Wed (2.4.) Already at 0645 I left for Scuol: Burnair's thermal fcst looked pretty good and the clouds have been said to disappear during the morning.
But upon arrival at Ardez there have been still quite a lot of clouds. Luckily I could already could check-in, so I rested a couple of hours before taking the 1206 train to Scuol. In the meantime it had cleared up nicely...
Motta Naluns: Pano looking South
By now good conditions had developed and I could climb to max 3100m in 'sporty' thermals. After 40' I landed in Ardez - only 5' walk from my car ;-)
> Sorry - no in-flight pix, as I had forgotten to charge my camera :-((
For dinner I then met 2 friends from way back (Kantonsschule in Chur).
Ardez
Thr (3.4.) With a very promising thermal fcst I left Ardez 'early' and was ready to launch by 1130.
Thermal fcst for 250403
South launch at Motta Naluns
Initially I had to work a bit to get above 3000m, but then it was 'easy going' with a slight easterly tail-wind. Thermals at times have been (very) strong, but my LeelooX performed flawlessly ;-)
again: Bernina (4048m) - the only 4000m peak in the Eastern Alps
Brail (looking E towards Zernez)
After 1h45' I landed just outside Brail, a bare 200m from the bus stop - only to see that the next bus would eventually run in 1h40'. So I tried to hitch-hike and a friendly local farmer took me to the train station at Zernez - Many thanks!
Fri (4.4) An equally good looking thermal fcst...
Great flying conditions: thermals have again been strong, but not as 'sporty' as yesterday. I flew for 1.5hrs, enjoing the great views and taking pictures...
again Bernina
Ortler
After landing I headed for Vetriolo/ Levico (IT) as the next day the iCamp was about to start.
Probably the last flight of this year's winter season in Arosa. I arrived early on the mountain with the intention to just make an extended sledder trying out a few things I had read the day before in the freshly released LeelooX manual. But with very little wind on the NE slope I had to try 3 times before finally managing a decent launch (also in almost nil wind) ; -) Many thanks to Hampa and Joel for helping me relaunching!
Unfortunately by the time I finally made it off the mountain, the originally blue sky had started to be (temporarily) covered by cirrus clouds, which partially blocked the thermals.
one-sided collapse - but the wing almost doesn't turn away...
big ears on the rh side - unspectacular
In both manoeuvers the wing showed very little tendency to turn towards the closed side and it's even possible to steer/ turn away from the collapse. But in either manoeuvre there is room for improvements, ie to make the ears / collapse bigger...
The flight has ended with a good landing on the golf course/ nordic track.
I went up to the Weisshorn again, but decided not to launch, as the wind on neither launch provided a clear head wind component.
Urs and PeterN getting ready for another flight - and the cirrus clouds had disappeared...
I'm slowly feeling more confident and comfortable with my wing and I'm looking forward to the iCamp supposed to start on 5th of April in Levico, where I hope to fine tune all these manoeuvers with Michael's help; especially: so far I have not managed to make (big) ears simultaneosly on both sides, as my lh hand doesn't reach high enough, but I'm hoping Michael will have an idea ;-)
I had left home Wed afternoon (19.3.) as my first iCamp in 2025 with Michael, Gudrun and Peter was supposed to begin on Sat, 22.3. in Levico Therme.
Ofenpass - looking East into Münstertal; Ortler (3945msl) on the right
I stopped at Laatsch in the upper Vinschgau, as I hoped to make a flight the next day on Watles.
