Roter Stein

Alastair BegleyAustria, Walking Short Link

We had planned to climb Daniel, but given the lack of wind forecast and the high temperatures, decided that a large day fully spent on a south facing slope may have been a bit unpleasant, so we diverted to climb another mountain which has been on my todo list for a while, the Roter Stein which started from Berwang. The route was a there and back route, which took us up a beautiful valley before climbing steeply up to a spur of the Roter Stein which then took us to the summit. The walk up the valley in the morning was hot, with absolutely no wind, baking sunshine and ascent. There was also surprisingly still some snow, but it was almost impossible to detect as snow as it was covered with tree debris, so it only looked like snow when you really looked at it hard and from the side. As we climbed out of the valley three things happened, firstly as we left the lush green valley the humidity dropped, secondly we were greeted by a welcome breeze and thirdly the views started to open up. The views kept. Read the full article…

Ehrwald Bergfeuer

Alastair BegleyAustria, Landscape Short Link

We decided to stay in Ehrwald due to our plans for the morning, but little did we know that we had decided to camp on one of the busiest nights of the year, to to the annual Bergfeuer event. Thankfully we managed to find a nice campsite who allowed us to squeeze in for the night, before heading out to join the festivities. It was all a bit crazy with the roads being full with lots of „interesting“ parking, parking in random farmers fields and just generally stopping wherever it was just about possible to stop. Thankfully we found somewhere to park which wasn‘t so silly, and joined the crowds admiring the mountain fires. We were really surprised by how detailed some of the designs were, given that they were being created by fire on the side of the mountain. It was really interesting to watch them grow from the initial flames into the full designs.

Tegelbergsteig and Neuschwanstein Castle

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Via Ferrata Short Link

Due to a change in forecast, we had a last minute change of plan, and instead of heading to the Pongau/Pinzgau area, we ended up heading to the edge of the Allgäu, where Katherine and I climbed the Tegelbergsteig while Becky walked up due to her wrist, before we all descended back down via the Marienbrücke for the views over Neuschwanstein Castle. The ascent from the Tegelbergbahn is very steep up a concrete road straight out of the blocks, so you do not get a chance to properly acclimatise to the heat/humidity nor to warm up your legs. The route is always enjoyable, but unsurprisingly for a sunny Saturday there was lots of queuing on the route, and multiple groups with small children who were not having a particularly good time on the crux sections. As ever the route isn‘t that photogenic due to climbing a NW facing cliff, and therefore being in shadow for the majority of the day. Due to our queuing Becky had been waiting at the top for a while, so when we got off the Klettersteig, I had to try and keep up with Katherine. Read the full article…

140km XC from Wallberg to Radstadt

Alastair BegleyAustria, Bavaria, Paragliding Short Link

With an excellent lapse rate, low winds at valley level but with strong winds up high, combined with a high cloudbase, I was cautiously optimistic that I was going to complete my first >100km flight. The route I planned at the following sections: I had flown a number of the sections successfully before, and had attempted a number of others, which put me in a great position to use previous knowledge. I had previously successfully flown 1-3 and 5, and had attempted 3 and 6 previously which had given me useful knowledge to improve on this time. Despite the great forecast, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to complete the route as I thought that in the afternoon the thermals may become too turbulent due to the midsummer sun, 0.9 deg/100m lapse rate and strong wind up high. Thankfully this didn‘t turn out to be the case, and I successfully complete the flight landing at Radstadt as planned. The flight itself was wonderful, I spent most of the time over 1000m above the summits admiring the wonderful views, enjoying the strong climb and being blown along the route. Read the full article…

Wallberg to Bayrischzell Paragliding

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Paragliding Short Link

I wasn‘t 100% sure if the day would even be flyable due to strong winds forecast at all altitudes, but thought that I would head to Wallberg and find out as it wouldn‘t cost anything thanks to the Deutschland ticket. Conditions at launch were good, and very quickly I managed to climb up to 2200m, enough to head off on a short xc, but decided that I wanted a bit more height first. Frustratingly it then took me ages to get back up to 2200m due to the amount of cloud, and it was certainly pretty windy. Once I was finally back up at 2200m, I headed off towards Bayrischzell. As I headed to Brecherspitze it was clear that it was very windy and turbulent but the climbs kept coming and kept me well above the mountains, I ensured that I would always be able to glide down to the valley despite the wind, as I didn‘t want to get pinned in a venturi. As I was flying along to Bayrischzell I was feeling a little unsure about continuing, and watching a paraglider below me take a massive collapse, combined. Read the full article…

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…