Bear Grylls initially asked me to help the Mission Everest project by providing the team with some rough air paragliding training in the French Alps, where my paragliding school, Adventure Extreme operates during the flying season. The invitation to join the team in Nepal came completely out of the blue, but life can be like that sometimes. My wife and business partner Sandra, herself a Senior BHPA Instructor, agreed that she could run the school on her own for a few weeks so I was able to accept the invitation.

I have been flying paragliders in the Everest region for about 16 years and the experience gained of the very unique flying conditions in that area will I hope, help the team succeed in the mission. I see my role as twofold, firstly, flying with Bear, Gilo and Neil, helping them get used to the often boisterous local conditions and secondly, to help with the exacting business of determining the high altitude met conditions prior to their flight. A wrong weather call could see the team inadvertently visiting some of the remoter regions of the Tibetan Plateau with no back up in place which could be very serious.