airtribune

Overall PWC
1. Charles Cazaux (FRA)
2. Maxime Pinot (FRA)
3. Marco Littame (ITA)

Women PWC
1. Seiko Fukuoka (FRA)
2. Silvia Buzzi Ferraris (ITA)
3. Klaudia Bulgakov (POL)

Sport
1. Radek Vecera (CZE)
2. Giuliano Minutella (ITA)
3. Thomas Milko (BRA)

Italian Champions
1. Marco Littame (ITA)
2. Marco Busseta (ITA)
3. Biaggio Alberto Vilate (ITA)

Italian Women Champions
1. Silvia Buzzi Ferraris (ITA)
2. Eliza Soravia (ITA)
3. Lucrecia Chiartano (ITA)

Italian Sport
1. Giuliano Minutella (ITA)
2. Luciano Gallo (ITA)
3. Gerald Demetz (ITA)

Full results of all pilots can be found at Airtribune

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05/06/2015

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SITE

Dune du Pilat site under threat (France)

Wikipedia

Wikipedia

Private land owners at Dune du Pilat may be forced to sell their land in an attempt for France’s Coastal Conservation Commission to take over the 400 remaining hectares of forests and dunes in the Gironde region of France.

The Coastal Conservation Commission say that the appropriation of 65% of the forests and dunes at Pilat will make it easier to control and protect the land in order to improve facilities for visitors to the area, which are now said to be 1.9 million each year. The Commission already own sections to the North and South of Teste-de-Buch in the Gironde, but over half of the remaining land is still privately owned.

With the current land owners reluctant to sell, an situation is currently investigation.

see articles of the local daily “SUD OUEST” 27th april – du 2th june (in French)

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