From Matterhorn to Mont Ventoux | WeCoach Puimoisson

On April 16th, the two trainees, together with Uli Gmelin and Philipp Ruhr, managed to secure the daily victory on WeGlide in the Arcuses of the Achum Storks. But there is so much more behind the kilometers, especially in such a fascinating flying area. We chat with trainees Luca Martini and Elias Weber, asking them about their highlights, learnings, and impressions during two weeks of WeCoach.

How many days were you able to fly, and how many hours did you rack up? What were the longest distances?

Luca: I was there for 12 days in total, and the weather was honestly stellar the entire time. We could have flown on 11 of those days. Because the V8 arrived a little later, I ended up flying on 8 days, which was completely fine though.

During that time, I racked up almost 60 flying hours, so we were really in the air a lot. My longest flight was around 750 km, but the rest of the flights weren't exactly short either; we really covered some serious ground.

And how did it go for you, Elias?

The yield was phenomenal for me as well. In total, I spent around 60 flying hours in the air. I was able to fly my longest distance on April 16th together with Philip. From Puimoisson, we first headed east towards Fayence, then over Allos and the Col de Vars, past Briançon up to the Col du Galibier. After another detour to Fayence, we crossed over to Mont Ventoux, before flying back to Puimoisson via the "Parcours" following a final turnpoint near Briançon.

By the end of the day, we put together a distance of 777 km.

Besides the overall experience, will a specific flight stick in your memory in particular, and if so, which one?

Elias: April 9th will definitely stick in my memory; that's when we managed a brilliant 675 km combination flight of thermals and wave. From Puimoisson, we initially flew on thermals up to Briançon. A bit further north of there, at 3000 meters, we successfully entered the first wave. From there, we jumped into the Bardonecchia wave, where we were able to climb to nearly 5800 meters.

What followed was a flight over the Vanoise to Mont Blanc. After gaining altitude in the wave there again, we flew over the Valpelline Valley to the Matterhorn, before heading back to Puimoisson via the wave system.

The experience of seeing the Alpine giants from that altitude was simply indescribable.

The two flights that the trainees will remember most fondly

Luca: A very special flight that will definitely stay in my memory was the wave flight with Philipp. We entered the wave relatively low right next to the Rote Wand, and it worked decently from the bottom. Afterwards, we were able to use the clouds well for orientation to find the next wave. To the Dufourspitze and then once more past/over Mont Blanc. That was my very first time flying in wave in the mountains, a truly awesome experience. The landing after sunset was definitely the icing on the cake.

Besides that, I'll also remember our first flight together. Even though we unfortunately had to fire up the engine that day, we dynamically worked our way forward piece by piece along the ridge in rather tricky conditions. Not only was that fun, but it also helped me get used to the terrain.

Nevertheless, all the other flights were absolutely impressive too. The landscape there fascinates me every single time, and whether I was flying with Phillip, Uli, or Elias, I always had a lot of fun and was able to take something away and learn from everyone.

What were you able to train best during WeCoach?

Elias: I was able to massively develop my flying technique in many areas during the program. One main focus was on precise, tight figure-eighting along the slope in order to make optimal use of the lift zones. In addition, we intensively studied the outlanding options in the mountains, which gives me significantly greater confidence for future Alpine flights.

Particularly valuable to me was the improvement of my general flying technique regarding clean and precise flying. Having such an experienced coach with me, who literally looked over my shoulder and gave direct feedback, helped me enormously.

I now feel much more confident in finding the fastest and safest route, even in complex terrain. For me, those two weeks were the perfect introduction to Alpine flying.

Luca: Overall, flying in the Alps impressed me the most. Without an opportunity like WeCoach, it would probably be quite difficult for many people to gain access to mountain flying at all. That made it all the more valuable that Philipp and Uli showed us step by step how to move safely there and what really matters. Over the two weeks, you got more and more used to the conditions and developed a good feel for flying in the mountains.

And from Philip, I can still pick up a few tricks on how to optimize flight legs 😄

That truly sounds like a fantastic experience! Thank you both for the insights!

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