I had been wanting to fly in the Slovenian Alps for some time, as I had heard great things about the flying and I knew that the scenery was really very special. While we were there for a long weekend in August there were decent conditions forecast on one of the days, so I made a plan to get myself from Bovec to Tolmin in the morning with public transport.
As expected I was on launch way too early, but I would much rather that that too late. This led to a very chilled out morning relaxing in the sun while waiting for conditions to turn on, as the launch became busier and busier. This meant that I decided that as soon as it looked “on”, I would launch before it became too hectic in the air.
Eventually someone took off and managed to, very slowly, climb out, so I didn’t need anymore encouragement and launched into the blue. After slowly scratching my way up it was time to move on, and I am very pleased with my decision as it was constantly getting busier below me, and scratching in busy airspace is just not fun.
My progress remained painfully slow in the morning thermals until I got to Krn and finally scratched back up to be above the summit. From here the views were spectacular and after a few more turns made the crossing over Kobarid. From here the day changed significantly, and I flew all the way along the ridge to the valley prior to Gemona with only one or two circles.
The landings were few and far between, however in these conditions it didn’t matter as the ridge lift was reliable and it was just a case of cruising along on bar and taking in the scenery. A very special moment for me was when a huge Bearded(?) Vulture was flying towards me on the ridge and flew about 20m to my left.
When I got to the end of the ridge I considered making the jump, but decided that bombing out here would be a very long way back and we were visiting friends, so making it back on the correct evening was definitely a preference. The flight back was also very easy and by this point the day was really on. After crossing the Soča valley I was soon back above Krn with a decision to make.
To ensure I got back I decided. to fly back east until I got to the valley crossing and then to just fly in the direction of Bovec to ensure that I landed near our campsite. At this point a 100km triangle would have been easy, but completing the triangle and getting back to Bovec was much less certain.
The flight back to Bovec was quick and easy, and I arrived with enough altitude that I thought I would push north to try and extend my route. I committed to the wrong side of the ridge, the side with easy landings and a bus route, and found myself in the lee and with weak thermals as the sun was moving around.
I decided to call it quits and turn around and flew back to Bovec, and due to failing to find the official landing place from the air, despite using multiple devices and maps, ended up landing right next to the campsite.
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