Paragliding school
at Chamonix Mont-Blanc
The Air Sports team
Air Sport Chamonix is a close-knit team of 15 members: 9 permanent pilots in high season (4 during the winter season), two employees who manage the office, a driver and finally a reinforcement from time to time.
All of them will welcome you with the sympathy and professionalism that characterize them.
Our instructors all have (very) extensive experience in paragliding and are state certified. Each one has its own specificities in terms of type of flight preferred and pedagogy, this in order to allow a perfect adequacy with our customers and students, whatever their wishes or level.
Jean-Charles
Founder and manager of AirSports Chamonix
Born in 1967, first paragliding flight in 1989.
Instructor graduated from the Brevet d’Etat Parapente in 2003, with Handy and Speed-riding qualifications.
Languages English and Spanish.
Jean-Charles is an example of a sporting life and of faithful relationships of friendship and camaraderie. No indoor sports. Only outdoor practices, the mountains, the snow, the slopes, but also the sea, the water, the wind. You have to breathe!
Sports are practiced in competition, or professionally, or for the pleasure of adventure and sharing with friends.
- The mountain and sliding: very early, skiing, all the skis, the mono and the bumps.
- The sea, the lakes: water skiing, windsurfing, kite-surfing.
- Third dimension, the sky, the void: free fall parachuting, bungee jumping, Ulm pendular and multiaxis, paragliding.
His competitive spirit is now at the service of the school’s students. Passionate, tempted, they came to learn, they will leave knowing how to fly. It is simple, it is done patiently, methodically and seriously, at the pace of each person. Seriousness is the first requirement of paragliding, you are a pilot for life.
From now on, while being very close to the instructors who have all his confidence, Jean-Charles devotes himself especially to tandem flights and to the development of the school. But students have a good chance of running into him and interacting with him. Very good moments in perspective.
Polaroid
Polaroid
Benoit
From model aircraft to airliners, including paragliding, Benoit Micolon is passionate about everything that flies.
Co-manager with Jean-Charles, he is also an instructor at AirSports, and you will have to deal with him when he is not in his Boeing 757. He loves to talk about his passion and pass on his knowledge. He is in charge of microlight flights at Air Sports
Fast fact : Benoit is also an airline pilot !
Clement
Clément, soon to be 40, has been paragliding for 12 years and has been a certified instructor for 8 years now. He teaches all year round and is also a ski patroller in Chamonix in winter.
He has been doing aerobatics since his early years of paragliding but is now focusing more and more on distance flying.
More than anything, he likes to share his experience to train pilots for their first thermal operations, in the Chamonix valley as well as abroad, especially in Andalusia.
Apart from paragliding and skiing, he also practices mountain biking, with the idea of exploring the mountains from every possible angle!
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Polaroid
Romain (nickname “Rominet”)
As comfortable on skis as in paragliding, born on skis, and flying since he was 12 years old…
Originally from the resort of Les Arcs in Savoie, he grew up in the world of outdoor sports: Mountain biking, skiing, paragliding, rafting… All means are good to explore our mountains!
He is a ski and snowboard instructor since 2008. In 2013, he obtained his paragliding certificate.
His credo: to share as much in teaching as in tandem and to allow the discovery of the most beautiful aspects of paragliding and skiing, in complete safety and simplicity.
Some will say that he is “a licked bear”, others will see him as a “Grominet”… It’s up to you! 🙂
Fast fact : Romain also likes to fly small planes, or to cross the mountains by mountain bike or on foot.
David
An instructor since 2016, David has been flying since 2003. He was born with a paraglider as an extension: his first tandem, with his parents, dates back to his 3rd birthday.
For him, paragliding is a way to escape: while flying, he only thinks about the present moment. He is a thrill-seeker and has done a lot of acrobatics and speed-riding in a committed way, even if age has softened him (a little).
Naturally discreet except when it comes to paragliding, always smiling, Dav often likes to tease – don’t take it personally! -. He becomes serious again when it comes to security.
For him, being a paragliding instructor is first and foremost a passion to share the exceptional, in tandem or with his students, before being a job. Its objective: to transmit the pleasure of flying and to train real pilots, not just “flyers”. With his experience, he does not hesitate to talk about the risks to help you avoid them.
His other interests? Skiing, mountain biking, technology, reading and video games: perfect for keeping busy when the weather keeps him grounded.
Fun fact: When climbing, he tends to have vertigo 🤣
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Polaroid
Mathieu
At the age of 14, Mathieu did his first paragliding course in Grand Bornand. The same year, he discovered mountaineering in the Ecrins. After a long period of high-level amateur mountaineering, he decided to specialize in paragliding in the high mountains. From these two great passions, he will make his profession by becoming a Paragliding Instructor and a High Mountain Guide respectively in 2009 and 2011.
From all his years as an instructor, teaching remains his priority; his curiosity for the didactics of paragliding leads him to constantly ask himself questions for even more pedagogical and technical relevance in order to best help his students.
“What I love about teaching is finding a solution when a student can’t get a result through the usual methods.”
His most beautiful flights? Taking off from the summit of Mont Blanc with amazed passengers, or flying the less experienced from theAiguille du Midi, which remains in his eyes the most beautiful flight in Chamonix.
