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Blog Posts in Category: Austria

Standkopf Hike&Fly

Alastair BegleyAustria, Paragliding, Walking Short Link

As we now have our ski passes for the winter, which are already valid, we were keen to use them to get high and do a nice autumnal walk, combined with a flight down. We decided to fly down from Hamberg which is above the Zillertal, but with an approach from the Alpbachtal via the Wedersberger Horn. We left the van in Jenbach train station and then got a train and bus to get to the bottom of the Wedersbergbahn. The walk was really beautiful with autumnal colours covering the mountains, excellent views and was never too strenuous. The walk along the ridge was a bit more undulating than my plan had suggested, but it was still a relatively small amount of ascent overall. The views from the Standkopf into the Höhe Tauern and Zillertaler Alpen were really excellent and after soaking in these views with some food, we headed down the ridge towards Hamberg to launch. The wind throughout the entire day had not quite been as I had expected, so I was really hoping we could launch! On the descent I found one area which would have been. Read the full article…

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…

Wallberg to Walchsee Paragliding

Alastair BegleyAustria, Bavaria, Paragliding Short Link

A milestone in my recovery was always going to be my first flight, something which I wanted to make sure I waited long enough to be confident that it was not too soon. However after the hike the previous weekend, I was now sure that I was ready, and with a good forecast I decided to head to Wallberg with the plan of flying east. As per usual I arrived early as this meant the train was quieter and that there would be no time stress. I enjoyed my time parawaiting at launch and watching all the people learning to fly launch while I waited for the day to switch on. As soon as there were people climbing out I got myself ready and launched. As soon as I pulled the wing up everything felt natural and like riding a bike. The feeling of back in the sky and climbing in thermals was really special, especially here where the views are immediately so wonderful. The day was however not as good as forecast and there were a few inversion layers, after multiple attempts of bouncing off one at just below. Read the full article…

Stoderzinken 200km FAI

Alastair BegleyAustria, Paragliding Short Link

After a very poor night of sleep in a nearby hotel, my body was not happy to be awake and at the Sky Club Austria flight school at 06:30 in order to pay for the shuttle which was leaving at 07:00. After paying I made use of their supply of coffee, before 2 shuttle busses and a coach arrived which the large group of eager pilots quickly climbed into. After the long drive up to the end of the road my mood had not improved much, however the tension about the upcoming plan was definitely starting to build. There was a walk from the shuttle bus to the summit, where the views kept getting better and better. It was very strange to be waiting on launch so early, and also with so many high classification wings being unpacked. This was definitely not a normal distribution of pilots. This was confirmed when talking to a local sponsored pilot about if he thought the conditions were good enough for the FAI triangle, in this conversation 200km was the short option! The air felt like it must be working, but nobody was taking. Read the full article…

Lackenkogel Hike&Fly

Alastair BegleyAustria, Paragliding, Walking Short Link

With a plan for a cross-country flight from Stoderzinken the next day, Manuel and I had the idea of making the most of the poor xc conditions by heading for a hike and fly in the Ponzgau, en-route to our destination for the next day. We elected to climb the Lackenkogel which was a really beautiful walk, much better than I was expecting to be honest. From very early on we had wonderful views of the Dachsteingebirge, which only got better as we passed the Lackenalm as we could then see into the Hohe Tauern. The path from the Lackenalm traversed around the west side of the mountain, which provided a beautiful view, but also gave us a relatively snow free ascent, it would have been a different story if we had ascended the north facing slopes. We made very good time on the ascent and were soon at the ridge up to the summit where the views really opened up, and they were absolutely fantastic. After the short ridge up to the summit we were greeted by a perfect wind to start, which was fortunate as the area was. Read the full article…

Grüblspitze Skitour&Fly

Alastair BegleyAustria, Paragliding, Ski Touring Short Link

After a late season dump of snow, and with a slightly uncertain forecast for xc paragliding, I decided to make the most of the snowy conditions and head out for my first ski tour of the year, and my first skitour&fly. Given the recent snowfall careful route choice was necessary, especially as I was heading out alone. I ended up settling on the Grüblspitze in the Tuxertal, which had the added advantage that I could get a lift into the Zillertal with Becky who was skiing at Zillertal Arena. I got the local train up the Zillertal to Mayrhofen before changing onto a bus which took me to the start of the route. The first section of the route up from the valley was untracked, which made me worried that I was going to be breaking trail the entire way up, thankfully this was not the case! The conditions were wonderful with clear skies, wintery scenes due to all the fresh snow and cold air. The only downside was my complete lack of fitness, having essentially done no exercise since November due to our trip to Southern Africa and the. Read the full article…

2025 in 100 Photos

Alastair Begley100 Photos, Africa, Austria, Bavaria, Dolomites, General, Germany, Italy, Landscape, Mountaineering, Namibia, Paragliding, Road Cycling, Skiing, South Africa, Wildlife Short Link

2025 was certainly a year that I couldn’t have predicted at the end of 2024, it started with difficulty as Becky was not able to be very mobile due to an operation on her second knee. She was then allowed to ski prior to the end of winter, but in spring still wasn’t really allowed to do much walking, so she focussed on road biking and I focussed on paragliding. As far as a paragliding season goes, it was a pretty spectacular one, with my absolute highlight being flying 200km through the alps while crossing the main alpine ridge with spectacular views over glaciated peaks from above. I also completed my first two competitions which was a great learning experience. During the year I knew that this was my last year on my secondment, but as I didn’t want to leave Munich I explored my options to get a local job here. In July I was successful which meant that at the end of the year I left Rolls-Royce, a job which I have loved and thought would be my forever job. When I left in December, it ended over. Read the full article…

Ochsenkopf and Stanser Joch Hike&Fly

Alastair BegleyAustria, Paragliding Short Link

Originally I had other plans for today, but the forecast was just too great in the alps for those plans, so I ended up heading to the Stanser Joch near the Achensee for a hike and fly. I had the expectation of wonderful views to the south and the main alpine ridge and to the north over the Achensee. I decided to walk to up the Weißenbachtal to get to the summit, as I thought this might provide more varied routes than the other option which follows the eastern ridge. I am very glad I chose this as it meant that I made a detour to the Ochsenkopf, which was the highlight of the walk. The walk up the Weißenbachtal was up easy forest track to the Weißenbachsattel, which was also surprisingly windy at times given the forecast for almost nil wind up to quite a high altitude. From the Weißenbachsattel the forest track turned into single track, which was partly covered by snow at times depending on the aspect. From here the ascent became steeper and my lack of fitness was really showing, especially where the snow became deeper,. Read the full article…