Everybody has heard about it now : Speedflying is the big new sport for skiers, skydivers and paragliders. The phenomenon has already reached all corners of Europe. The speedriding addicts reign the ski areas, off piste, looking for the most beautiful slopes.

From 12th to 15th of march 2007, Les Arcs ski resort, France, brought together the 25 best riders of 6 nationalities for what will undoubtedly become the great annual event of speedflying scene; the speedflying pro. For this first event, François Bon and Happy Ride organisation planned tasks with the stopwatch the only judge.

The menu:
Tasks 1 and 2 : “slalom” of 7 gates and 700 meters descent,
Task 3 : a “big downhill” of more than 1200 meters descent to find the most direct trajectory.
Finally task 4 : a “big mountain” task took the riders into the high mountains on a fairy-tale freeride route of the “aiguille rouge”, top of Les Arcs.
In each task, the competitors were to pass through compulsory gates with maximum height or by touching with skis.

This first event saw skydivers with tiny canopies leading (7meters square). But the Nanos showed a more spectacular way, sketching beautiful tracks and curves on the slopes. 8 Nanos took part in the GIN SpeedflyingPro Les Arcs 2007, one was in the hands of the only girl of the competition, Amandine Boivin.

Francois Bon, GIN Pilot, and also technical consultant for the organisation, took a great 4th place at the final ranking.
Loïc Jean Albert, the magical wingsuiter from the Soul Flyers Team, won the comp with his supersonic canopy.
Raul and Felix Rodriguez did some huge acro paragliding demos during the event, and Loïc did some enormous wing suit demos too.

See you next year in Les Arcs for The Speedflying Pro!

Jerome Maupoint.