Thu (20.3.) Blue skies, little wind - all looking very good :-)
Mals (bus station): Ortler
I parked my car in Mals at the bus station, as first I had to ride the bus (20') to Prämajur (1700msl), from where the chairlift (2 sections) start to Watles - pretty fairly priced at 15EUR. On the bus I have met a local pilot (Luis) and with him I rode the chairlift to 2140m, where we stopped for a while and had something to drink. Here, Luis gave me a good brefing about the local coditions - many thanks!
view from restaurant at 2140m: again Ortler
An hour later we have been joined by 2 other pilots and we rode the second chairlift to Watles (2490m) - the actual peak is a about 500m away and 100m higher. The launch here can only in winter reached by chairlift; in summer there is another launch at 'Pfaffensee' (2220m). Launch directions are S (on the groomed slope) and W - but here the launch is not well prepared (so no choice for me with little or no wind).
The 3 locals launched without too many probles. I, on the other hand, had to abort the launch 4 times on the rather flat slope with no wind at all :-(
looking S
rather shallow, especially with no wind... (looking SE)
In the end with a little headwind, I also had a good launch (but lots of running) :-)
Conditions would have been rather good, but with my 4 aborted launches I had spent a bit too much energy, which lacked now ;-)
looking N: Watles on the left/ Reschenpass on the right
Monastery 'Marienberg'
LZ in Schleis, looking to Prämajur, Watles; 'Burgeis' at on the far right
In the evening I have received a message from Peter, that the iCamp had been cancalled due to a very unpromising fcst. But I could secure myself a slot in the next iCamp starting in 2 weeks (5.-12.4.), also in Levico.
Tomorrow (Fri) unfortunatley already looks bad with a chance of the Föhn becoming too strong - but we'll see in the morning... Anyway I'll be driving home - with or without a flight.
(Sa, 8.3.) Before the forecasted 'bad-wx-period' (which is said to last a week+) Andy and I had a nice flight at Hüsliberg/ Schänis.
view from LZ in 'Rufi'
The number of pilots with the same idea has been quite big ( >30+) and it took a bit of parawaiting until conditions produced steady thermals. The initial thermal has been rather weak and it took some patience to climb out - thanks to Andy for showing me the 'entry'!
March (2.- 5.3) Several days with excellent flying conditions here in Arosa; although sometimes TO has been a bit tricky with SSE-SE winds (as there is no real good launch for this wind direction...) But the 'hassle' of taking off in these conditions was more than made up with nice flights in (partly) strong conditions and thermal tops around 3000m. I'm not saying 'cloud base', as there have been no clouds at all. Of course the visibility has been excellent. Reverse launching the LeelooX (even with little wind) is really easy; at the moment it seems to me even easier than forward launching with little/ no wind...
Pano looking S direction 'Bernina' / 'Engadin
Medergen
Pano over 'Litzirüti' - looking W
Nordic tracks / golf course
My flights lasted between 1 and 1.5hrs, often cut short as my fingers got too cold. I landed always on the golf course/ nordic tracks at Maran - just 3' walk from the bus station...
Fri (28.2.) I departed early (0645) for Cari (Ticino) after a lousy night with little sleep. The thermal fcst looked very promising with the wind situation similar to the day before, when already some nice flights had been made there.
Quite obviously I have not been the only one to have seen this, as for the 0945 bus from Faido to Cari a rather big number of pilots had congegrated. Besides the regular service, which arrived alreday half full at the post station, a larger and bigger bus with more than 50 pilots had been departing from the train station directly for Cari. The regular service was also filled up, leaving about 12 pilots behind. The driver apologized as they had only 1 spare bus/ driver available and said, that he'd be back in about 60'... But none of the 'left behinds' had wanted to wait that long, so several pilots elected to drive them selves to Cari and in the end everybody had been taken care of.
For quite a while the wind remained weak, 'tailwindish' with only short spells of head wind, so it has taken quite a while until everybody could launch.
...even strong tailwind at times (I have been wondering whether to unpack at all...)
But in the end, after almost everybody had already taken of, a nice ('crossish') head wind set in :-) As per fcst, thermals have been strong and climbing has been easy. Right from the start I realized, that today I wasn't really 'fit to fly' (due to lack of sleep), so after a benign collapse (thanks to RAST) and later, when I encountered stronger head wind I turned around and with some spirals landed after 40' in Faido. The decision to land early has also been influenced by the fact, that I had completely misjuged the temperature above 2500m.
