An Epic Bastille Day!
This past July 14th—Bastille Day in France—atmospheric conditions aligned perfectly for record cross-country flights, and our Team pilots Justin PUTHOD and François MONTUORI took full advantage…
They share the story behind their epic 342 km and 307 km flights!
Justin PUTHOD
Wednesday evening, July 13th: tomorrow is a bank holiday! Final weather forecast check with François: upper-level wind in the high massifs but an unstable airmass over the outer foothills, crowned by phenomenal cloud bases! Five of us met in Cluses at 7:30 AM to hitch a 4x4 ride up to launch.
A veil of altocumulus dampened my spirits slightly; I wasn't thrilled about launching early. Plus, reaching the launch north of Pointe d'Areu, we encountered westerly wind blowing tailwind over the ridge… Fingers crossed, we prepped our gear, and right at 9:30 AM, birds started coring thermals 300m out in front. GO TIME!
9:40 AM, airborne: Wow, it's already booming. Running the line south toward Montlambert worked seamlessly: two hours in and already averaging over 30 km/h. A brief low save where I struggled to climb out before jumping into the Chartreuse, scraping low at 850m. It popped cleanly—in less than an hour I found myself sitting at 3,200m above Chamechaude, setting a direct line for the northeastern shoulder of Le Moucherotte. A 5 m/s low save at 1,350m, pinned on the speed bar along the ridge, and I was already at 2,600m deep in the Vercors.
That was when my leg endurance began to fade on the speed bar; the turbulent ridge run was shaking me hard. The out-and-back felt long, with the sensation of always flying upwind, yet ground speed stayed high: 34 km/h average! A fast return northward into the Chablais followed, propelled by integrated 7.5 m/s climbs in the Chartreuse and a swift crossing of the Bornes pushed by southwesterlies: by 7:00 PM, average speed reached 34.9 km/h. After a long glide toward Mieussy where climbing was arduous, I tried stretching the triangle to reach 350-360 km. Eventually, I was caught in a stable evening inversion and spent an hour working down to land, successfully closing the declared FAI triangle within the allowed margin!
Final tally: a 342 km flat triangle. A far more rewarding flight than initially expected. Truly phenomenal conditions—and ready to go even bigger alongside a fired-up crew!
François MONTUORI
Bastille Day: Justin and I sensed this was the magical day we had been monitoring for weeks. We met at 7:30 AM in Cluses to head up to the Tête de la Sallaz launch, north of the Aravis. In position by 8:30 AM, we waited for high clouds to clear. A westerly baseline wind made launch tricky, forcing us to launch from the unfavorable side and dive immediately into the east face. After eight aborted attempts, I finally managed to launch “us”—and by “us”, I mean my Kanibal Race 2 equipped with two rescue parachutes, 20 kg of ballast, and myself.
Confident as I was, spotting a 20-minute deficit on Justin Puthod meant catch-up would be brutal. Launching near 10:00 AM, I entered my focus bubble to push through an Aravis range that was only waking up, despite solid bases. I barely touched the speed bar, focusing on reading lines by shadowing local vultures and turning as little as possible. Reaching 3,000m at L'Étale, there wasn't another thermal until connecting with the Bauges. Approaching Dent de Cons, I was amazed to punch into a booming thermal despite a low save. That's when I realized we were in the middle of a once-in-a-season day: generous ceilings, potent thermals, and low air layers every bit as buoyant as the heights! I spotted Justin just ahead and knew conditions were right to push the XC Racer on full bar.
I re-entered the Chartreuse just above 1,000m, easing the tempo until reaching the upper rock bands. Once on the upper tier, we flattened the bar again, swallowing the Chartreuse at 37 km/h. The Vercors was equally turbo-charged. On the return connection, I hit the most violent sink I've ever flown through, ducking into the lee of an east face to avoid landing out. After holding my breath, it paid off! I caught back up with Justin down in the Vercors and we rocketed northward together to Mont Granier. A slight mistake connecting back into the Bauges cost me contact with the maestro. Nearing Annecy, the air mass changed completely: a southwest wind helped our ground speed but stabilized the atmosphere… I kept progressing on weak climbs around 6:00 PM.
Fortunately, Justin—a few kilometers ahead—radioed that the Jallouvre was working well, reigniting hopes for 300 km! I found great thermo-dynamic lift, but winds sheared above the peaks. I glided toward Pointe d'Orchex, gained 200m in ridge lift, and transitioned toward Mieussy. I climbed up to Haute Pointe almost without circling, bagging my 310 km turnpoint!! Flying back toward Cluses on late-day glass-off glide, past 8:00 PM, I soared the Tête de Seudets to close within the 3 km cylinder and complete this monumental flight!
An achievement so massive it's hard to process! What a magnificent journey!!
