In Chamonix, seminar organisers who want to offer their guests something a bit more active are spoilt for choice. And if they want to offer skiing, walking or rock climbing, then they can contact the agency Les Ailes du Mont Blanc for ideas. Established in 2001 by Frédéric Moevus, the agency specialises in teaching paragliding, via either group or individual lessons, and speed riding, also known as speed flying, which is basically a speed activity involving freeride skis and a 10-15 m² canopy to combine flying with ski jumps off the slopes !

Both activities are considered extreme and give a real buzz to participants. We have seven instructors for paragliding and, as well as providing courses lasting a couple of days, they also offer tandem flights mostly from Le Plan Praz, says Frédéric Moevus. Tandem flights work out at about 95 € plus lift pass. We also offer taster days with ground handling and tandem flight for 225 €. The packages are ideal for groups of between 30 and 40 people, which means that we can have them all flying over half a day .

In addition to its instructors, most of whom are qualified high mountain guides or ski instructors, the school also provides its clients with about a dozen canopies and all the equipment that goes with it, including helmet, radio transmitter and cradle.

The other exciting discipline offered by Les Ailes du Mont Blanc is speed riding. For this, beginners can start off at the Col de Balme, with a second centre offering the same facilities due to open this winter in Les Houches. In order to take up this activity, you must first be an experienced skier. The price of a day’s speed riding, including the cost of an instructor, canopy, harness and radio transmitter but excluding ski hire and lift pass, is 100 €.

Conference organisers are increasingly tempted by these types of packages, with several requests each season, some of which come via hotels like Le Morgane, or via the Compagnie des Guides, both partners of Les Ailes du Mont Blanc. Worth noting is the fact that the agency enjoys a strong reputation in the world of free flight and speed riding. Moreover, it also organised the discipline’s tour final last winter, bringing together in Les Montets the 60 best European speed riders.

For the forthcoming season, we’re noticing an increasing demand for speed riding, confirms Frédéric Moevus. Outside of these two activities, we’re also promoting a range of other packages that are popular with companies – like a trip on the Montenvers cog-wheel train followed by a walk via the Traversée du Balcon Nord as far as the Plan de l’Aiguille, finishing with a tandem paragliding flight…