The morning after the Wanderbird Season Ending Event at Skywalk, I sat down with the overall winner of the 2025 WANDERBIRD Hero category: François Montuori.

We talked about his impressive path in paragliding : a story of focus, humility and flow.

François made his first school flight in late 2019. Since then, he’s quietly become one of the most consistent and respected athletes in the scene:

🪂 Sept 2019 – First school flight

🏔 June 2020 – First flight from Mont Blanc

📏 April 2021 – First >150km flight

⏱ 2022 – 430 hours in the air, >300km flights, 328km flat triangle in the Alps

🏆 2023 – First PWC, first >300km FAI triangle

🥇 2024 – Two Junior European Records (FAI), Swiss Open winner, pre-PWC podium, 7th at Dolomiti Superfly

🥇 2025 – Winner of the WANDERBIRD Trophy, podium at the British Open, entry into the top 50 XC pilots worldwide

There is not a word about these stats in the Podcast (except from me in the intro;) instead, the conversation is full of value about:

- how to balance ambition and joy

- what it’s like to not come from a typical X-Alps background (yet)

- how competition can be a source of connection

- the underrated importance of logistics and local knowledge

- flying with and without pressure

- choosing light gear vs full confidence setups

- how he approaches risk, learning, and recovery after a mistake

And of course, we touch on the values that matter most to him: time, experience, nature and staying grounded even when flying far.

If this conversation inspires you, share it with your friends, follow the podcast – and if you’d like to support what we do at WANDERBIRD, here are two easy ways:

A Buck an Episode – Support us via PayPal

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Thanks for listening,

Paul

#findyourpath