Jean-Marie Clément introduces TopFly-Patagonia to French TV

Lanin volcano (by Jean-Marie Clément)

Lanin volcano (by Jean-Marie Clément)

For more than a decade the French glider pilot Jean-Marie Clément has regularly taken advantage of the Southern summer and traveled to the Andes to explore the world famous wave systems and to take advantage of great soaring. Meanwhile he has launched several TopFly expeditions and on his website he has published several reports as well as stunning pictures. Le professeur, as people call him in Patagonia, offers introduction flights and record opportunities in his Nimbus 4DM, which serves as expedition ship. I learned about the European expeditions in Sebastian Kawa’s book.

Two weeks ago I stumbled across an announcement for a TV trailer called “The disciple of the condor”, which of course made me curious. Unfortunately I do not have access to French TV, but now here is a short 21 minute version of the movie “Faut pas réver” to be downloaded. It is for free but in French language. Even for those of you who don’t speak it, it still offers a great insight into the scenery and what a surprise… at the time marker 14:06 you’ll find an old friend: The Perlan DG 1001M stars for some seconds on the end of Chos Malal’s runway! Not sure where Jim and Dennis are hiding?

Here’s what you have to do when your computer starts talking to you in French: Scroll down and hit “Valider et télécharger …”

Hit "Valider et télécharger ..." to download the movie

Hit “Valider et télécharger …” to download the movie

Jean-Marie also made the long version of the movie available for free download. It takes a while to get it onto your computer but is probably an interesting topic for a long evening – full version, 1 hour 49 minutes (the gliding sequences start at 1:28). I’ll connect my laptop to our big TV-screen tonight and then watch mountains fly by and listen to French dreams in Patagonia. Jean-Marie, thank you very much for sharing your story!