If you have already taken off ( and landed ) a thousand times, or have watched in wonder and amazement at these crazy people running off the side of very big mountains, Chamonix is THE place to fly ! With a number of different take off points and landing fields, every flight will give you incredible views of the Chamonix Valley, Glaciers, Mont Blanc and thermals permitting, the rest of the Northern Alps ! Infact even when there is no lift you have 1000m vertical above landing to do with as you please ( personally I don't descend slowly - Sandy ).
The most popular take-off is Plan Praz, 1000m above the valley floor/landing. It gets the sun all day and starts to work from as early as 9.30 in the morning on good days. From there you have the choice of three landing fields easily reachable even with no lift. One (the savoie), close to the lifts but with surrounding buildings adding to the turbulence, better for more experienced pilots. The main field (Bois Du Bouchet) is a half hour walk from the lift back up again and behind that (up the valley) is the delta field which is very long (for Hanggliders to land) so is good when the valley wind gets up in the afternoon and blows you past the main field.
In the afternoon the Plan D'Aiguille is good, on the other side of the valley it comes on around midday onwards. Flying in Chamonix between 2pm and about 6pm can be VERY strong and is only recommended for experienced pilots with fast wings. Some people like to get the last lift up to the Plan D'Aiguille at 4.30 and wait a couple of hours until the valley wind drops to a comfortable level and restitution begins.
All the take-offs and landings mentioned above are well equiped with tell-tales and windsocks but if you fancy a higher take-off there are more options. The Pas De Chevre near the top of Grand Montet is 3300m ASL (2300m above the valley floor) and is reached by cable car. The take-off is on a glacier which is normally quite safe but if you're not experienced in safety on glaciers you should take a mountain guide (which can be easily arranged). From there it is possible to get up above Le Dru and the Aiguille Verte, or if you don't fancy thermaling at such an altitude (The higher above the ground you are the safer you are in general but try telling your vertigo that!) you still have plenty of height to reach the landings near Chamonix town.
All through the winter and until nearly the end of June you can take-off from the top of the Aiguille Du Midi (3847m ASL, 2800m above landing). There are no tell-tales here so you need to have a good sense for the conditions and a very good take-off technique. There are two take-offs here, the south face is the easier of the two, usually an alpine take-off in light winds, you fly down the Valley Blanche with incredible views of the Grands Jorasses, the Mer De Glace and the rest of the Mont Blanc Massif. Your flight will take you down the Mer De Glace and over the Montenvers hotel and back over Chamonix. When the conditions are perfect (Northerly winds) and you have a steady 15km in your face you can take-off the north face. This can be a very intimidating take-off and has claimed lives in the last few years. Once of the ground you are suddenly 1800m above the Plan D'Aiguille, at this height you don't have to be the best XC pilot to get to Annecy. The Aiguille Du Midi take-offs are also on a glacier and you will need, at the very least, crampons to get to them from the top lift station. There is a knife-edge ridge you have to negotiate which sometimes has a rope to hang onto but not all the time. Unless you are an experienced mountaineer/para-alpinist I would HIGHLY recommend taking a guide.
Your accommodation is in either of the infamous FTXXX Chalets: '715' or 'High Mountain Lodge'. Both chalets are centraly located and typically Fresh Traxxx - fully equipped with all the luxuries to make your stay that much more enjoyable ( see FTXXX Gallery ): baby foot & pool table in one, Jacuzzi, home cinema and trampoline at the other - in house bar, Sky TV, DVD's, MD's, PS2 and backgammon in both !
