Blog Posts in Category: Paragliding

Sulzpitze & Neunerköpfle Hike&Fly

Alastair BegleyAustria, Paragliding, Walking Short Link

With another perfect autumnal day we headed down to the Allgäu to make the most of being able to go into Austria, and to enjoy some more hike&fly fun. While we could have just walked up the Neunerköpfle, we decided to take our heavy bags there the long way by walking from Tannheim up towards the Visalpsee, steeply up to the Sulzspitze and then along the ridge to the Neunerköpfle. The morning was clear and cold, which we certainly felt while walking along the valley towards the Visalpsee. After some unnecessary ascent due to following a sign rather than my planned route we were soon at the start of the ascent. Due to some rockfall we followed the new temporary path through the woods at the bottom, before joining the rather steep track up. The ascent felt fairly tough with the bags, and resulted in being both hot and cold at the same time, thankfully we were eventually treated to a view of the wonderful Gaishorn, before returning back into the woods. After a while we emerged from the woods, and then into the sun and from here the day. Read the full article…

Vorderunnütz Hike&Fly II

Alastair BegleyAustria, Paragliding Short Link

After discovering how nice the take off and landing was last week, we decided to head back to the Vorderunnütz for Becky’s first hike&fly today. After three attempts, I finally also had a day with clear skies and wonderful views from this mountain. It is amazing how different it was compared to last week, sunny, warm, thermals, lots of paragliders. The walk up was fairly similar to last week, but it was much warmer, especially on the top section. There was a nice gentle breeze at the take off, which made the take off nice and easy, but did make laying Becky’s semi-lightweight paraglider out for a forward launch a bit more challenging. When we arrived there were loads of people taking off, so we chilled out in the sun while waiting to launch. After setting up Becky made a perfect launch and set off on her first hike&fly flight. I quickly followed, although my first attempt at a reverse launch didn’t go particularly well today, however after sorting my glider back out I was soon in the air. I had a fairly short flight as I wanted to land. Read the full article…

Vorderunnütz Hike&Fly

Alastair BegleyAustria, Paragliding, Walking Short Link

With a guest visiting we were keen to get out into the mountains, however we were not exactly sure on the snow cover given the warm weather last week. We decided to head up above Achensee to do the Vorderunnütz, as I knew that the ascent was up a south facing slope so had a good chance of being snow free. I was also hoping for wonderful views, as it was pretty good on a grey day when I did the walk with Rob earlier in the year. The start of the walk was up in the woods, but we made relatively good time and were soon at the Köglalm, and our first proper view out of the woods. There were still some wonderful autumnal colours and lovely views down Achensee. We then ascended back into the woods, enjoying the fleeting views down Achensee. Unfortunately by the time we emerged from the woods for the final 200m up to the summit, the cloud was really starting to come in again which was a bit disappointing, however the views were still pretty good. There was a wonderful wind for paragliding, enough. Read the full article…

Brauneck paragliding in the snow

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Paragliding Short Link

Unfortunately as autumn progresses, most of the cable cars shut down for a quiet period before the winter season. This meant my options for where to go for some more paragliding were more limited. Thankfully close to Munich we do have a few good options, and I had planned to head to Brauneck for a few flights before heading up the road to the Blomberg for some shorter/cheaper flights to practice landings. When I got out of the lift at Brauneck two things struck me, firstly it was windier than I was expecting, and secondly there were a lot of paragliders. I guess in hindsight this was unsurprising as one of the only areas open near Munich! The launch area was chaotic, with loads of people, wind, failed launches, people being hit by gliders etc. I had a good take off after my first one failing due to the snow, and then had a surprising flight. Firstly there was enough wind for ridge lift, and secondly there was very mellow thermals which meant that I had my first experience of flying above take off. Due to the amount of pilots. Read the full article…