Pano looking south (Leventina)
looking West
It can be clearly seen, how the RAST-system is 'fighting' the collapse, which otherwise would have resulted probably in a full frontal rosette...
spiralling
landing at LZ in Faido
But nevertheless, it has been a worthwhile 'excursion' which resulted in a good night's sleep :-))
Sun (16.2.) I have arrived in Arosa in the evening, as the fcst for the coming week was looking rather promising ;-)
Mon (17.2.) Excellent conditions (but cold!). As my wing has been still very dusty from the flights in Marocco, I have taken along that wing, in order to' clean' it a bit by launching/ landing in the snow ;-)
1st flight: I launched shortly before noon, not expecting too much. But as it turned out there have been good thermals almost everywhere: thermal tops at 2620m :-)) I landed after a little more than 30' near the gondola station. @Marlies: many thanks for your assistance on launch!
2nd flight: initially I had planned to land in Arosa, but as I had been able to climb back up to >2700m, I decided to head to Chur: loooong glide (on half bar) until Maladers; here the Skytraxx indicated a windspeed of 21-29kmh in Chur: uneventful landing just North of Masans. The bus station lies just 200m from where I landed and a bus arrived already within 10' of my getting there, taking my to the train station for my return to Arosa.
@PeterW: thanks for helping me getting ready!
Pano looking North towards Landquart
All in all a very nice day with conditions much better than predicted by Burnair...
Tue (18.1.) ...another promising looking day
Sunrise at 0730
But today the wind has been a real 'problem': not too strong (greatly variing in speed though), but coming from all the directions which are unlaunchable here on the Weisshorn. I had taken along my LeelooX, which might have contributed to my not beeing able to launch, as I have much less experience with this wing. I've made several unsuccessful attempts, but gave up in the end. Bruno has been able to launch, but reported very bumpy conditions... @Hampi/ PeterW: many thanks for your patience and assistance!
...packing up...
Wed (19.2.) High cirrus clouds dampend the thermals and I had to wait rather long until I have been able to launch on the FIS-slope with 0 tailwind; but the LeelooX launched perfectly in this 0-wind condition.
...taking pictures...
Whereas 2 days ago getting high has been a 'piece of cake', today 'some work' was required ;-) But the wing turnes nicely in these weak conditions. I've also tried some wingovers, but some more training is necessary in order to feel at ease...
Landing after 1h22min on the golf course (nordic track), just a few minutes walk from the bus stop.
Thu (20.2.) Same as yesterday: a long wait until 0 tailwind on the FIS-slope; unfortunately by then the sky was almost completely overcast. Still I have been able to fly for 30' and climbing up to 2600m over 'Arlenwald/ Hauptichopf'.
For the last 3 days I have been groundet due to a 'conjungivitis' (Bindehautentzündung) of my left eye. It had started in the early hours of Thursday (30.1.). Luckily there is an ophtalmologist (Augenarzt) in Los Christianos, where I had received an appointment the same morning. He prescribed some eye-drops to be taken 3 times/ day for a week and the consult with my eye doctor at home. Contrary to the same problem I had while visiting Japan in 2019, the drops had an immediate effect and every day the eye hurt less when exposed to (bright) light. Yesterday I had accompanied Hartmut for a flight from Taucho - as a 'test' in order to see how my eye would 'take' bright sunshine.
Taucho: Hartmut launching his 'oldtimer' (Wings of Change)
As everything felt (close to) normal this morning (Sun, 2.2.), I decided to make the last flight during this year's visit. It turned out to be a short flight, as the thermals have been rather weak... Actually I had wanted to land at 'Bahia Principe', the LZ closest to our appartement, but the stronger than expected headwind made me choose an intermediate LZ.
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