Grindelwald, Schynige Platte

On the last day of this stretch of excellent flying wx I went to Grindelwald, where I met (at last) Torsten, the 'founder' and 'operator' of Paragliding365.com . I have been working/ contributing quite intensely on this site for the last 12 years, but never had the pleasure to actually meet him in person. So finally it happend and we spent the day paragliding here in Grindelwald and later flying 'Schynige Platte'. 

'First' (2200m) Torsten getting ready (red Epsilon)

Torsten coming for landing at LZ 'Grund'

The conditions have been excellent and I could climb to almost 4000m (3940m on the GPS/ 3870m Baro) - the legal ceiling being here at 3950m (Baro). Excellent visibility in all directions!

...as far as the Mt.Blanc.

This probably was one of the rare days when it would have been possible to fly over the top of the 'Eiger', but we had decided earlier on to land around 1500 in order to catch the last train from Wilderswil to 'Schynige Platte' for an evening flight from a site called 'Kamel'. So I had to cut my scenic flight short in order to meet this 'deadline'...

SPB -'Schyinge Platte Bahn' (over 100 years old), making a non-scheduled stop at 'Kamelweg' to let all the pilots off

easy, flat 5min hike to the 'Kamel' takeoff

As usual many pilots joined the train for this late afternoon flight. Unfortunatley, the actual conditions turned out to be not as good as everyone had hoped for and only a few pilots managed to get really high - I was not among them...

'Kamel' launch, looking towards 'Interlaken', 'Thunersee'

'Eiger', 'Mönch' and 'Jungfrau'

Fiesch -3: :-((

In the morning at the gondola I met my friend Ennio, who came from Italy with his hangglider and a car full of HG and PG pilots. We meet only sporadically about once, maximum twice a year and mostly it is here in Fiesch.
Another excellent flying day here in Fiesch: little wind and cloudbase above 3800m.
But not for me :-((
It started on launch: I had selected a position I knew was prone to crosswind, but there I was alone and could set up as fast (or as slow) as I wanted. But the crosswind was to cross, so in the end I had to change the location for launching. Of course this was not an easy thing to do for me: being dressed for a high (and hopefully long) flight I was sweating like hell...
When I finally was able to launch, it was easy -albeit slow- going for the first 1.5hrs.

crossing to Bellwald (looking east)

Finsteraarhorn

...last pix

I spare you here some more pix with always the same views ;-)

But as the battery of my camera became empty (- I had forgotten to recharge after yesterday's flight); I started having troubles finding good thermals and staying high.
I turned around approaching Sidelenhorn. When I got back to Fiesch, I was not sure of the wind situation at the LZ (which can be tricky in switching conditions), so I decided to land at he LZ in Niederwald. But the actual LZ was 'blocked' by a helicopter doing some work nearby, so I had to land in an open meadow close by. As I had 15mins to spare before the train to Fiesch arrived; I tried to hitch a ride back. Within about 5mins a car stopped, which took me back right to my car :-))  - Thanks ladies!!

Fiesch -2

Much more 'regular' conditions than yesterday! Still a little NE-wind, but it was never strong enough to became a major factor in my flying. Base at > 3700m; climbs with > 6m/s; excellent visibility...
What else could one wish for?

looking East. Left: Oberaarsee; above my boot/ on horizon: Rhone glacier, Dammastock, Sidelhorn, Grimselpass (cannot be seen), Galenstock, then Furkapass; right: Obergoms: Oberwald/ Ulrichen.

left: Fiescherglacier/ Oberaarhorn

Bellwald

at one time the eagle was just about 5m away, but then the camera hasn't been ready yet

(left to right) Dom (4545m)(?), Matterhorn (4478m)  (le Cervin/ Cervino), Weisshorn (4505m)

crossing towards Belalp: Bietschorn (3934m), Breithorn (3785m), Oberaletschglacier, Schinhorn (3797m) (left to right)

In Belalp I had to dig myself out of the situation I had gotten into. I had lost much more hight during the crossing from Riederalp than I had hoped/ anticipated: 15mins of scratching (at the foot of Hohstock) close to the ground before I finally found lift...

Aletschorn (4193m) , Aletschglacier, Grosses Wannenhorn (3906m -'behind' glacier), Eggishorn (far right, where the shadow is)

Hoping for more of the same tomorrow ;-)

Fiesch -1

Yesterday (Sat) evening I arrived here in Fiesch for some days of flying.
Arriving on launch today, everybody was waiting. Quite unusually for Fiesch, the thermals kicked in rather late; really good/ easy it became only around 1300...

Urs Rölli -whom I met in Quixada in 2011 (?)

Urs took off early (around 1200), but had to work pretty hard in order to stay up/ get high; later I lost sight of him. The visibility today was excellent and almost no clouds at all.

'Matterhorn'  (4478m)  (right side)

looking east: 'Fiescher glacier' (left);  'Fiesch' (village in center); 'Obergoms' (valley to the right of Fiesch), leading to the 'Furkapass'; 'Galenstock' (the pyramid in center).

Inflight, some nice themals, but also sink up to 9m/s (!) and much colder than I had anticipated; the northeast wind (called 'Bise') still could be felt. My fingers got too cold above 3000m, so I just 'cruised' around locally, enjoying the sights.

above launch, looking N:  'Aletsch glacier' - partly hidden by 'Eggishorn' (2926m) (center/ foreground);  where the glacier branches: left side 'Jungfrau', then 'Mönch', 'Eiger'; far right 'Finsteraarhorn (4274m)

Hoping for better (or 'more normal') conditions tomorrow...

Arosa: Urdenfürkli

I've spent 2 days in Arosa (due to an overly optimistic fcst), wanting to fly from the 'Weisshorn'.
As I intended to board the cable car, 2 of my flying friends from Arosa just came down from the mountain without having launched, as they didn't like the conditions (ie wind direction: W-NW).
But they proposed that we could try to fly from the 'Urdenfürkli', a ridge facing west. We didn't know if anyone ever had flown from there before, but we assumed that there should be a possibe launch. In favour of this place: it can be accessed from Arosa by a gondola ('Hörnlibahn') and a cablecar ('Urdenbahn').

Station of the 'Urdenbahn': left side: 'Arosa Weisshorn', then 'Plattenhorn', 'Hörnlistein'

We found a launchable place just a few steps off the cablecar with the wind coming straight in.

looking West: left: 'Heidsee' / 'Lenzerheide'

'Heidsee'

Soon Andy (Schlegel) and Fritz were airborne; as usual it took me a little longer ;-)
Thanks to Erich (who didn't fly) for clearing a wire out of my lines!

looking South: left:  'Aroser Weisshorn'; (almost) center: 'Hörnlistein'; right 'Parpaner Rothorn'

With more luck than my friends I was able to fly for a litte over an hour, but I never able to get high enough which then would have allowed me to fly back to Arosa.

far left 'Heidsee' / 'Lenzerheide'; center: 'Churwalden'

So I landed on the same meadow as they had done. When I started to fold up, Andy arrived telling me that a bus to 'Chur' would depart in less in 15 minutes; he helped me in packing and carrying my pack to the busstop. We made it with a few minutes to spare; in 'Chur' we then had ample time to catch the train back to 'Arosa'.
Thanks guys for your help: it has been a great idea to try out this launch!

The next day (Saturday) the sky was completely overcast till after noon, so I didn't even try...

US'16 - Conclusion & Thanks

3 weeks - how fast have they passed! Already they are over and 'only' memories remain.

I think it has been a very successful trip: there are more than 30 established sites along our route (many more if you'd count all the knobs, hills, ridges, peaks and mountains Stacy has ever flown from). Of these we have visited 18; on 15 I could fly (whereof 7 sites were new to me). Distance travelled: close to 6000kms.
About the E8: it has been the right glider for me for this trip: no problems on launch, never a collapse or so, nice and stable to fly.

(at Saint George -the 'Usual')

Instead of writig my thanks here, I just copy Stacy's email and my response:
------------------------------------------
I would like to thank everyone who contributed to making a great tour of Utah Colorado, and Nevada.

    First of all I would like to thank Taggi and Andy for making the effort to come over from Switzerland and explore, fly and share the flying treasures in the three states we visited.

     Thanks to Mike P. for guiding the tour for the three days I couldn't get off work. Great guiding and thanks for the tip on eating at the prison.

    Thanks to Flyin Ryan who showed us the Dinosaur launch, including site intro's and tips for where to eat and stay in Vernal.

    Thanks to Pine at Glenwood for the local knowledge and helping  us find ways to launch when the transmission went out on the van.

    Thanks to Joel at National Transmission, he had a new transmission installed in the van. 18 hours after I first called him.

    Thanks to Doug  and Josh for getting us to launch at Cove after the radiator in the Van cracked. Doug sacrificed a tire on his truck in so doing.

     Thanks to Kevin Willis at Willis Auto who got a new radiator installed in the van very quickly. 

      Thanks to my dear wife Judy, who generously allowed us to use her truck to get up to Monroe Peak and then retrieve the pilots after epic flights that may not have been  possible without it. (and thanks again to Kevin my trusted friend and mechanic who stayed late to replace her timing belt and the frozen tension arm that caused it to break.)

      Thanks to Jonathan, Griff. Arash, Matthew, and Fio for flying, sharing, and exploring with us.

      Special thanks to Staci and Dillon for driving for us.

     Thanks to Josh  for sharing his launch, his truck, his knowledge, and his generousness with us at New Castle.

     Thanks Pierre  for flying with us and sharing his knowledge of the launches near Las Vegas.

     Thanks to everyone who contributed to our tour.

 Here is a breakdown of how it went.

   -Traveled 3900 miles.

   -Visited 18 flying sites.

   -Flew  15 of them.

   -Repaired the car 4 times (three on the van and once on Judy's truck.)

   -Learned, shared, and enjoyed paragliding, para-waiting, and para-breaking countless.

    Check out Taggi's blog for photo's

    http://flyhigh-flysafe.blogspot.com/

    Check out Andy's youtube channel for great movies of the flights.

    https://www.youtube.com/user/bussardadler

    Thanks again everyone.

    Stacy.

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------

To which I have replied:

Hi Stacy,

I think you said it (almost) all and there is only little to be added. My thanks as well to all you have mentioned!

EXCEPT that you 'forgot' someone!

My thanks in the first place go to YOU!

Without you this trip wouldn't have been possible at all and certainly not in such a relaxed and successful way! Thanks for using your vacation to accompany us. Thanks also for giving hints and tips to improve my flying (especially on launching). Your vast knowledge of paragliding, flying sites and weather have helped to prepare and execute this voyage. Personally I think that we couldn't have gotten much more out of this trip and its circumstances: you nailed the best sites and possible flying windows on almost any day (the only exception being Willow Creek Peak). That we may have 'lost' some flying opportunities due to 'technical problems' lies outside your control - so do take it easy! Thanks also for helping me with carrying my pack/ luggage etc! Travelling with you is always very interesting and great fun. And once you get to like Sushi, we can have even more dinners together...

I'd also like to mention here my friend Andy: it's always a pleasure to travel/ fly with him and I appreciate his company and help very much. But if he continues to out-fly me all the time, I might have to look for another flying buddy ;-)


Fly high! Fly safe!

All the best and I hope that maybe one day we'll meet again (over here or in the US)!

Taggi
 

pushing back for return flight (LAS; WK3, A330-200)

Last, but not least, I'd like to thank my wife Ruth for her (almost endless) patience when it comes to my favorite pasttime! I know that after my accident in 2012 she doesn't really want me to continue flying, but I'm very grateful that she accepts the fact that I cannot be without it and therefore lets me go on these adventures. It's a bit easier for her when she knows that I'm in 'competent hands' (as in this case with Andy and Stacy).

Frigtatebirds (Fregattvögel) - soaring for weeks without stopping

© Harvey Barrison/ Flickr

>> see here

US'16 0703 -Return

Stacy dropped me off at a Motel6 in LAS after we had a final lunch together (Golden Corral - Prime Rib) and then started his 5hr drive home to Richfield. 

After a few hours rest, showering and packing my suitcase I took a cab out to Mc Carren Intl airport (LAS) for my flight home on 'Edelweiss Air' (a Swiss charter company).

pushing back

Hoover Dam (Lake Mead)

We departed LAS a little early and arrived at ZRH 20mins ahead of schedule.

US'16 0703 -Goodsprings (NV)

Without Andy, but with all the info from Pierre we could get about this site (- he had flown here before), we left Jean at 0830 in a cloudless sky. A good dirt road took us past the 'official' LZ (where we left some streamers) to launch.

...there seems to be also a (ATV-) track to the top of the mountain on the right...

We found two good launches facing west with a large flag; parking right at the lower launch.

Pano on launch, looking SE towards Jean/ Goodspings (center of pix); right: Primm dry lake

At 1000 I was read to launch in the nice westerly wind and to soar the hill for a while. Then I headed out along the ridge towards the LZ, but didn't find anything really 'worthwhile'.

LZ (along the road to TO)

When Stacy came down with the car, we discussed for a moment if we should get up for a second flight. But Pierre had advised us, that in summer after 1100 the conditions could get really strong, so I packed up after this last flight on this trip.

US'16 0702 -the 'Usual' (at Saint George, UT)

As the Cedar City region was covered by a layer of high clouds, which were fcst to OD later, Stacy suggested we'd drive down to St.George and fly the 'Usual'. I had thought, that this site had been closed down due to the newely constructed airport, but Stacy had gotten the info, that we still could fly there "as long as we didn't get into the way of the aircraft". The advantage of this site is its rather short turn-around (but the track is not very good).

on launch: left: new airport; right: St.George

looking WNW

We had to wait a little until the winds/ thermals came straight in, but then Andy and Pierre (from Brian Head) had good launches and could easily climb above TO. When I was finally ready, the wind had increased quite a bit, so I had to wait for a lull. When this lull finally came I had a good launch; but I hadn't considered that this lull indicated at the same time also the end of the cycle... So I was at down att he LZI in less than 3 minutes .-((

Pierre

on my way straight to the LZ

We then continued towards LAS, where we dropped Andy at the car rental, as he was going to Gallup to do some shopping on Mon/ Tue before flying home on Wed.
Stacy and I staythe night in Jean (south of LAS). We had hoped that an evening flight of Jean ridge would be possible, but the wind had completely died.

Jean Ridge

US'16 0701 -Silver (Newcastle, UT)

The wx situation looked similar to yesterday: CB's and OD to be expected. By looking at the radar picture, we decided to try a site called 'Silver' near Newcastle (UT) - west of Cedar City. Stacy has never flown there before, but the site has been pioneered by Josh (a local pilot from nearby Enterprise and an ex-student of Stacy's). Just a few pilots have ever flown here so far.

You get there by a (really) bad 'road' - 4x4 with low gear was required in places.

Stacy, & Pierre working to get more clearance when launching

The launch has been cut out of the trees by Josh and his friends and still needs some improving. But we have to compliment you first for finding this launch (and its access) and then on all the work you have done to make it flyable!

space for just 1 glider and not much room for error...

While waiting the conditions improved slowly and everyone could launch in cycles.
The house thermal was about where Josh said it would be and I could climb to 11'000ft.
Great views, but the clouds needed to be watched carefully.

10'000ft over launch, looking SW towards Newcastle/ Enterprise

looking N

after landing; this one was growing fast

Again we have been able to use and fly the available window as good as possible.

Josh: thanks again for all your work and especially that you took the time to show and take us up to this launch in your car! (Our's wouldn't have made it.)