Blog Posts in Category: Paragliding

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…

74km FAI Triangle from Hochfelln

Alastair BegleyParagliding Short Link

Somehow winter managed to pass me by with no paragliding days, and due to a very slow start to spring we were at the end of April before I had flown this year, in fact about 6 months since my last flight. I set off for the day with a big plan but fairly low expectations and the day turned out to be spectacular with excellent thermals a clear sky with views that went on forever. We started from Hochfelln along with what seemed like every other paraglider in Bavaria, as it was one of the few lifts which was running so early in the season, and the launch was complete chaos, as it was clearly most peoples first flight of the season after a winter with no groundhandling. Whilst the conditions were difficult due to snow on the ground, there were numerous paragliders who crashed onto the walking patch, most people failed to launch and there was some terrible launch etiquette. Eventually it was my turn to launch, which went very smoothly after my ground handling practice earlier in the week and I was soon up at the departure. Read the full article…

2022 in 100 Photos

Alastair Begley100 Photos, Alpinism, Arco, Austria, Bavaria, Dolomites, General, Landscape, Paragliding, Road Cycling, Rock Climbing, Scrambling, Ski Touring, Skiing, Via Ferrata, Walking, Winter Climbing, Winter Walking Short Link

Thankfully 2022 was a more normal year than the previous two years, and our first full year with our new lifestyle living an hour from the Alps. A high point of the year was the number of visitors we were able to host, for skiing, walking, paragliding and climbing. We certainly made the most of living near the alps, with most weekends spend in the mountains one way or another. Winter Our winter was fairly dominated with piste skiing, where Becky progressed from tentatively skiing easy blue runs to confidently skiing red runs with the odd short black run as well! This was great to see and I am looking forward to her continued progression this year. Despite the focus on piste skiing we also squeezed some paragliding in and I managed to get 4 days of ski touring as well. General Through the winter we managed to squeeze in some paragliding, and on one of our final days of skiing of the year, I am managed to combine a morning skiing with my first proper cross country flight on my paraglider which was a very memorable experience, as I. Read the full article…

Thaneller Hike&Fly

Alastair BegleyAustria, Paragliding, Walking Short Link

Following a day with snow down to the valleys and a beautiful weather forecast, we headed off early to Berwang in Austria to climb Thaneller. We had decided to climb Thaneller as it is a fairly standalone mountain which has wonderful views over the Lechtaler Alpen, towards the Zugspitze, over the Plansee and towards the Tannheimer Geberge. It was also suitable for a hike and fly with the predicted wind direction. The ascent up to the peak was beautiful, with snow covered mountains, green fields in the valleys and incredibly clear air which gave us wonderful views. As we climbed higher the views just kept improving and we had a wonderful inversion as we looked towards the Karwendel. As we approached the summit we were greeted by the view north over Plansee and into Bavaria, which was very special. The wind was moderate and in the correct direction to take off, so I quickly setup before it further increased and after more failed inflations than I would care to admit, took off. Upon watching the videos the others took, it I was clearly using my hands to balance as I. Read the full article…

Paragliding over Marmolada (Dolomites)

Alastair BegleyDolomites, Paragliding Short Link

I had hoped to fly over Marmolada last time I was in the Dolomites, but due to sticking with my pre-planned route, despite the late takeoff time, I wasn’t able to. I had thought that flying over Marmolada would have to wait until next year, but with some unseasonable weather, and a good airmass the cloudbase was predicted to be at 3700m with a moderate southerly wind on the 30th October! As the window with the good conditions and my availability was only one day, I woke up at 4:45 in Munich and drove straight to the Sella Pass. I got there with excitement as there didn’t appear to be any high level cloud which was certainly a risk from the forecast and made the short walk up to the Lokomotiva launch site. Here I waited until I was fairly sure I would stay up, although I was still a little unsure as I launched as lots of people were still failing the climb out! Thankfully I launched and made my way towards the steep cliffs and was soon in a strong climb which took me up and away. After. Read the full article…

Bassano Paragliding

Alastair BegleyItaly, Paragliding Short Link

After an excellent few days at Lake Garda, we decided to head over to Bassano for some paragliding. I did three flights, one of which was an XC flight from Pannettone and two were flights with Becky. We started the day with a launch from Stella and a glide down to the landing field. As we started early the launch was fairly quiet, it was a calm enjoyable morning glide down where I did some more wingover practice on my new wing. We managed to get a private lift up to Pannettone with some Germans, where I enjoyed a short XC flight away from the landing and then back along the ridge before returning to the landing place. It was an enjoyable flight with the autumnal colours, but certainly involved some scratching at times when below an inversion. With a bit of time left, we headed back up to Stella for an evening glide back down, after the crowds had finished for the day. It was really nice to be at the take off with hardly anyone else around and no pressure. The flight down in the low evening sun. Read the full article…

Col Rodella XC Paragliding

Alastair BegleyDolomites, Paragliding Short Link

I had been hoping to paraglide in the Dolomites this autumn, but due to poor weather there hadn’t been any opportunities and I thought the chance was going to escape me this autumn. However thankfully at the start of October there was a brief improvement in the weather, which actually coincided with a good airmass fly XC paragliding. I even already had holiday booked off, as I was on the waitlist for an SIV course, but as 3 days before I still didn’t have a space, I changed my plans and headed to the Dolomites instead. There was only really one day for good XC flying, the second day was a hike&fly day, so I was a bit disappointed to wake up feeling pretty rough after a bad nights sleep. After a frustrating morning sat at take off waiting for a persistent inversion to lift, I finally had the chance to launch. Post launch I very nearly bombed straight out down to the valley, but with some fighting got back up to launch and caught a thermal which took me up through the inversion. At this point everything started to. Read the full article…

Col Bel Hike&Fly (Val di Fassa, Dolomites)

Alastair BegleyDolomites, Paragliding, Walking Short Link

After a brilliant day flying the previous day, I was unsure of what do do on my second and final day in the Dolomites as the airmass was not predicted to be very good. I was even debating if I should just head back and fly in Austria on the way home so that I got back to Munich at a more reasonable hour. As I left the hotel I had decided that I was going to head to fly at Rofan above Achensee, until I had a sudden brainwave. I realised that I was focussing too much on thermal flying, and an alternative, and equally good way to spend the day was to do a hike and fly. Which would enable me to soak up more of the wonderful scenery on offer in the Dolomites. I found this really useful page on FassaFly and decided to head up Col Bel, as it worked well with the wind direction, was a decent walk and was meant to have stunning views. I actually elected to climb the mountain via a slightly different route, as it meant that I ascended up a. Read the full article…