Blog Posts in Category: Paragliding

Schmittenhöhe Paragliding

Alastair BegleyAustria, Paragliding Short Link

There were excellent conditions forecast in the Pinzgau so I took the day off work, hoping to do my first 100km flight. Despite the good conditions forecast in the Pinzgau, I wasn‘t 100% sure what the day would bring, as further north there were very strong winds forecast. I made use of my Deutschlandticket and Austrian Bahncard and travelled to Zell am See by train, which was a very relaxing way of arriving, other than the spring for the bus to the cable car from the Zell am See train station! Conditions after take off were wonderful and I was soon up at altitude and enjoying a brilliant view, there was a northerly wind, but it wasn’t too strong, even when I descended into the lee of it. I made good time to Pass Thurn, however this is where the conditions started to unravel, there was a very strong wind rushing down the valley which gave me a terrible glide to an almost guaranteed thermal source on the other side of the valley crossing. I actually gave up trying to get there as the headwind was so bad, as I. Read the full article…

Volbiv from Stubai to Olang-Antholz

Alastair BegleyAustria, Italy, Paragliding Short Link

One of my aims this year was to do a VolBiv, which is where you travel from A to B by air with a paraglider, along with a tent and other associated camping equipment. As this was my first VolBiv and I only had 3 days, I had set myself some simple rules to make it easier/more enjoyable: In the week running up to the VolBiv the forecast for Friday-Sunday was very good, with Friday and Saturday looking great and Sunday looking OK, which resulted in me planning a route which started in Stubai with the flying crux on the first day, flying over the Stubai glaciers and the main alpine ridge. Once over the ridge, it should have been plain sailing along the south facing slopes of the Pustertal. I didn‘t have a specific objective, but had planned routes to Lienz and onwards to Spittal an der Drau. The advantage of this route was that there was a trainline all the way along the route after I reached the Pustertal, so getting home on the Sunday would be easy no matter where I finished. I gradually packed my equipment. Read the full article…

74km FAI Triangle from Hochfelln

Alastair BegleyParagliding Short Link

Somehow winter managed to pass me by with no paragliding days, and due to a very slow start to spring we were at the end of April before I had flown this year, in fact about 6 months since my last flight. I set off for the day with a big plan but fairly low expectations and the day turned out to be spectacular with excellent thermals a clear sky with views that went on forever. We started from Hochfelln along with what seemed like every other paraglider in Bavaria, as it was one of the few lifts which was running so early in the season, and the launch was complete chaos, as it was clearly most peoples first flight of the season after a winter with no groundhandling. Whilst the conditions were difficult due to snow on the ground, there were numerous paragliders who crashed onto the walking patch, most people failed to launch and there was some terrible launch etiquette. Eventually it was my turn to launch, which went very smoothly after my ground handling practice earlier in the week and I was soon up at the departure. Read the full article…

2022 in 100 Photos

Alastair BegleyAlpinism, Arco, Austria, Bavaria, Dolomites, General, Landscape, Paragliding, Road Cycling, Rock Climbing, Scrambling, Ski Touring, Skiing, Uncategorized, Via Ferrata, Walking, Winter Climbing, Winter Walking Short Link

Thankfully 2022 was a more normal year than the previous two years, and our first full year with our new lifestyle living an hour from the Alps. A high point of the year was the number of visitors we were able to host, for skiing, walking, paragliding and climbing. We certainly made the most of living near the alps, with most weekends spend in the mountains one way or another. Winter Our winter was fairly dominated with piste skiing, where Becky progressed from tentatively skiing easy blue runs to confidently skiing red runs with the odd short black run as well! This was great to see and I am looking forward to her continued progression this year. Despite the focus on piste skiing we also squeezed some paragliding in and I managed to get 4 days of ski touring as well. General Through the winter we managed to squeeze in some paragliding, and on one of our final days of skiing of the year, I am managed to combine a morning skiing with my first proper cross country flight on my paraglider which was a very memorable experience, as I. Read the full article…