Bivouac Flight Progression

Included/Not Included

What is included in the course?

• Included: Guiding by a paragliding instructor and high mountain guide, transfer to the departure point, the loan of 2x lightweight tents, 4x camping mats, 2x stoves and gaz, radios and necessary mountaineering equipment.

• Not included: FFVL Insurance (compulsory), drinks, meals, everything that is not listed as included.

When you make your reservation we will send you a detailed technical description of your course where everything is clearly explained!

Evening break above Zinal (Valais, Switzerland) at the Arpitettaz hut

Objectif

Live an adventure - develop your skills for autonomous bivouac flight - prepare a trip or expedition

The idea of this course is to put you in a bivouac flight situation in the Alps with a distance objective in order to confront you with the problems of the discipline while benefiting from the safety and advice of your instructor. A way to take the first big step in serenity and acquire a maximum of experience.

We aim to give you the technical keys in the air to optimise your thermals as well as your transitions in flight. But the essentials and the added value of such a course will be in the following:

Preparation

• Logistics organisation
• The strategic design of the route (co-construction)
• The tactical schedule of the day (co-analysis)
• The options (group choice, individual choice)
• Adaptability (rebound)
• How to envisage a summit (ascent, take-off...)
• Visual communication and Photos/Videos

Safety / Mental Strength

• Security management (fallback strategies, risk reduction methods etc.)
• Individual mapping of your capacity for commitment (better knowing yourself, defining your limits and areas for improvement)
• Build your mind strength (relaxation methods, management of the mental load, attentional capacity...)
• Manage your food and water: how to choose your diet? When and what to consume?

Emergency / Rescue

• Rescue: how to get help, what to say, where to find a position, how to organize a DZ, the limits of rescue in Europe
• Markers: Inreach/Delorme/...: from myth to reality on the ground 
• Emergency situations: rescue (useful and essential actions) - Survival (how to cope with limited equipment)

You are no longer quite a simple student but not yet a full fledged adventurer... we will guide you to switch smoothly from one to the other. 

Alpwind is a French Paragliding School (EFVL) affiliated to the Fédération Française de Vol Libre (FFVL).

At the end of the day, it's time to find a bivouac spot above the Serre-Ponçon lake

Philosophy

Why the cost of this course? This course is intended to confront the reality of the choices of a bivouac flight with the objective of distance. We provide you with a certain amount of specific equipment (light tents, emergency equipment etc.). For greater efficiency, safety and optimisation of flights, the number of participants is reduced to 4 maximum. This low student/instructor ratio is to enable us to guarantee a quality learning experience.

How? Your instructor-guide will help you to weave the main lines of a flight plan according to the conditions and the level of the group. They will guide your choices with regard to safety but will also give you a certain autonomy in your decisions: confronting small errors is also a way of broadening your expertise! The objective is not to beat distance records but to achieve a good average distance over several days with periods of improvisation and adaptation. It is therefore essential to have a good sense of humor and resilience.

For who? The Roaming Bivouac Flight course is aimed at pilots with a Confirmed Pilot's Licence or who can prove equivalent experience. You have previous cross country flight experience over a 30kms range or more, you have taken at least one SIV course. You are flying with a B Mid or C wing. You must be physically fit and capable of walking 2 hours with your equipment.

Please consult our Bivouac Flight Discovery to begin this discipline.

A little wait for take-off so that the conditions are favourable. Loriaz mountain pasture, Vallorcine

Organisation

• Meet the morning of the first day of the course. Presentation to participants the course content and objectives
• Safety briefing
• Analysis of the conditions for the coming days (large scale), choice of the exercise zone, choice of the type of flight plan (triangle, free distance etc.)
• Methodology of operation for the group
• Preparation and organisation of bivouac equipment
• Safety/First Aid
• Travel to the starting point if a distant geographical point
• Each day: Global weather analysis, analysis of the potential route and fallback plans
• Various lessons and tips around the evening meal (mental strength, techniques, strategies etc.)

Other Dates