Hang Gliding and Paragliding Volume 44 / Issue 3: March 2014 | Page 42

Jeremie Lager

Profile of the 2013 Paragliding World Champion:
Last summer’s paragliding World Championships in
Bulgaria delivered very difficult and varying conditions,
and when it was all said and done French pilot Jeremie
Lager had proven he is worthy of the crown. At 27, Lager
was an alternate who took the place of Luc Armant only
two weeks before the event and clinched the title to cap
off the French domination of the event. Lager is a ski
instructor for Meribel Ski Area in France where he lives
with his wife and two children slopeside. He started flying
in 1998 at the age of 13, in the paragliding school owned
by his father, Jaques, who taught him.
When Jeremie started competing in France, he picked
the brains of Patrick Berod and also learned from the
Valic brothers. Jeremie attended Pole Espoir, a boarding school in the French Pyrenees that trains kids, aged
14 to 17, the art of flying without an engine. The students

the all-important skill of knowing when to push and knowing
when to let others be the aggressors. The ability to learn from
the decision-making of fellow competitors is one of the most
valuable lessons of competition at all levels.
In the end, the result was only a small part of what made a
competition like this special. Two weeks full of memories with
a great group of pilots was the real reward. It was an honor
and a pleasure to represent Team USA at the 2013 World
Championships.
None of this would have been possible without the generous support of all the donors, and the tireless efforts of Tony
Lang, Matt Beechinor, and The Foundation for Free Flight.
The cost of sending a team to the World Championships is
sizable, and the US paragliding community stepped up and
made it happen. Thank you! Take a look at www.usparaglidingteam.org for further information on the history of the US
Team and the fundraising effort.

attend academic classes during the week, and on weekends and Wednesdays they go flying with coaches who
mentor them. Charles Cazaux (2011 World Champion),
Simon Issenhuth, Laurie Genovese, and many other
young up-and-coming French pilots whom you will
undoubtedly see in the top echelons of the paragliding
racing community also attended this school.
Jeremie had flown in Bulgaria in 2008 at a PWC, and
this experience gave him confidence in knowing when to
push and when to hold back. High and always leading
and in a good position, Jeremie was able to take climbs
to the top and control the lead gaggle.
The team was supported by ABAC, an engineering company in France that helped finance Niviuk when it was
created. The CEO of ABAC loves paragliding and is happy
to support the team of top-notch pilots: Lucas Bernadin,
Jean-Marc Caron, Honorin Hamard, Maxime Pinot, Simon
Issenhuth, Joel Debons, and Jeremie Lager.

The 2015 World Championships will be held during January of
2015, in Roldanillo, Colombia. The results from events in 2013
and 2014 will determine the US team for the event. You can
find the current US ranking on the USHPA site at www.ushpa.
aero/compresults.asp

Jeremie advises new pilots to take it slowly and fly safe
wings as beginners, because there are so many things
to learn before stepping up to the fastest equipment. He
also says up-and-coming pilots should fly in many different places to learn various techniques, and seek opportunities to fly in competitions with much better pilots to
learn more quickly from those who know.

ABOVE 2013 world champion, Jeremie Lager.

Jeremie’s personal goals for the coming year are to win

OPPOSITE Eric Reed flying around a Bulgarian
monument in Beklemeto pass on a practice day |
photo by Josh Cohn..

get more into adventure flying, aerobatics, and exploring.

the Superfinal, attempting to take the double crown, and