Thursday 7th September 2017, Eric Fournier, the mayor of Chamonix has issued a municipal order stating that "The landing of the "mini wings" and the practice of speed flying at the Savoy field is suspended until further notice".
"During the period of validity of this municipal order, landing of "mini wings "and the practice of speed flying must be done at Bois du Bouchet landing area".
"This information will be available at the departure stations of Aiguille du Midi cable car, Planpraz gondola".
The town hall have prohibited any activity of speedriding / speedflying on the Savoy field. Henceforth, the only landing area permitted for speedflyers is the "Bois du Bouchet".
According to Le Dauphine, the adepts of this sport no longer have the right to land on the Savoy field, located at the foot of the take-off area of Planpraz, behind the Club Med. This order has no specific term and speedflyers are asked to land on the Bois du Bouchet.
This decision follows the last accident during a speedflying landing on the Savoy field in Chamonix, Tuesday 29th August 2017, where a 30-year-old man died near the adjoining residence Les Balcons du Savoy. Click here to read our article published on 30th August 2017.
The town hall of Chamonix wants to prevent new accidents and face the "rapid development of the speed flying" and in "case of drift", recently identified endangering others."
A reflection on the practice of speedflying in Chamonix
Claude Jacot, town councillor in charge of the case, explains that this reflection must be done around " the possible coexistence of practices," such as paragliding.
Furthermore, it involves "seeing if we can identify areas that would improve the security of the "landing" for everyone" and "reduce the risk of cohabitation," he added.
Before the accident, the question of the cohabitation between speedflyers and paragliders had arisen. "At the end of the season, it was thought to put that on the table," admits the elected official, who already thought to bring together various local representatives.
This fatal accident accelerated the procedure, to avoid any further accidents during the remaining few days of operation of the Planpraz gondola, scheduled to close on 17th September 2017.
However, the elected officials did not go so far as to suspend the speedflying: "The landing at the Bois du Bouchet could only be temporarily maintained".
A "reasonable" measure
For Michel Baz, the measure seems "reasonable" while awaiting "other solutions".
President of the Club des Gratte-ciel, Michel Baz participated to the discussions. These solutions must be defined for the next season, when the number of adepts will be bigger than now.
Several fields located at the foot of the Brevent could be suitable for the landing of speedflyers and speedriders (The speedriding is practiced on snow only, and consists in flying along a off piste slope, equiped with a pair of skis, a harness, a helmet and a wing of weak surface).
