Mont-Blanc Paragliding Speed Record
On 4 Sept 2013, Nicolas Blanchard and David Bozon set a new record from the summit to the Church in Chamonix: 15 minutes speed paragliding!
Nicolas Blanchard and David Bozon, two professional paraglider pilots from Chamonix and creators of the EpicTV Chamonix Airways series, climbed from the Aiguille du Midi to Mont-Blanc and flew from the summit. With their speedriding gear to aid a fast take-off and 9m wide mini-wings, the glide angle was steep and fast; just over 10 minutes from the summit to touch down at the Clos du Savoy landing field. Then less than 5 minutes on a bike to the Church in the Place du Triangle in the centre of Chamonix. A total time of less than 15 minutes. The exact time wil be published when the GoPro data is analysed. They took off three minutes after starting the GoPro, that recorded a total time of 18mins 57sec.
This is the first attempt to set a descent speed record by paragliding. David's interview at the church, "This has never been done before. We've heard about the various speed records that had been set on skis & bikes and that's how we came up with the idea to do it with our wings, as we knew we'd be much faster. We came up with the idea in June 2013 but we couldn't do it then because flying over Mont Blanc is not allowed in July and August. So we had to wait and avoid talking about it and hope that nobody would steal our idea" the two declared for Epic TV.
