Blog Posts in Category: Mountaineering

Kleine Cirspitze Klettersteig

Alastair BegleyItaly, Via Ferrata Short Link

Due to both feeling a bit drained we were after a short day, so headed up to the Gardena Pass to do the Kleine Cirzpitze Klettersteig. We started the day off by enjoying some coffee and cake by the car park, while I tried to summon motivation to head out, which thankfully I managed to. The walk in was very short, but with wonderful views, as one would expect for the Dolomites. We were late enough starting that most of the route was pretty quiet, until we caught up with one very slow team. Thankfully eventually they let us past and we made good time up to the summit. We enjoyed lunch just below the summit on an outcrop of rock and admired the view, before making the quick descent back down. The route was as expected, an enjoyable way to spend a few hours, but nothing to write home about compared to some of the longer and more remote routes in the area, but it fitted exactly what we needed for the day. On the way back down we stopped for a drink, and perhaps some more cake, I. Read the full article…

Gitschberg and Seefeld See

Alastair BegleyItaly, Paragliding, Walking Short Link

Having aborted on this walk a few days ago due to the van breaking down, with an excellent forecast this was the obvious choice for the day while we were staying in Mühlbach, with the added advantage that the lifts were free. We started the walk with a traverse around the top of the Altfasstal to the Seefeld See. This was really beautiful with stunning views down the gorgeous valley, I had been carrying my glider with me for a flight down at the end of the day, but I had been quietly wondering if I would also be able to fly down from Seefeld See. Any doubts I had about this were soon quashed as we saw a glider doing exactly that while we were still heading to the lake. As we emerged above the lake we had a lovely view down on the lake, before we descended to walk around it. Around the lake we were in the sun and outside of the breeze so it was very warm and inviting for a quick swim, needless to say that the water was pretty cold! After drying off and. Read the full article…

Stoanamandl

Alastair BegleyItaly, Walking Short Link

One of the obvious walks from Mühlbach was directly up the ridge from the town to Stoanamandl via the Altes Karl. As we were staying in Mühlbach we also had the advantage that the ski lifts in Vals were free, so we also could take the lift back down. We started by taking the bus up to Spinges, and from here we took one of the lesser travelled paths which was overgrown in places with a few fallen trees, when we got to the top we found that it looked like it was shut… We were very surprised on the way up to stumble on some old bunkers from WWII which were very impressive and a nice breather from the continuous ascent. The walk was really a walk of two halves, with the first half being pretty much purely exercise, and the second half being all about the views with not much exercise. As we ascended we had fleeting views out of the forest until we climbed to the top of the main tree line, at which point the views opened up and were really beautiful and varied. We could. Read the full article…

Plose Hike&Fly (Brixen)

Alastair BegleyItaly, Paragliding, Walking Short Link

On our second unplanned day in Brixen due to clutch issues we decided to climb the obvious peak which towers above the town, Plose (Telegraph), as it looked beautiful with its red flanks in the evening sun the day before. We dropped the van off at a garage in Brixen, hoping that it was just the master cylinder which needed replacing as this was an easy job, unlike the slave cylinder. An easy bus ride took us up to the seilbahn before we walked along a traversing line to the north towards the Ochsenalm. As we traversed around the mountain the views kept getting better and better as we emerged out of the forest and the path turned to face more into the Pustertal. From the Ochsenalm the main ascent really started and this meant that the views just kept getting better and better. The final section of the route was up a lovely ridge to the summit of Telegraph, aptly named due to the infrastructure on the summit! Unfortunately the entire day was fairly cloudy which impacted the views, however we enjoyed the fleeting views in between the clouds. Read the full article…

Birnhorn Überschreitung Hike&Fly

Alastair BegleyAustria, Paragliding, Walking Short Link

Having booked the Passauer Hütte months ago we were excited that it looked like we had a perfect weather weekend as we approached the trip, and I was even happier that it looked like it should work for a hike&fly to save me about 1800hm of descent. After some discussions we settled on the northern approach to the hut as despite having 300hm more of ascent, it was a lot more gradual and on a better path, which got the vote for the descent. The start of the approach was up through the woods, however as we climbed higher we started other get fleeting views to the north into the Steinernes Meer. Eventually we emerged out of the woods and could enjoy the view fully, and it really was spectacular. As we arrived at the col by the hut we were suddenly greeted with the view south towards the main alpine ridge, something which was great to suddenly emerge and see in one go. We enjoyed our afternoon sitting on the veranda at the hut while eating some food, having a few drinks and soaking in the wonderful view. After. Read the full article…

Mangart – Slovenska pot – Klettersteig&Fly

Alastair BegleyParagliding, Slovenia, Via Ferrata Short Link

When we were in Slovenia a few years ago, one of the routes which caught my eye but we didn’t get around to was the Klettersteig up Mangart. This was not because it was a particularly special or difficult route, but because it was fairly high, with little ascent and apparently you could see the sea from the summit, an unusual view in most of the alps. This meant that it was an obvious choice for this trip and it became even better when we found out that you could pre-book a minibus from Bovec for 3 euros per person each direction, which meant neither us nor our friends had to move our vans. Unfortunately as we climbed up the road in the van, it became clear that there was a lot more cloud than was in the forecast, but we remained hopeful that the weather would clear and give us some nice views. I had also decided to take my paraglider with me as I knew that in good conditions it was possible to launch from the summit, and in any case it should be possible to launch from. Read the full article…

Jerebica/Cima del Lago Hike&Fly

Alastair BegleyItaly, Paragliding, Slovenia, Walking Short Link

On our way to Slovenia we wanted to do a walk before we parked in the campsite in Bovec for 4 days. On the way down I was researching options and stumbled across Cima del Lago (Italian) or Jerebica (Slovenian). The walk looked absolutely perfect with not too much ascent, a nice ridge when up high and stunning views in every direction, so it was the obvious choice especially as it was only a 5 min detour from our route. While I was researching the route, it looked like it may be possible to fly down from the summit, however I couldn’t find any information about it. The joy of my hike&fly gear is that it is so light that I don’t mind carrying it even if there is a very uncertain chance of flying. As the forecast was for a very hot day, we got up early and set off to make the most of the cooler morning air, especially as the first part of the ascent was fairly constant and in the woods. Eventually we emerged from the woods at the col at the start of the ridge. Read the full article…

Vorderes Sonnwendjoch and Rofanspitze

Alastair BegleyAustria, Walking Short Link

With a lovely forecast Becky and I decided to make the best use of our winter ski passes and use them to head up the Rofanbahn on the last weekend of validity. Unfortunately on the drive there it became clear that the weather was not as good as it was forecast. We decided to do a circuit from the Vorderes Sonnwendjoch, Sagzahn and Rofanspitze, and I planned to fly off from the Rofanspitze with my hike&fly gear. As we got to the top of the lift we emerged from the cloud to be treated to a wonderful view of the Karwendel and shortly after the Tuxer Alpen. We had hoped that we would stay out of the cloud as we were above it, but unfortunately this was not going to be the case and as we started the descent to the Schermsteinalm we descended back into the cloud. As we approached the summit of the Vorderes Sonnwendjoch we briefly left the cloud, which allowed us to enjoy the views before it decided that it would make an unwelcome reappearance. From Sagzahn we again had not much of a view, so. Read the full article…