Blog Posts in Category: Germany

Schellschlicht

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Walking Short Link

We had planned on doing the Gartnerwand traverse, but due to wind gusts in excess of 100km/h on the Gartnerwand while we were heading there on the train, we decided to abort to a plan b (or was it c) to head up the Schellschlicht, hoping that the larger mountains to the south would protect us from the strong southerly wind. The walk up was mostly in the forrest, which was surprisingly still full of beautiful autumnal colours, and when we were treated to glimpses out of the forrest the views were wonderful. As we ascended we eventually climbed out of the forest and were able to appreciate a view uninterrupted by trees, which just became better and better as we climbed up. The summit provided us with an excellent panorama, where we enjoyed (a quick) lunch while everyone appreciated the view. The reason for the quick lunch is that despite the wind being significantly weaker than to the south, it was still fairly strong and was very cold. The descent was down a relatively gentle ridge, which provided us with a lovely backdrop looking south to the larger Austrian. Read the full article…

Berlin Landscapes

Alastair BegleyGermany, Landscape Short Link

After a last minute change of plan due to poor weather at Lake Garda, we decided to head to Berlin for a long weekend as the forecast was nice there where we booked the trip. Unfortunately the forecast changed before we went and resulted in Thursday and Friday being inside days, however did this provide an opportunity for reflections on the wet ground. Thankfully Saturday and Sunday were very nice days, which enabled us to explore Berlin.

Autumn in Munich

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Landscape Short Link

After an aborted trip to cycle in the mountains due to a broken down car, we decided to make the most of the sunny autumnal day with a walk along the Isar and then down through the Englischer Garten. Due to the very warm weather we have had until recently, it was still a little early for the full autumnal colours to be out in Munich, however there were still some lovely colours around.

Brecherspitz – Neuhaus to Spitzingsattel

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Walking Short Link

We headed back to the classic circuit of the Brecherspitz with some friends who were visiting Munich as it is very easy todo with public transport and is also an enjoyable route with an nice ridge, wonderful summit views, an excellent Alm on the descent and a bus to save the knees from Spitzingsattel. We made quick time up to the Ankel Alm, which was unfortunately shut in the week due to it being the end of the season, although this did mean that we could eat our lunch by the alm. It was here that we started to see some lovely autumnal colours appearing on the deciduous trees. Once we joined the ridge the views were wonderful, and just kept improving as we climbed higher. The north ridge was fairly quiet which was pleasant, although this did give us a shock when we arrived at the very busy summit. After admiring the views and a few photos we started the descent down to the Obere Firstalm for a well earned beer and Kaiserschmarrn, before the easy descent down the road to the Spitzingsattel.

Kranzhorn Sunset

Alastair BegleyAustria, Bavaria, Landscape, Walking Short Link

After doing a sunset hike up the Rotwand a few days earlier, we decided to do another sunset hike after work. As it was a post work hike, with an early autumn sunset, it had to be both close to Munich and a short walk. This meant that the Kranzhorn seemed like the obvious choice, as it was an easy drive on the Motorway towards Kufstein, before parking at a high Wanderparkplatz which meant that we only had 425m of ascent and 2.7km to walk to get to the summit. After a quick ascent we were at the summit in 50 mins, which gave us plenty of time to admire the view before the sunset and to eat our sandwiches. I couldn’t find any compositions which had any foreground interest, so it was a simple composition just consisting of the view towards the setting sun. There were some high clouds which remained after sunset which gave a beautiful afterglow. The we descended while it was still just about light to the Kranzhorn Schutzhütte, and from here we descended the longer way down the easy track, which was definitely faster in. Read the full article…

Rotwand Sunset

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Landscape, Walking Short Link

Not wanting to get up early to head to the mountains after Oktoberfest the evening before, we decided to head out for a sunset hike up the Rotwand. As we set off from the car park the weather was looking pretty ominous and we were certainly not optimistic for the sunset conditions. As we made our ascent the conditions started to improve and we enjoyed wonderful views with the landscape intermixed between sun and shade which created a lovely contrast. As we made good time on the walk we decided to head to the Rotwandhaus for a pre-sunset dinner, which was certainly better than the sandwiches that we had packed. As sunset approached we headed up to the Rotwand from the Rotwandhaus, and by this point most of the clouds had vanished which meant that we had excellent views in every direction. The highlights were the view towards the Großglockner, in the soft golden hour light with the rising moon above it and the view directly towards the setting sun over the Bavarian Alps. As there were no clouds left after sunset to catch the afterglow, we headed off early. Read the full article…

Tegelberg to Farchant XC Paragliding

Alastair BegleyAustria, Bavaria, Paragliding Short Link

On the second day at Tegelberg I had planned to fly east after take off, through the Ammergebirge and then with the aim of seeing how far east I could fly, as this would give me an easy journey back to Munich. Unfortunately as per the previous day, the day took a very long time to get going at Tegelberg which meant that I didn’t launch until 14:20. Thankfully after this late launch I was able to take a good thermal up through the invasion layers to well above the summit. At this point I abandoned my plan as the clouds to the east didn’t look very good, but the clouds to the south did. As I vaguely knew how a number of different flight areas/mountain ranges joined up, I decided to head south and see how it went. The initial part of the flight was very scenic, although with some slow climbs due to shaded out ground, and it was really special to be able to fly over the Plansee and along to Lermoos with absolutely fantastic views. Unfortunately the Gartner Wand was completely shaded out at this point,. Read the full article…

Tegelberg Paragliding

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Paragliding Short Link

With a weekend of strong winds forecast it was hard to decide where was best to go, after much deliberation we decided to head to Tegelberg as it looked like it had the best combination of airmass and weather. After a late start due to the W/NW aspects after launch it was an enjoyable flight in bumpy conditions due to there being about 4 different inversion layers at different altitudes which were difficult to punch through. It was a very scenic place to fly with views into the Allgäu and into the Ammergebirge, and as the day progressed the conditions became progressively easier. As I ended up with some good altitude at the end of the day, I decided to head for a long final glide over the beautiful Forggensee, to land in Buching just next to my hotel for the night.