Building a Home in the Sky: An Interview with le CrewStillant

Who are le CrewStillant? 

If you’ve ever been to Royan around the Belgian national holiday, you already know our origin story. For 16 years, that week has been known as the “Débarquement Belge.” It wasn’t a formal boogie or a rigid camp; it was just a massive group of buddies meeting up once a year to jump, share a BBQ, and catch up over sunset beers. I actually got my license in Royan because it was the Belgian hub, but plenty of French jumpers were drawn in simply because the atmosphere was so welcoming.

The problem we all faced was the “holiday hangover” that hit the week after. You’d head back to normal life, and that incredible sense of community would just evaporate until the next year. Le CrewStillant was born from a desire to give back to the sport and turn that temporary magic into a permanent, year-round support system.

What are your main goals as a club and a team?

We’ve all seen it happen: a young jumper finishes their AFF course, gets their license, and then… they just stop. They drift away because they don’t have a “tribe” to jump with, they don’t know what gear to buy, and frankly, walking onto a brand new dropzone where you don’t know anyone can be terrifying.

For my first six years, I only jumped while on holiday for two weeks a year, which made it incredibly hard to build momentum. We wanted to help people in that exact situation. Le CrewStillant is now a registered FFP organization with well over 100 members across Belgium and France, and our main goal is to bridge that gap between getting your license and getting good. We take the intimidation out of the equation. When we plan a club trip, we go and test the location ourselves first. We organize the manifesting, the lodging, and the local logistics so that when our members arrive at a new DZ, it feels exactly like their home base. We handle the heavy lifting so they can just focus on progression.

The costs involved in skydiving can be significant – especially at the beginning. How do you aim to help?

That is exactly why we structured the club the way we did. Our goal is to reduce the cost of the sport in general. Here is the thing that surprises a lot of people: we do not charge registration fees for our events, and all the coaching is absolutely free. The only thing you pay is a very modest annual club membership fee, and we work tirelessly to pack as much value into that as possible. Because we have a structured organization with a large, active membership base, we can negotiate with dropzones and sponsors to get discounts for our members. We are incredibly proud to have CYPRES as our first and most consistent supporter. They’ve actually come out to our events for the last two years to support the community directly on the ground. It’s all about creating inclusion, breaking down financial barriers, and making sure that when you arrive, you never want to leave.

Tell us about your event in Morocco. 

Dromad’air is the perfect example of how our club ecosystem works. The genesis of the event actually came from a specific skydiving team within our club that is passionately focused on angle jumps. They wanted to build a high-level skill camp around that discipline. Le CrewStillant provided the legal structure, the logistical backing, and the administrative support to make it happen.

We chose Beni Mellal, Morocco, because the infrastructure is fantastic, and the jump tickets and hotels are cheap, which aligns perfectly with our goal of keeping costs down. We started three years ago with just 33 friends. Last year, we brought 85 people, making us quite an international bunch with members flying in from Germany and Romania. We are so proud that this event caters to everyone—from fresh students needing guidance to a dedicated group of wingsuiters progressing under the coaching of Cédric Noël. It’s the perfect blend of specialized, high-energy progression and that same inclusive community spirit we started with in Royan.

What is next for the club?

We aren’t slowing down. Managing trips for 85+ people takes a lot of work, which is why we are already scouting an additional international location for next year’s calendar. Throughout the rest of the year, we are continuing our regular canopy courses and club weekends across Belgium and France to keep our members safe and flying together.

We aren’t a group of “rockstars.” We are a team of admin staff, coaches, and volunteers who just want to provide a safe, ego-free space for people to grow. We started because of a vibe that brought people together, and our only mission now is to make sure that vibe has a permanent home. Whether you’re a newly licensed jumper looking for guidance or a veteran looking for a great crew, we’ve got a seat on the plane for you.