Blog Posts in Category: Paragliding

Wallberg to Kössen and onto Obersee

I wasn’t planning on flying on the day, but due to a last minute change of plan I ended up heading to Wallberg to attempt the classic Wallberg-Kössen xc route, with a slightly unclear forecast due to the amount of wind. It took a while for the day to get started, so we sat and watched some fairly chaotic scenes at the take off as the main take off was closed and it was quite windy for beginners. Eventually people seemed to be climbing away so I decided to start and eventually managed to climb high enough above Wallberg to make the first transition, but not as high as I would have liked to be. After this transition I arrived very low to the ridge and there was very weak lift which didn’t go very high, I sat around in this for a while to try and catch a good cycle, and eventually this happened which resulted me climbing through the inversion and then I was properly on my way. From this point onwards the flying was much easier and with only a few more climbs I arrived at the. Read the full article…

144km from the Zillertal to Zell am See and back

With another great day forecast a group of 5 of us headed to the Zillertal with the aim of flying from the Zillertal to Zell am See and then back again. The day started off somewhat eventfully as unfortunately one of my flying friends had to throw his reserve above launch, but thankfully he was ok and was able to confirm this over the radio so we didn’t need to go and land to check. After climbing to 3000m we set off on the first very long transition over the other side of the Zillertal, this was always a risky move early in the day as you either fly to west facing slopes which are slow to start, or south facing slopes which are often in the lee. Unfortunately here the group separated with one of us bombing out and people moving at their own pace as we took the slow climbs back up to altitude. Once I was back at altitude everything started working well and I was soon on my way, on full speed bar between climbs. The views flying through the Gerlos pass were beautiful and before. Read the full article…

Attempting the Karwendel Dreieck

With a great forecast I decided to take the day off and attempt the classic Karwendel Dreieck, a ~100km FAI triangle from my local paragliding site. It was my first attempt so all of the route was totally new for me, with some of the greater challenges towards the start with long transitions over some smaller hills. I was desperately hoping that I didn’t bomb out after the first transition. On arriving at Brauneck it was clear that the day was already “on” and people were already heading off on the xc adventures for the day. I quickly set my gear up and was soon in the air. The start of the flight went very well and I was soon well above Brauneck and off on my way south on the first transition. I was intentionally taking my time as I knew that there was a long day and I didn’t want to make a mistake due to rushing, especially on the first section. Thankfully in these conditions everything was working well and I was really enjoying the flying in the strong conditions, with integrated climbs of up to 6m/s.. Read the full article…

Zillertal Paragliding

I had organised to test the Skywalk Sage from Flugschule Hochries, unfortunately for the duration of the time I had the test wing the flying weather was very suboptimal. The only window turned out to be on the last day I had the glider, although the forecast was still fairly dubious with lots of cloud in the forecast but a good airmass. As it was still only the end of April the road to the Melchboden start was not yet open, however our taxi driver thought that the gate may have been open already, so we took a chance and drop up to the gate. Unfortunately we found that it was locked shut, so we got out of the taxi ready to walk the last few km, however as we were repacking our bags for the walk someone from the alm at the starting place turned up with a key and agreed to give us all a lift which was great. The conditions at the start were great with good climbs, a high base and no too much wind. We made the decision to fly towards Hintertux and then see. Read the full article…

Paragliding in the Bregenzerwald

With a slightly challenging forecast due to the good airmass but strong north westerly winds it was hard to work out where to go in order to make the most of the day. I elected to stay within a day trip of Munich, but made the long drive into the Bregenzerwald in the Bregenzerwald, in order to fly from Niedre, which is above Bezau. As I arrived in the carpark it became clear that I wasn’t the only one with this location as an idea, but that should be no surprise as it is one of the few lifts which are still running at the moment. It was also because there was a competition on from the same launch, but I didn’t know that at the time. After taking the lift to launch I was pleased to see that despite the meteo wind from the north, which was demonstrated by the summit windsock, there was a good thermal breeze flowing up the south facing slopes which created nice launch conditions. After a leisurely setup and a small wait until the thermals became strong enough, I launched and immediately found a. Read the full article…

Brauneck XC

As winter has started to draw to an end, my attention is starting to turn back to XC paragliding. At the start of March we were treated to some very warm weather and acceptable flight conditions if the area was chosen correctly. I decided to head to my local site of Brauneck, and was pleased to find strong thermals and acceptable winds. After setting up I was soon up in the sky and feeling right back at home as I circled up in my first thermal. I soon headed along the Benediktenwand and enjoyed the brilliant views over the Kochel- and Walchen- see. Unfortunately I couldn’t climb up high enough to make it back, and wasn’t willing to commit to a deep line on my first flight of the season, so I elected to head north and see if I could make something else work. Unfortunately this didn’t work so I landed in a huge meadow and walked to catch a train back to Munich.

Hintertux Flight

While away in the Zillertal skiing for Becky’s birthday, I took the opportunity of a perfect weather day to fly down from the top of the Hintertux ski area. It is very rare to get conditions good enough given the high altitude location and complex wind conditions. We were also lucky that despite being half term week in a lot of Bavaria the slopes were very quiet. During the day I was lucky enough to get not just one but two flights down, which were both absolutely beautiful. The views were just stunning and it was great to get a different perspective on the ski area, after my first flight down I wasn’t really expecting to get another, but when we were getting towards the end of the day and the conditions still worked, I couldn’t help myself but to enjoy a second flight back down.

2024 in 100 Photos

It seems hard to believe that another year has passed by, but having just had another overindulgent Christmas and new year it is somehow already time to summarise the year in another 100 photos. It was a very busy year with both free time activities and work with many more business trips for me than usual. Winter The year started off with the ski season, we did a lot of alpine skiing and certainly made the most of our Tirol cards, I think I did around 25 days overall! Becky’s skiing has continued to improve and this led us todo our first ski tour on the Kleiner Gamsstein. Unfortunately the snow over the winter was difficult for ski touring, especially for beginners so there was limited ski touring for both Becky and me. I managed one ski mountaineering weekend, but we suffered with terrible snow conditions as well as weather. It was nonetheless enjoyable to spend a weekend high in the mountains. Spring It soon turned to spring, which was unfortunately a bit of a washout along with the start of the summer. This resulted in us not spending that. Read the full article…