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Daniel and Upsspitze Hike&Fly

Alastair BegleyAustria, Paragliding, Walking Short Link

With a beautiful autumnal weather forecast I was keen to do a hike&fly, however the wind was forecasted to be in a pretty sub-ideal direction for most objectives that I had in mind, so when Becky suggested we do Daniel, something which has been on our list for a while, it seemed like a good idea. Despite the sub-ideal wind direction, I decided to take my hike&fly wing with me anyway, in case the conditions were suitable enough to fly down. We took the train from Munich to get there, all fully included in our regular Deutschlandticket despite having the travel into Austria. Unusually, for this walk the train station was also the ideal place to start the walk from. The ascent was pretty unrelenting the entire way up, gaining a lot of altitude in not much distance, but at least a reasonable amount of it was above the tree line which gave some stunning views. We eventually made it up to the col between the Upsspitze and Daniel, and I was pleased that there was a nice updraft so it seemed very likely I would be able to fly. Read the full article…

Col des Frêtes Hike&Fly

Alastair BegleyFrance, Paragliding, Walking Short Link

One of my aims for Friday had been the Col des Frêtes hike and fly, but in the end we just didn’t have enough time for it. On Sunday there was a pretty marginal wind forecast for if it would be achievable, however we decided to have a lie in and head up late in the day for a sunset hike and fly as this was the best chance we had of the wind working. The start of the ascent was up to the Planfait launch and then it continued up in the forest above the launch. The rest of the walk was really just a slog up in the forest with very limited views out towards the lake. It was pretty steep at times and we were both definitely hoping that we could fly down as we didn’t really want to walk back down the ascent, the wind was however a bit worrying as it definitely felt like it was in the wrong direction at times while we were walking up. Eventually we got to the top of the forest, which is just below the start, and were pleased. Read the full article…

Tourist Flight around Annecy

Alastair BegleyFrance, Paragliding Short Link

The conditions were unfortunately not good enough to do a proper xc flight, however they were definitely good enough to enjoy some airtime with spectacular views around Lake Annecy. Our plan had been to head back to the Planfait launch, as it is easier to get to, however we managed to hitch to Col de la Forclaz, which I was very pleased with as this was really where I wanted to start from. The flight was really enjoyable due to the wonderful scenery around Lake Annecy, I was particularly surprised by the view of Mont Blanc. I don’t really know why it was such as shock, but last time I flew at Annecy Mont Blanc was shrouded in cloud so I wasn’t able to see it. After soaring around for a while, I crossed over the lake to join Alex, however the high cloud had come in and the thermals were too weak to really gain any altitude. After soaring for a while we decided to call it a day and went to land. We had a picnic dinner by the lake, just a 30 second walk from Alex’s apartment,. Read the full article…

Sunset hike&fly to Planfait

Alastair BegleyFrance, Paragliding Short Link

Having arrived in Annecy late in the afternoon, but still keen to make the most of the beautiful weather we decided to go on a short hike and fly up to the Planfait launch. The walk was mostly in the forest, however there were some fleeting movements with wonderful views over the lake. After an energetic walk up to the launch, we were there in good time and setup before making the quick flight down. I thought there would be no more thermal activity left, so had taken my hike&fly gear, however this was a mistake as it would have been possible to enjoy a wonderful sunset soaring session otherwise. The flight down into the setting sun was really beautiful, with outstanding views over the lake and the surrounding mountains.