École de Kortel
As you’ve probably guessed this weekend we were restricted by the vehicles again… in the form of Transfers, so no flying for us. There was flying, not an excessive amount but it was working well at Mieussy and Samoëns, driving past. It was blown out in Salève though, strong winds in Genève. There were a few flying at Plaine Joux too. It certainly looked xc’able but we haven’t seen any locals yet to find out. It did look like a nice weekend though, I have to say… through slightly gritted teeth!
- Early Cloud Formations
This morning, it looked like a possible good flying day, and we had the day off…. but we had a rendezvous with Kortel Design, and spent the day attending an amazingly in-depth look at the full range of Kortel Harnesses. It was so interesting, the whole concept of each individual harness was incredible, no stone was left unturned. It was a small attendence, with a Speedriding Instructor, Chantel (our friend/collegue) who works at the CEP Centre Ecole Parapente, and yours truly. The lecture was informative, and very particular. Just when you think you know about harnesses, there’s still more to be discovered. What Denis Kortella and Max Jeanpierre don’t know about harnesses isn’t worth knowing.
Max Jeanpierre, led the lecture/discussion, painstakingly explaining every aspect of the full range of harnesses, and their individual characteristics. Such things like, the ‘Karver’ speedriding harness, that is versatile, and can be used for various other modes of vol/ski has gel lock internal buckles, so they won’t freeze, at extremly low temeperatures. The way the Kuick harness, folds in on itself, and has a secret sack that you can stuff and hook onto the shoulder strap, the way the Karmasutra’s geometry works throughout the whole length of the harness, the stirrup attachment set up that disconnects and clears on release of the reserve.
We feel very privledged to have attended, and having a restaurant lunch included, was something we certainly weren’t expecting. During lunch I couldn’t resist but ask Max about his Mt. Blanc top landing!! It was absolutely fantastic listening to him describe how it happened, the fun, the disbelief, the incredible and unexpected height gains, the views and flying into Italy, the circling of the Mountain…. it sounded fantastic! and the guy who had the tandem flight… well the Tandem Pilot apparently said, “Perhaps, I’ll charge you a supplement!!” what an experience… takes my breath away… and that’s just listening!
It was an impeccable presentation. These guys work so hard on the designs, they’ve thought of everything!! We’ve certainly come away a lot more knowledgable and for some reason feel like we’ve only scratched the surface! Whilst we were in attendence a couple of Base Jumpers turned up with their wingsuits requiring some alterations?!! They did look impressive though, a bit like batwings! now there’s a recommendation for Kortel Quality stitching, if ever there was one!
Just before the end of the presentation, we saw Max’s plaque/trophy of his epic flight! 4807 meters, Top Landing on Mont Blanc! There’s not many people own those in the world! It would be nice to have one… don’t you think…???
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