Ascendance

Our Ascendance paragliding school is located in Accous, a Béarn village in the Aspe valley in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, near the Spanish border and around sixty kilometers from Pau by road. The town is one of the famous paragliding spots in the Pyrenees and we have been flying students and passengers there since 1986, with state-certified instructors.

Our main activity is to train autonomous pilots in free flight and to help them progress in complete safety, according to the learning levels of the French Free Flight Federation (FFVL), from initiation to improvement and high level. Every beginner starts with the five-day introductory course, which aims for at least four major flights of 800 m in altitude guided by radio by two instructors. The first two days are spent on a 60 m training slope to get the hang of the wing and learn how to turn, brake and stop. The theory generally takes place at the end of the afternoon. We lend the equipment, including the harness with emergency parachute and the radio. Shuttles are also included. Only compulsory aviation liability insurance remains to be taken out: we offer the FFVL insurance license which requires a medical certificate.

Once the initiation has been validated, you will follow a personalized progression. The progression courses include around ten altitude flights on the Accous and Piedmont sites. The Evolution Plus level provides for around fifteen and adds the work of thermal lifts and transitions, with the identification of areas where to land outside of the planned landing. Then come the thermal flight and cross-country courses, focused on aerology, topography and navigation following the terrain, then an itinerant course. A session canceled due to weather is refunded or transformed into a credit.

Four tandem flights allow you to discover flying without training, all year round depending on the weather. The gentlest is the Discovery flight, in calm air and open to children aged 4 or 5 years old. At the other end, the Piloting Initiation flight leaves the controls to the passenger from 10 years old. Between the two are the Thermik, longer, and the Combo Sensation which ends in acrobatics.

Abroad, our instructors supervise paragliding trips and manage the weather analysis and the choice of sites. We also resell equipment with specialized partners to guide each pilot, and our Ascendance lodge welcomes trainees who come alone or in groups.