Blog Posts in Category: Italy

Kleine Cirspitze Klettersteig

Alastair BegleyItaly, Via Ferrata Short Link

Due to both feeling a bit drained we were after a short day, so headed up to the Gardena Pass to do the Kleine Cirzpitze Klettersteig. We started the day off by enjoying some coffee and cake by the car park, while I tried to summon motivation to head out, which thankfully I managed to. The walk in was very short, but with wonderful views, as one would expect for the Dolomites. We were late enough starting that most of the route was pretty quiet, until we caught up with one very slow team. Thankfully eventually they let us past and we made good time up to the summit. We enjoyed lunch just below the summit on an outcrop of rock and admired the view, before making the quick descent back down. The route was as expected, an enjoyable way to spend a few hours, but nothing to write home about compared to some of the longer and more remote routes in the area, but it fitted exactly what we needed for the day. On the way back down we stopped for a drink, and perhaps some more cake, I. Read the full article…

Sellajoch Landscapes

Alastair BegleyItaly, Landscape Short Link

After having a wonderful flight in the Dolomites, we were lucky enough to get a place at one of the official places to camp in a camper van at the top of the Sella Pass. It is quite expensive at 25 euros overnight, and other 25 euros for the next day, however the location is pretty special. After we had enjoyed food, had a shower and chilled out with some wine, we opened the door and were treated to a very special view of the Langkofel at night with the Milky Way above. The night photo below was taken literally from outside the van door. This set the scene for the next morning, as at this point I definitely had to get up for sunrise, despite the fact that my body was screaming for a lie in. The night came and went with some pretty poor sleep due to a combination of the altitude and the noise from very early of cars driving to the building site. I reluctantly climbed out of bed and made my way out into the cold morning air. I am very glad I did as. Read the full article…

Gitschberg and Seefeld See

Alastair BegleyItaly, Paragliding, Walking Short Link

Having aborted on this walk a few days ago due to the van breaking down, with an excellent forecast this was the obvious choice for the day while we were staying in Mühlbach, with the added advantage that the lifts were free. We started the walk with a traverse around the top of the Altfasstal to the Seefeld See. This was really beautiful with stunning views down the gorgeous valley, I had been carrying my glider with me for a flight down at the end of the day, but I had been quietly wondering if I would also be able to fly down from Seefeld See. Any doubts I had about this were soon quashed as we saw a glider doing exactly that while we were still heading to the lake. As we emerged above the lake we had a lovely view down on the lake, before we descended to walk around it. Around the lake we were in the sun and outside of the breeze so it was very warm and inviting for a quick swim, needless to say that the water was pretty cold! After drying off and. Read the full article…

Stoanamandl

Alastair BegleyItaly, Walking Short Link

One of the obvious walks from Mühlbach was directly up the ridge from the town to Stoanamandl via the Altes Karl. As we were staying in Mühlbach we also had the advantage that the ski lifts in Vals were free, so we also could take the lift back down. We started by taking the bus up to Spinges, and from here we took one of the lesser travelled paths which was overgrown in places with a few fallen trees, when we got to the top we found that it looked like it was shut… We were very surprised on the way up to stumble on some old bunkers from WWII which were very impressive and a nice breather from the continuous ascent. The walk was really a walk of two halves, with the first half being pretty much purely exercise, and the second half being all about the views with not much exercise. As we ascended we had fleeting views out of the forest until we climbed to the top of the main tree line, at which point the views opened up and were really beautiful and varied. We could. Read the full article…

Plose Hike&Fly (Brixen)

Alastair BegleyItaly, Paragliding, Walking Short Link

On our second unplanned day in Brixen due to clutch issues we decided to climb the obvious peak which towers above the town, Plose (Telegraph), as it looked beautiful with its red flanks in the evening sun the day before. We dropped the van off at a garage in Brixen, hoping that it was just the master cylinder which needed replacing as this was an easy job, unlike the slave cylinder. An easy bus ride took us up to the seilbahn before we walked along a traversing line to the north towards the Ochsenalm. As we traversed around the mountain the views kept getting better and better as we emerged out of the forest and the path turned to face more into the Pustertal. From the Ochsenalm the main ascent really started and this meant that the views just kept getting better and better. The final section of the route was up a lovely ridge to the summit of Telegraph, aptly named due to the infrastructure on the summit! Unfortunately the entire day was fairly cloudy which impacted the views, however we enjoyed the fleeting views in between the clouds. Read the full article…

Neustift Vineyards

Alastair BegleyItaly Short Link

We had an unplanned stay in Neustift near Brixen due to some clutch issues with the van. We stayed at the wonderful Griesserhof which only cost us the price of two bottles of their wine, which really was very good. On the Sunday we did a short walk around the local vineyards, with plenty of sampling en route, and we can safely say that the wine was all very good, but the best wine definitely came from the Griesserhof. We enjoyed our two nights there, even if the second was unplanned and due to having a broken van, and will definitely be back as it is a great place to stop en-route to/from the Dolomites or Lake Garda.

Jerebica/Cima del Lago Hike&Fly

Alastair BegleyItaly, Paragliding, Slovenia, Walking Short Link

On our way to Slovenia we wanted to do a walk before we parked in the campsite in Bovec for 4 days. On the way down I was researching options and stumbled across Cima del Lago (Italian) or Jerebica (Slovenian). The walk looked absolutely perfect with not too much ascent, a nice ridge when up high and stunning views in every direction, so it was the obvious choice especially as it was only a 5 min detour from our route. While I was researching the route, it looked like it may be possible to fly down from the summit, however I couldn’t find any information about it. The joy of my hike&fly gear is that it is so light that I don’t mind carrying it even if there is a very uncertain chance of flying. As the forecast was for a very hot day, we got up early and set off to make the most of the cooler morning air, especially as the first part of the ascent was fairly constant and in the woods. Eventually we emerged from the woods at the col at the start of the ridge. Read the full article…

Paragliding 200km from Italy into Austria over the Stubai Alps and with views of the Großglockner

Alastair BegleyAustria, Italy, Paragliding Short Link

For my second flight with my new wing I thought I would fly back in the direction of home from Speikboden in Südtirol. The plan was to do the first leg of the classic 200km FAI triangle by heading along the Pustertal towards Sterzing, crossing the Brenner above Sterzing, before heading up the Ridnauntal to the Stubai alps. From the Stubai alps the plan was to head back down the Stubaital, cross the Brenner again to fly into the Zillertal next to Hintertux, before heading over the Gerlos pass and into the Pinzgau. From here I had a rough plan to fly north to either Kufstein or Kössen, depending on what the conditions looked like. The first section of the route went very quickly and I was soon at the crossing of the Brenner pass above Sterzing. With the high cloudbase this was not difficult and then with one more climb at the start of the Ridnauntal, I was able to fly all the way up to the high Stubai mountains without making a single turn. Up here the thermals were weaker and I should have turned up to cloudbase. Read the full article…