Tour de Alps
The Ultimate Temple Pilots Flying Tour . Tour de Alps – A French Flying Adventure with our club pilots Our Tour de Alps in the heart of the French Alps has Just Wrapped up-what and incredible ride! From thermalling over St.Hilaire to gliding over Chamrousse. , Our pilots explored these iconic sites, sharpened XC Skills, and Built unforgettable memories. A perfect blend of Adventure, Learning, and community in one of the world’s best paragliding playgrounds.
Day One
Day Two
TOUR de ALPS, June 2025, Day 02 Update : We started these days early, around 8am at St.Hilaire de Touvet, using the South Launch. We practiced some skill enhancing tasks for all pilots & U-turn Approaches for low airtime pilots. The views were stunning of the valley & it’s a joy to see the flying culture in full swing here, especially on weekends.
In the evening we chose to go to Courtet, near Mens. An hours drive from St. Hilaire. The launch direction of North West suited us best, at the foot of the giant 2789 Meters limestone mountain that gives magnificent views of the nearby mountains once you thermal up to the top of this high ridge. With little Thermalling experience our pilots could climb over 400meters above launch with some help &!had one of the best flights of their lives.
Large landing fields, friendly local pilots & the awe-inspiring beauty of the French alps made for an amazing flying day with the team.
Day Three
Our plan for the afternoon was to fly at Mieussy, the famous site of birthplace of Paragliding. The conditions didn’t look great so we headed to a brand new adventure of exploring another new famous flying site of Samoëns, in Haute-Savoie region. A great site with thermodynamic conditions & easy XC. It’s great for both beginners & pilots looking to thermal & XC. With the cable car working, one can do multiple flights, making it perfectly suited for acro runs. With the North & NE launch, it was our perfect choice for the day.
There are several launch points in the region & can be a perfect base for someone looking to explore the region.
Long drive from St.Hillaire but the trip was more than worth it. The stunning scenery & the breathtaking views of the alps more than make up for it. Looking forward to some more airtime here.
Day Four & Five
In three days we had flown six different sites, thanks to long summer days. We now wanted to explore St.Hilaire de Touvet, famous for the COUPE ICARE – the biggest free-flying festival in the world, taking place annual on the third weekend of September. It’s an excellent Basecamp for paragliding as there numerous world class flying sites nearby. We started with Basic SIV Tasks in the morning & then some Thermalling & flying across the cliff faces to explore the region. Depending on the flying level of our pilots we have been adapting well to the spring/summer conditions.
The big Lumbin LZ is huge & friendly, between Grenoble & Chambéry.
It’s been delightfully awesome flying with our Club-Pilots Rohit Kawale, Sajid Khan, Vishal Dadlani & Malhar Mohite. To be sharing weak afternoon flatland thermals & enjoying pushing each other out to outclass each other was a fun riot. We were flying together after a long time & with the likes of Sajid Khan in the air, it was outrageous fun.
Our Tour-pilots were tasting their first alpine thermals & have been enjoying watching acro wings, tiny speed-wings, parakites & Wing suits swooshing through the skies & it’s a site to watch them do highspeed, tip-touching, ground-hugging swoops on landing.
It’s a delightful atmosphere of super-high vibing aerosports culture, especially on weekends. It’s been a treat in every way.
Day Six
TOUR de ALPS, June 2025, Day 06 Update : It’s been an incredible nonstop ‘Fun & Adventure’ party so far. Meeting & making new pilots friends n Instructors from Local Schools, enjoying the French culture n cuisines. Started the day with flights from St. Hilaire, the weekend had everyone in the valley flying & it was a carnival, a flying rampage in all forms of Paragliding.
The afternoon we planned to go to Alllevard, located on the West face of the Belledone Range. It has several launches, especially the one by the ski resort on top, giving it a vertical height of 1500 Meters. There are good XC possibilities, including flying along the Belledonne Range to Chamrousse, the site we flew on the first day of the Tour. The LZ is on both the sides of an artificial lake.
We were chasing the weather, with semi-overcast skies, we were taking our chances. It was predicted to rain much later & although u the forecast had promised us a window, it wasn’t meant to be. It started to drizzle way early & we had to only do with stunning views of the valley. Allevard is also known as a great rewarding site for valley restitution flights during summer evenings.
Overall an amazingly satisfying day for all our pilots & good to end the tour with a safety note that in our sport Nature (Weather) is the king & Safety comes first, Always.
