Fred Souchon demonstrates his lollipop trick before launching his paraglider in the Chamonix Valley. Photo: Jake Holland
Techniques and Skills

Mountain launches: Fred Souchon’s lollipop trick

Launching a paraglider from a slippery slope can be frustrating. Alpine climber and flyer Fred Souchon shows us a trick to make it easier

26 September, 2025, by Jake Holland and Fred Souchon

If you are trying to launch a paraglider in the snow and have a backwind or a steep slope and the wing keeps sliding down, try Fred’s lollipop trick. It really works!

Take two or three wooden ice lolly sticks, make a small hole in the top of each, attach 35cm of thin line with a loop on the end. Larksfoot this loop through the attachment point of your A-lines; one in the middle and the other two several cells over from the centre.
1) Take two or three wooden ice lolly sticks, make a small hole in the top of each, attach 35cm of thin line with a loop on the end. Larksfoot this loop through the attachment point of your A-lines: one in the middle and the other two several cells over from the centre.
Pull lines taut and anchor your wing in the snow with the lolly sticks
2) Pull lines taut and anchor your wing in the snow with the lolly sticks.
When you launch they will pull out and dangle from the wing in flight
3) When you launch they will pull out easily and then dangle harmlessly from the wing in flight. Simple!

Watch the film for more of Fred Souchon’s pro tips on launching in the high mountains.

This was first published in Cross Country 254 as part of A New Puzzle to Play. Read the premium article about Jake Holland and Fred Souchon’s combo trip to climb and fly from the Aiguilles Vertes above Chamonix, France here.

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