Fast fact: rigor and precision are the qualities that best define his teaching.
Richard
Richard, 53 years old, has been flying for 10 years. He is a calm and patient instructor but also determined, enduring and very enthusiastic. His reassuring voice is particularly reassuring to students. His strength? Listening before speaking. His favorite phrase? “Never give up!”
For him, paragliding is above all the incomparable sensations of gliding, but also the adventure at his doorstep. Each day of pararpente is for him a new day, a new challenge.
“To fly is to free ourselves from our human condition, to surf the air bubbles…”
Richard also likes to share a powder session and surf the waves with his son or a buddy. He also enjoys trout fishing in the mountains (always with his son!), traveling, a good movie, a good piece of music. It is also concerned about its carbon footprint.
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Polaroid
Adrien
Adrien, 34 years old, has been flying paragliders solo since he was 14 years old, after having learned in PE classes, in high school, on the island of Reunion. He practices paragliding in all its forms but is more attracted to cross country and bivouac walking and flying…
Beyond paragliding, he is a fan of board sports. He has been skiing for 32 years, but also snowboarding and ski touring. He likes to turn to speed-riding in the winter and kite-surfing in the summer. He is also an amateur of climbing (routes and boulders, in natural and SAE), of hiking and trekking for several days.
Himself a PE teacher, passionate about teaching, Adrien loves to share his knowledge and experience. Even more so when it comes to paragliding, whether it’s taking passengers to visit the sky or teaching aspiring (or even experienced!) pilots. Very calm, even in stressful moments, he knows how to reassure his students and lighten their emotional load to make them more available whatever the situation. As caring as he is persevering, he knows how to adapt his teaching to the different profiles of students. Safety is a central element of its approach.
“Paragliding is a way to enter a completely different world than the one I know on the ground. It becomes a second skin, which transmits us the information of the air mass. It makes us live strong and rich moments. No matter how much we analyze and how experienced we are, there is always a part of uncertainty. Am I in the right place to look for my next thermal? Will I succeed in completing my course? The feeling is exhilarating when everything works. But even when it doesn’t, the adventure and the game will have been there. What is certain is that there is always something to learn: I am in a state of eternal learning. That’s what I love about paragliding.
Fast fact: Adrien is a regular assistant to athletes who practice bivouac flying in high level competition.
Sébastien (or “Seb”)
Instructor since 2020, Sébastien has been flying since he was very young: with his father at the age of 2, then alone from the age of 12. David is his brother and it was David who pushed him to become an instructor.
For him, paragliding is the symbiosis of freedom, autonomy and responsibility. It is also a leisure activity where the words “sensation”, “adventure” and “wonder” rhyme.
Sometimes too serious or demanding in appearance, it remains an eternal child who gets involved without counting the cost in what it does. A passionate teacher, he loves to transmit and to see the “eureka!” in the eyes of his students or passengers. Seeing a student become independent as a pilot is the greatest reward. His favorite style of flying? Devour the miles of course!
His geeky side contrasts with his passion for nature sports. His main interests? Paragliding (no shit), skiing, gyrowheel, science and technology, traveling abroad, and let’s not forget her kid. Seb likes to exchange on any subject (sometimes too much so he is enthusiastic: do not hesitate to tell him if he gets lost in a too long monologue!) And beer after the flight is a sacred ritual for him.
Fast fact : Seb landed twice on the top of Mont-Blanc.
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Polaroid
Fanny
Fanny, 25, joined our team in 2019 as part of a student job and quickly made her mark. Today, she is with us permanently and takes care of the secretariat of Air Sports Chamonix.
What sets her apart is her personality. Always smiling and hard-working, she is a breath of fresh air for the whole team. She is appreciated by all for her benevolence, her rigor and her sense of organization.
Finally, if you are looking for Fanny, you will probably find her at her workstation, behind her computer, answering your requests.
We are confident that you will be impressed by his skills and touched by his personality. Don’t hesitate to send him a word of encouragement during your next visit to Air Sports Chamonix!
Fast fact: She is our favorite Belgian (once).
Christine (nicknamed Kiki)
Christine Carillon known as Kiki, fifty-five years old, a beginner paraglider passionate about travel, art, and fluent in English and Spanish, has been part of the team for a year and a half. On all fronts as a secretary and commuter, she will be happy to accompany you in your steps to fly to new horizons and will answer your questions with a smile and good humor.
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Polaroid
Alain
Alain Machet, 70 years old, has been our loyal driver since the beginning of Air Sports Chamonix. He is also one of the pioneers of paragliding in Chamonix, he knows every corner of our beautiful valley and always knows where our pilots are in the sky.
You can get on the shuttle with complete peace of mind: there have been no accidents or scratches on our buses for the past thirteen years. Alain is also always 20 minutes early so that our students, passengers and instructors are the first to open the lifts.
He is also a genius handyman and mechanic. Alain is able to solve any technical problem that arises on the bus for the comfort of its passengers.
We also have a special thought for his companion, Marie, who treats us every summer with her home-made pies and quiches.
Alain and Marie are a great team. We are happy and grateful to have them on our team.
