Somehow winter managed to pass me by with no paragliding days, and due to a very slow start to spring we were at the end of April before I had flown this year, in fact about 6 months since my last flight. I set off for the day with a big plan but fairly low expectations and the day turned out to be spectacular with excellent thermals a clear sky with views that went on forever.
We started from Hochfelln along with what seemed like every other paraglider in Bavaria, as it was one of the few lifts which was running so early in the season, and the launch was complete chaos, as it was clearly most peoples first flight of the season after a winter with no groundhandling. Whilst the conditions were difficult due to snow on the ground, there were numerous paragliders who crashed onto the walking patch, most people failed to launch and there was some terrible launch etiquette.
Eventually it was my turn to launch, which went very smoothly after my ground handling practice earlier in the week and I was soon up at the departure altitude for XC. I spent a while waiting for my friend, before departing after I had spent over 20mins circling around.
My flight route took me from Hochfelln south to the Horndlwand with fantastic views over the Mittersee and the Weitsee, before I headed East to Hochstaufen, over Badreichenhall and back up to Karkopf which was my first turn point. I then headed back south west (through ED-R142 which is allowed at the weekend, assuming there is no NOTAM) with brilliant views into Berchtesgadener Land and over the Großes Mühlsturzhorn, west over Lofer and along to my second turn point at Steinplatte. The views both from above Steinplatte were absolutely amazing and were probably the highlight of the flight. From Steinplatte my route took me back north over the Weitsee and the Horndlwand to take me back over Hochfelln and back down to land by my car.
As it turned out, this was my longest flight, something which I certainly didn’t expect for my first route of the year. Perhaps I should have started earlier and planned a more ambitious flight!
Flight details can be seen here:
