2 days in Fiesch

Thursday / Friday: as the the thermal fcst was looking pretty good, I decided to drive to Fiesch (via Furkapass).

on Furkapass, looking West towards Grimselpass

But getting to Furkapass, a rather low layer of clouds could be seen; also further down in the Goms the same picture. The sun later has been able to burn the clouds away...

So I waited rather long before launching, as according to Burnair's fcst conditions should have been improving. But unfortunately this fcst has been way off: I was never able to climb above launch :-(  But probably the increasing cirrus clouds had not been taken into account when calculating the fcst...

heading towards Bellwald; note the pronounced cirrus layer

 

But at least I've been able to make it to Niederwald, where I had parked my car and where I also stayed for the night.

Dinner (at Hotel '3Tannen' in Niederwald): Marmot's liver - delicious!

 

Today (Friday) conditions looked much better, IF there would not have been Föhn in the fcst ( >= 4hpa around noon)...

Also looking south from launch it could be seen that conditions probably wouldn't be ideal.

pano looking south on launch: 'Föhnmauer' ('Föhn wall')

 

 

Pano on launch (looking South-West): Matterhorn (on the right side of wind spy)

But contrary to yesterday, thermals have been quite strong and I quickly got to almost 3000m. At this altitude the wind seemed to come from SW; so I headed East, up the Goms.

crossing to Bellwald: Fiescherglacier

But at Ulrichen I turned around, as I feared the Föhn could 'fall' down over the Nufenen pass, making for rough conditions.

approaching Ulrichen

Niederwald (looking West)

 

Even though it has never been really rough, I never felt very comfortable during the whole flight. Also when landing at Niederwald (again), the wind was hard to judge: normally it should be clearly from SW, but it seemed to switch around.

Driving back home over Furkapass (the same way I had driven when getting here). But in Realp the Föhn could be clearly felt and the 'wind mills' at Gütsch (above Andermatt) were spinning rapidly!

Furkapass lookin towards Realp

(On Sunday the Föhn is forecasted to reach windspeeds of >100kmh)

Scuol

 ...a promising looking thermal fcst made me travel to Scuol today (like many other pilots). But (once more!) the RegTherm has been too optimistic. Even though a few pilots have been able to make good/ acceptable flights, for most of us it has been a bit disappointing. Especially the wind below 3000m has been much stronger than predicted :-(

...parawaiting...

Motta Naluns

Pano looking NW: river Inn, Ftan

Back on 'terra firma' after 50' and then by train to Schiers, where I had parked my car ;-)

Fiesch

The reason I had driven to Fiesch yesterday: excellent thermal fcst for today and hooking up with friends.

Unfortunatley the RegTherm has been overly optimistic and my enthusiasm/ motivation after yesterdays flights not very high ;-)  - so after 1h15' I landed in Niederwald...

But I met my friends at the gondola station and we'll be having dinner in the evening.

Aletschglacier - always an impressive view!

Oberaarhorn (?)

Goms looking East (Hotel Castle at 0630)

As I had missed the train back to Fiesch by a few minutes, I tried to hitch-hike. After only a short while I have been picked up. The driver has been a former PG pilot who now runs the Hotel Castle at Blitzingen, he is also an excellent cook. Thanks Peter for dropping me right at my accommodation!

Later in the afternoon the sun burned away the high altitude clouds and it looks that conditions could have improved.

The next day (Wednesday) I decided not to fly anymore (Föhn in the fcst) and just drove back home (via Grimsel and Susten pass).

Berner Oberland: Jungfraujoch / Schynige Platte

What a great day!

Early in the morning I left home and drove to Interlaken. Here I took the train for Grindelwald and Jungfraujoch. A flight from there has been on my 'wish-list' for more than 25 years ;-)

Conditions on launch have been absolutelty great/ perfect: a nice head wind permitted a reverse launch (which by coincidence has been captured by the webcam - thanks Peter!)

Aletschglacier, looking towards Fiesch/ Eggishorn

Jungfrau

Mönch

launching ;-)

Pano above Lauberhorn: Eiger, Mönch, Jungfrau...

 Thermals above Lauberhorn permitted climbing and continuation towards Grindelwald-First.

looking back to launch

looking towards Schilthorn/Piz Gloria (in clouds), Mürren, Interlaken (far right)

Grindelwald-First

LZ in Grindelwald-Grund

Originally I had planned to go back up to Jungfraujoch for a second flight, but unfortunately clouds have been forming below launch... But anyway, what an exceptional flight: not distance wise, but the views cannot been beaten.

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

So I decided to go for a late afternoon flight from Schynige Platte. The train even makes an unscheduled stop for us paragliders at the closest ponit to launch ;-)

Schynige Platte Bahn: more than 100 years old

I had to wait for about 30' until the rain over Interlaken had stopped, but then conditions turned on and (again!) I was able to make a really nice flight.

The Leeloo climbed certainly as good (or even slightly better) than the other gliders present :-))

launch (you can see some gliders laid out)

looking East: Brienzersee

Today Meiringen CTR and TMA had been active until 1815LT, so I had to wait a bit before being able to fly further East. (One can call a toll-free number to check on the status of the CTR/ TMA)

looking West: Interlaken, Thunersee, Niesen

looking East: Interlaken, Brienzersee, Schynige Platte...

LZ in Interlaken: Höhmatte (right in front of 'Hooters')

Sunset behind Stockhorn

Again I didn't venture very far, just enjoying the sights.

After the flight I drove to Fiesch, where I'll be meeting some friends the next day.

Scuol

Wednesday (1.9.)

0630: not very good looking ;-)

Webcam around 1000

Wednesday's RegTherm (thermal fcst): looking rather good...

It took the sun a very long time to burn away all the humidity left from yesterday. I finally launched after 1315: more than 30 minutes in the same thermal trying to make some altitude so I could fly away; and the thermals (at least some of them) have been rather bumpy. I made a (feeble) attempt to head west, but landed back at Scuol after 1h15': the flight was okay, but nothing really enjoyable ;-)

(> the RegTherm has been way too optimistic...)

Pano on launch (looking East)

Unfortunately no in-flight pix today due to problems with my camera - sorry!

Yu Tao: thanks for your assistance on launch; I hope you've had a good 3rd flight!

Thursday (2.9.)

Again a promising RegTherm (thermals fcst) - let's see how the day will actually turn out...

Thursday's RegTherm (thermals fcst): again looking promising...

Today I've made 2 flights. I landed after less than 30' because getting to launch I had realized that I'd forgotten my jacket in the car :-(  Knowing that (if the thermal fcst proved correct) it would be rather cold above 3000m I wanted to be prepared for a nice flight.

some flight school(s) launching from different places

Again only a few inflight pix due to problems with my camera (but at least some)

Launching for the second flight (see flight on Avvri.com) I was able to quickly gain altitude (quite contrary to yesterday) and started to head west, but I didn't really have a plan.

Getting close to Piz Linard it looked as a crossing towards Klosters would be possible, so I gave it a try...

Piz Linard (3410m)

Monbiel Valley / Fergen: straight ahead; Silvretta Lake/ Bielerhöhe on the right

near Verstanclahorn (3297m) looking into Vernela Valley

So far conditions had been really great: strong thermals but not too bumpy and also not too windy; but getting to Monbiel (Fergen/ Fergenhütte) I didn't like the conditions any more: strong sink, strong headwind at times, so I decided to land at Klosters.

Monbiel (looking NW): near Fergenhütte; left: Klosters

Monbiel - looking East (where I had come from)

Klosters - looking East

This desicion proved to have been a good one, because after having packed up and walked to the train station I only had to wait a few minutes before the train back to Scuol (where my car was waiting for the drive home) arrived :-)

I think this is the first time that I actually 'crossed' the Alps South to North...

Monte Lema

Pano looking South: Lugano (left); Lago di Lugano

 

While visiting Ticino with Ruth for 4 days, we also travelled to Monte Lema. Instead of going down by gondola, I flew down :-)  Really nice conditions, but higher up (> 2200m) the influence of the Nordföhn could be felt a bit... Last time I've been here: 2001.

looking back to Monte Lema; the clouds clearly show the wind direction higher up... Miglieglia (LZ) at 0300.

Miglieglia: LZ (left); Gondola and P (right)

LZ (looking towards Breno)