SkyAtlantida XC trips · France

XC trip to France — Pyrenees and Alpes-Maritimes

Name: XC trip: France — South: Pyrenees, Alpes-Maritimes
Brand: SkyAtlantida
Price: 1270 EUR
Availability: InStock

Two World Cup sites in the south of France. Targassonne is the high Cerdagne with 2600 hours of sunshine a year, the training base of the French national team. Gourdon is a ridge 20 km from the sea with about 300 flyable days a year, the home site of the Ozone test team.

Ask about dates Format and price All destinations

Apr–May · early autumn

trip window

€1 270

Guiding format, from

1 : 4

one guide per four pilots

mountain XC

route level

SkyAtlantida › XC trips worldwide › France

Site

Targassonne and Gourdon: numbers, not impressions

Mauroux launch (Targassonne)

2055 m

S/SE/SW aspect, Mauroux landing at 1645 m, shuttle to launch

Cerdagne

2600 hours of sunshine a year

dry air, few fogs; Font-Romeu sits at 1800 m

Gourdon launch

1094–1115 m

two launches on the ridge, SE aspect, landings on the Châteauneuf plain

Gourdon ceiling

2000 m (FL65)

Nice TMA — a barometric altimeter is mandatory

Airports

Perpignan ~1.5 h · Nice ~45 min

Targassonne: Perpignan, Toulouse 2 h 45 min, Barcelona 2 h 20 min; Gourdon: Nice 40 km

Launch-to-landing vertical

300–1100 m

a guide for our sites; the exact launch is chosen from the forecast

Duration

9 days

Trip window

April–May and early autumn

Meeting hub

Targassonne (Pyrenees) or Gourdon (Alpes-Maritimes)

the country's hub, not a fixed launch — we pick the valley from the forecast about a week before departure

Level

mountain XC

Photo gallery

What it looks like

XC trip to France — Pyrenees and Alpes-Maritimes — photo 1

Photos from our XC trips · 1 pictures

Why fly here

What this place gives you

Strengths

Targassonne — World Cup round 2023: on the first task of 72.6 km 108 pilots out of 119 made goal
Font-Romeu has hosted since 1997 the world's only training centre for young pilots — world champions Cazaux, Lager and Delferriere came out of it
Gourdon: the microclimate gives about 300 flyable days a year and a steady sea breeze of 10–25 km/h; flyable even in a moderate northerly meteo wind
Gourdon — World Cup round 2024: six tasks from 64 to 133.8 km, most pilots flew the 100 km ridge race in about 2 h 40 min

What is dangerous here

Mauroux: gusts of northerly wind — watch the FFVL “Targasonne Mauroux” weather station; a slope landing with thermal cycles, rough in summer afternoons
Mauroux sits where the breezes of three valleys meet — Cerdagne, Têt and Capcir; do not land facing the valley
Gourdon: N/NW wind above 15 km/h gives rotors and destructive sink; flying towards the sea is prohibited (Nice and Cannes CTR)
Gourdon: the landing is squeezed between a road and power lines — a U- or S-shaped approach; at PWC 2024 task 5 saw a helicopter evacuation

Routes

What people fly here

Targassonne: World Cup 2023 tasks — 72.6 / 102.7 / 101.4 / 60.8 km along the Cerdagne valley. Gourdon: transitions east to Pic de Courmettes and Vence, over the ridge to Gréolières and the south face of the Cheiron; the convergence helps you get back to the front ridge. PWC 2024 tasks — 64–133.8 km, including 99.8 km with 82 in goal out of 102.

Competitions. Targassonne: Pre-PWC 2018 and 2021 (112 pilots from 16 countries), World Cup round 26.08–02.09.2023 — winners Maxime Pinot and Violeta Jimenez. Gourdon: Pre-PWC 2022, World Cup round 24–31.08.2024 — six tasks, winners Julien Wirtz and Elisabeth Egger.

Format

Dates, price and what is included

Guiding

€1 270per pilot, EUR

Guiding + stay

€1 600twin/shared for the whole trip

Group

4–8 pilotsratio 1 guide : 4 pilots; a second guide joins the larger groups

Deposit

30 %non-refundable — except when the group does not form and we cannot run the tour

The Guiding format includes: a guide on site for the whole trip, weather briefing and the task of the day, shuttle to launch, retrieve from the landing, radio guidance and live tracking, track debrief every evening. Accommodation and meals are yours.
Guiding + stay: twin or shared for the whole trip, price in the table above.
Not included: flights, insurance, personal equipment, visa fees, local site fees — cable cars, launch fees, forest and park fees.
Booking and invoicing are handled by the manager. This is a partner site, so the final price and deposit are confirmed by the manager — the price in the table is valid at the time of publication.

Groups of 4–8 pilots; a trip runs from four. Dates inside the window are adjusted to the group that forms — tell us the month and we will schedule the trip. The 30 % deposit per pilot secures your place and is non-refundable, except when the group does not form and we cannot run the tour. What to bring — on the pilot requirements page, full rules — in the XC booking terms.

Preparation

Visa, weather and non-flying days

Visa

Ukraine and Georgia — visa-free 90/180 on a biometric passport (ETIAS registration from late 2026). Russia and Kazakhstan need a Schengen visa; since November 2025 citizens of Russia are, as a rule, issued single-entry visas only.

Rules change — check the primary source before buying tickets. If you need help with documents, write to us.

Weather in the window

Font-Romeu (1800 m): April about 4 °C, May 8–9, September 12 — a mountain climate, frost possible at night. Nice (for Gourdon): April 14 °C, May 18, September 21; about 69 mm of rain in April, 81 in September.

If we are not flying

Cerdagne: the solar furnaces of Odeillo and Mont-Louis, the Yellow Train, the hot springs of Saint-Thomas and Llo. Gourdon: the castle and village of Gourdon, the Gorges du Loup, the perfume houses of Grasse, Nice 40 km away.

Read before the deposit

Insurance, documents and rules

Insurance that covers paragliding is mandatory — at least €100 000, with search and rescue, helicopter evacuation and repatriation. Before the trip every participant signs the participant document and sends it to us together with a photo of their passport and licence.

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Pilot requirementsLevel, equipment, radio, insurance, emergency procedure

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XC booking termsVersion 1.3 of 21 Aug 2026, 23 sections

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Safety briefing“You are the pilot in command”, weather, radio

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Participant document (RU)PDF · filled in and signed once before the trip

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