A daring grandmother of four has completed almost 500 paragliding flights with her adorable pet dog.
Corinne Dhenin, 68, from Geneva, loves jumping off mountains with her four-legged friend Phoebe as a passenger.
She climbs with the dog at her heels, sometimes reaching heights of up to 8,000 feet.
Corinne estimates she’s done nearly 500 jumps with a dog – more than 230 with Phoebe, and the rest with her other dog Megabyte.
She also enjoys hang gliding, speed riding – a ski sport – and flying microlights.
Grandmother Corinne Dhenin, 68, from Geneva, has made nearly 500 paragliding flights with her dog
Corinne estimates she has done almost 500 jumps with a dog – more than 230 with Phoebe (pictured) and the rest with Megabyte
She climbs with the dog at her heels – sometimes reaching heights of up to 8,000 feet.
Corinne showed off her toned physique on the beach in 2021, at the age of 66.
And Corinne says people criticize her about the dog, but she doesn’t care – as Phoebe, a boxer, loves it.
She said: “I started on very small slopes with Megabyte, our first flight was only a meter high. Then I took her higher and higher.
“Eventually we did flights of about 3,000 feet, up and down different mountains.
“When I first took Phoebe flying, she was six months old and tied up in front of me. She panicked and tried to climb me into the air.
“But she quickly realized that she was fine and that she wasn’t going to fall. And now, on Flight 230, she’s used to it.
“Basically we fly almost every day, being retired I just do this: we climb and fly together.
“When many people find out that I fly with my dog, their reaction is that it’s not fair to the dog. I want to make it clear that my dog loves coming with me.
“She has the most wonderful life, she climbs mountains all day and I do it for her. I’m not selfish or anything, the dog loves it as much as I do.”
Corinne, who worked as a director at a market research company, started hang gliding in 1981, in the early days of the sport.
Due to the cumbersome nature of the sport, she converted to paragliding, which she says pairs well with solo mountain climbing.
Today, the mother of three and grandmother of four has been paragliding for over 15 years and has 1,300 flights under her belt.
She says she also enjoys speed riding which she describes as “half skiing, half flying” and has even flown across France to Morocco in a microlight, a gas-powered hang glider.
Corinne pictured with young Phoebe in 2019 before they started paragliding together
She also enjoys hang gliding, speed riding – a ski sport – and flying microlights.
Corinne says people criticize her about the dog but she doesn’t care – as Phoebe, a boxer, loves it
Today, the mother of three and grandmother of four has been paragliding for over 15 years and has 1,300 flights under her belt.
She says she has a close relationship with her dog and they spend almost 24 hours a day together. So it makes perfect sense that the pair would also fly together.
And she says that despite her age, she has covered a huge vertical distance, having climbed around 200 mountains and covered 205,000m of elevation gain in total.
She says she has a close relationship with her dog and they spend almost 24 hours a day together. So it makes perfect sense that the pair would also fly together.
Corinne says: “I live in a small village in the mountains at an altitude of 2,200 feet, so I do a lot of sport, I started with hang gliding and then I got into paragliding.
“I decided it would be nice to have my dog climb mountains with me and the first one I taught to fly was Megabyte.
“She was OK with it, she got used to it, but she got too old to climb so I retired her.
Corinne, who worked as a director at a market research company, started hang gliding in 1981, in the early days of the sport.
Corinne and Phoebe posed for a photo at Trou de la Mouche 2453m in the Aravis
Corinne posed for a photo during the ascent of Mont Blanc 4810 m, in 2009
“There are a few people who fly with their dogs here, but it’s very rare. I know three people who do it but they have smaller dogs than me so that’s another matter.”
“A boxer weighs about 30kg so it’s a very technical thing to do, you have to hold the weight until you take off but once you’re in the air it’s fine.
“Now, every time she sees me preparing the materials in the morning, she comes and stands by the door and doesn’t let me leave without her.
“We do a three to four hour climb straight from the house, then the descent takes 10 to 15 minutes and we land again in front of the house.
“Camaraderie is really important.
“Once we make a climb she’s exhausted for the rest of the day so she sleeps and I’m pretty exhausted too.”
