Paragliding XC - An Alpine "Flight of Terror!" - Big Storm in Chamonix

I’m an airline pilot. Storms definitely do not come out of nowhere. No storm never, ever comes out of nowhere. Every weather phenomenon has a cause. Those clouds were telling you a story loud and clear, but you were not paying attention. I am willing to wager you never examined the weather charts, or even called a flight weather station. This is why you incorrectly thought it came out of nowhere. I am glad you made it down. Hope you learned a lesson. The next storm might not be so mild. If you don’t know, don’t go.

Just my 2 cents guys: - the big storms like this don't come "out of nowhere" in the Alps, like you said, storms like this are on the forecast and on the radars 100%. - first time in a new spot, with a sky like this, never take off, never. - none of you mastered a spiral or real descent techniques, a medium spiral goes down 10/12 m/s, a big one down to 20 m/s, on your vario I was reading -2.5 m/s. - your instructor on the radio had to push you harder and faster on the ground in my opinion tho. (even if he wouldn't let you take off). - for sure a very big lesson for you guys, very happy everyone is safe!!! Thanks for sharing!

after 23 years of Paragliding - there has been a couple flights where I wished for the ground - Cloud suck is terrifying and has claimed many PG pilots. Sometimes the excitement of flying or the time spent to be at the site can over ride the decision to fly - fortunately these days I can drive all day to a flying site and if I dont like whats developing I can pack up and head to the pub - this is Feel is the greatest accomplishment in Paragliding. The ability to walk away. Great upload btw

"Breaking out the spiral" at first I was confused, then I started laughing. That's not a spiral ,buddy, that is a flat thermaling turn. Glad you are safe.

I had an awesome instructor who I'll never forget, Adam Nienkemper and when you're learning you just want to fly, no matter what! Adam said "It's always better to be on the ground wishing you were in the sky then being in the sky wishing you were on the ground"!!! :)

Thanks for sharing the video. It’s always helpful to learn from others’ experience. Let me share some observations from my point of view as an instructor, which most likely overlap with other existing comments: - The weather forecast and local observations prior to launching should have suggested locally strong lift and chance of rain. Make sure to study the weather report carefully, especially in the mountains. - As other said: try to escape from the lift. It was obviously local lift, namely close to the mountain and underneath the clouds. Identify areas where you expect less lift, e.g. out in the valley where the sky looked clear, and fly there fast. - I would have suggested you to use your speed bar and no big ears at the beginning to advance as quickly as possible. There was no imminent risk of entering the cloud (at least judging from the video) so no need to descend immediately. - Think of it: when thermaling, you try to stay in rising air. When getting down, do the opposite. - Only when you are in an area with less lift initiate your descent maneuver (unless imminent risk of entering the cloud). - Another reason to move into the valley before descending is the terrain: the valley straightens below/behind you where the highway goes through. Means: valley wind is stronger there; no landing options behind you. - Shift your focus away from the planned landing field and search for a better alternative, e.g. out in the valley (as the instructor on the radio suggests). The landing field to which you actually return is in the unwanted lift region. In fact, before going back there, you were in nice descending conditions, while you had nasty lift during your approach. Airliners divert when an airport is not safe to land at … - Beware that your spiral was very docile. An effective spiral should dive much faster. - Regarding the spiral: I would suggest to not look down to the ground below you (as it seems from the video), but out to the lower wing tip. You are less likely to get sick and you can see the horizon as reference. - When doing big ears, also apply speed bar. It increases sink rate and makes the angle of attack smaller again (remember: big ears increase the angle of attack), so the aerodynamic configuration of the wing is better. This is especially important in rain when the wing is wet and more prone to stalling. - Release any wraps on the brake handles to apply as little brake as possible while on big ears (angle of attack). - By the way: you get a nice descent rate on big ears when additionally applying full bar and inducing a rolling motion by weight shifting your body. Good alternative to a spiral if that’s not (yet) your cup of tea. Ask your instructor to practice that – it’s fun. Again, thanks for sharing and enjoy flying. Cheers

I think you've heard all the criticism I could give, I just wanna say it's great that you put up the video from your mistakes so people can learn from it. Thank you. Our community is not good enough at doing that, for fear of losing face. Also, if you're ever in Germany, Switzerland, or Austria, they have a few G-force trainer centrifuges where you can reeally learn to spiral at (and over) your limits. And it's great fun, too.

Probably heard that one before but in case you don't know, when you catch the elevators/lines to do ears, you can start by twisting them upside down, that way you get a palm more worth of ears, but most importantly they become way easier to hold as you don't need to hold pressure with your fingers to get enough friction, just to hold the hand down. And also take gloves

Thanks for posting this guys - loads to learn from my perspective - really useful!!

First clip about spiral diving without spiral diving :) good that everyone landed safely

Wow scarry stuff Gerry, thanks for sharing this experience with others!

Thanks for sharing! Glad all made it down safe.

WOW ... that got my heart going, I need a bloody valium now! Well done for keeping cool guys.

Merci d'avoir partager cette expérience. Thanks for having shared.

Interesting flight of terror, thanks for posting this!

Thank You for uploading. Good lesson for me

as a 20000 hr airline pilot, not a paraglider, I have much respect for these kind of conditions. Even with a 200 to 300 ton aircraft I am reluctant to mess with these CB’s. The updraughts and downdraughts can be quite formidable. You can see the weather building up quite easily. My two cents; stay away from these conditions.

Thank you so much for this! Uncut footage like this is some of the best learning and interesting information, stay safe up there and coming down!

Well done sharing. Happy to see down safe, nail biting stuff 😬

Everyone here is talking about spiral dives and other options to try and escape the cloud suck. The best way I learned to escape cloud suck in situations like this it to hike down and not launch in the first place when the sky is ODing like that. (Not saying that knowing how to descend quickly isn't a good skill to have, but having the mindset to decide not to fly into/launch in sketchy conditions like this is the best way to stay safe)