Introducing our coach and tandem master Stéphane Zunino

Posted under: Club activity

To mark 25 years of skydiving, we introduce today our tandem, AFF and winguist instructor, Stephane Zunino, a living legend of skydiving.

Can you tell us more about our skydiving career?

I started skydiving on June 15, 1990 at Le Luc. I started skydiving to try skyfurf, the flagship discipline in the 90s. At that time, we were only a handful of skydivers forming a real community. Meanwhile I developed my love for formation skydiving and have rapidly integrated the 8 French team. I spent 7 years as a team member and have won multiple titles (European Championship, third at the World Championship … ).
In the mid 90s, with a few fellows, we started to make the first prototypes of wingsuit. Thus was born S-Fly, the only French wingsuit manufacturer.
In the early 2000s, I was at the origin of the Soul Flyers, demo team for Salomon. We have traveled the world to do demo jumps and make images for the brand. Today the team continues to exist with Fred Fugen and Vince Reffet perpetuating the tradition.
Today I carry on with wingsuit and the various disciplines of skydiving.

How many jumps do you have?
I have more than 15,000 jumps.

How did you start to develop wingsuits?
Initially I was already doing the sewing and repair. Loïc Jean Albert began to think about the wingsuit and after exchanging tips and ideas I finally started to produce wingsuit .

Today where are you in development of wingsuit?
The equipment has evolved tremendously. Today we have a complete line that we have fully developed and which is the result of our years of work and R & D. These range from beginner to elite. We also develop harness to practice base jump so that we can refine aerodynamics for even higher performances.

What were the changes in wingsuit practice in the recent years?
At the beginning, wingsuit was a new discipline that allowed to fly further and longer. Today the practice has totally evolved and combines artistic figures, angle flying, formation flying, time and distance competitions from airplane and cliff.

What are your tips to start winguist?
To have a good experience jumping from planes. You must have a minimum of 150 jumps before you can begin wingsuit. You need to be careful to use the proper equipment to jump safely and get trained by qualified instructors.
I organize courses throughout the year to train students and instructors.