Having booked the Passauer Hütte months ago we were excited that it looked like we had a perfect weather weekend as we approached the trip, and I was even happier that it looked like it should work for a hike&fly to save me about 1800hm of descent.
After some discussions we settled on the northern approach to the hut as despite having 300hm more of ascent, it was a lot more gradual and on a better path, which got the vote for the descent. The start of the approach was up through the woods, however as we climbed higher we started other get fleeting views to the north into the Steinernes Meer. Eventually we emerged out of the woods and could enjoy the view fully, and it really was spectacular.
As we arrived at the col by the hut we were suddenly greeted with the view south towards the main alpine ridge, something which was great to suddenly emerge and see in one go. We enjoyed our afternoon sitting on the veranda at the hut while eating some food, having a few drinks and soaking in the wonderful view.
After a poor nights sleep we were treated to a wonderful view after sunrise with a massive inversion covering the entire valley and basin below the hut. Unfortunately on the day the forecast had shifted slightly with a stronger wind which was more northerly than it had previously been, so as we left the hut I was very unsure about if the flight back down would work.
As we ascended to the Melkerloch we were in some spectacular positions above the inversion, a real treat. The rest of the ascent up the south face was enjoyable with some easy scrambling at times, with a constantly stunning backdrop towards the main alpine ridge. After about 2 hours we emerged from the south face, and into the wind, which was in the wrong direction for my planned take off and fairly gusty.
As we were eating lunch at the summit I was debating as to if there was a safe launch from the summit, which there would have been with a slightly weaker wind, however with the strength of the base wind and the gusts I decided that it was not safe enough for me to attempt a launch, the consequences of getting plucked would have been very serious.
After admiring the view and eating some lunch we started descending towards the north, and while we were on the descent I spotted what looked like it would be a great launch near the Kuchelneider. I was very happy when we got there and it was indeed a perfect launch facing directly into the wind, after quickly getting my wing out, I launched into a perfect wind.
I was a bit hasty with the setup of my equipment and didn’t pay enough attention to the rocks which resulted in catching some lines, thankfully none broke, however I was able to correct the bad pull up and made a good launch.
The flight down was beautiful as I flew down the ridge north of the Kuchelhorn with a great view north towards the Watzmann and back south towards the Birnhorn and the Passauer Hütte. All too soon I was landing in the beautiful valley right next to the car which was a great end to a few days.
While waiting for the others to descent, I went to a nearby restaurant and enjoyed an alcohol free beer and a wonderful schnitzel.
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