2010 Speedflying Pro Les Arcs winner, Antoine Montant. Photo: Jerome Maupoint
For the third year in a row, Antoine Montant has won the Speedflying Pro, les Arcs, proving that he still dominates in this discipline which combines skiing with high speed paragliding.
The competition finished today. Alongside Antoine on the podium at the event of event celebrations were fellow Frenchmen Francois Bon (flying Gin), one of the sport’s pioneers, and Yoan Castagnoli (on an AtAkA wing), who was also on the podium in the 2009 event. The French acro pilot was highly noted by the judges for “his inventiveness, his enthusiasm and his involvement”.
Two freeride sets were run on Wednesday on the flanks of the Aiguille Rouge. The organisers explain: “The riders are free to choose their itinerary, by skiing on the snow and flying on this magnificent untouched side, between corridors and powder fields. A high speed ballet between the rocks. Their descent is graded on three criteria by a jury : the technique (the difficulty of the figures), the style (fluidity, the harmony of the skiing and the flying), and the course chosen”.
The Speedflying Pro website commented that the sport is evolving and there are other riders now coming close to Antoine’s level, which was previously unmatched.
François Bon and Antoine Montant are now setting out for a speed flying premiere on ‘a mythical side of the Alps’. The destination, still being kept secret, will be revealed on the Speedflying Pro website.
Antoine Montant, Speedriding Pro Les Arcs. Photo: Jerome Maupoint
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