Flying in the Alps
This page is intended to contain useful information for those who are interested in flying the French Alps - more specifically from Sisteron.
Videos
To get a feel of what it's like to do so, you can look at some of the videos below. If you want an introduction to mountain flying down in the Alps, the RAFGSA do it well, here (and below)
My less polished attempt is below
I rather like the video below from a two seater going past the gun emplacements at Mont Chaberton (built by the Italians to keep the French out). It's a fun flight, but you really need two sets of hands to take video as you go past - so this one is from the RAFGSA site, not me.
How to do it
John McCullagh has put together some notes which go into some detail about how to fly from Sisteron, which you can see below. Some of the data that he mentions can be acquired by signing up on the 'Gliding Data' section of this website.
Sisteron briefing 2023.pdfIt's really important to get proper training before doing this on your own. You can't just apply flatland techniques - well, you can sometimes, but you can dig yourself a very big hole which is hard to get out of. But the rewards, if you do it right, are large.