Euro 2000: Paragliding in the French, Swiss, Austrian and German Alps

Article and photos by Steve Roti

A group of Cascade Paragliding Club members and friends went to Europe during August 2000 for some Alpine flying. The twelve pilots who were there for all or part of the trip were: Chris and Kris Wick from Jacksonville, Harry Kauffman from Waldport, Bruce Tracy from Omak, Dave Verbois from Winthrop, Jay Carroll from Bingen, and Brian Stipak, John Olson, Kal Shobaki, Byron Twyman, Pete Reagan and me from Portland. Notably absent was Tina Pavelic who stayed home because she was pregnant with our soon-to-be-born daughter Elizabeth.

The itinerary called for stays in four major paragliding destinations over the course of three weeks. First Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland, followed by Chamonix, France, then Fiesch, Switzerland and finally Innsbruck, Austria. Unfortunately it was a wet spring and early summer in the Alps and our stay in Lauterbrunnen was rained out, making it impossible to fly at the sites in Grindelwald and Interlaken as we had been planning. The group managed to get in a few sled rides at sites near Lucerne, but we didn't get to see the Eiger, the Monch and the Jungfrau in all their glory and we didn't get to launch from the top of the 3,000 meter Schilthorn (with a 2,000 meter descent).

France

Our next stop was Chamonix and our arrival coincided with the departure of the stormy weather from the Alps. On our first sunny day we flew at Plaine Joux, near the mouth of the Chamonix valley. Here are pictures of Kal flying at Plaine Joux and Byron landing in the Chedde LZ. Many of the French LZ's are nicer than what we're used to in the USA. The one in Chedde is a huge grassy field with an outdoor cafe in one corner. After flying pilots hang out in the cafe and watch the action in the air.

The most-used morning launch in the Chamonix valley is 6,400' msl Planpraz, which is accessible by a gondola ride from town. Here's a picture taken near launch of Jay with les Drus in the background across the valley. The Planpraz launch area is typically busy during the late morning with recreational pilots and commercial tandems launching one right after another. Everyone wants to get in the air before the valley wind picks up during the afternoon. On a good day it's possible to fly cross-country from Plan Praz to Plaine Joux about 10 km away. Here's a picture taken in-flight on the way to Plaine Joux from about 5,000' msl. Plaine Joux is the small cluster of buildings above and to the right of my feet. Here's a picture of the same route taken a few days later from about 9,000' msl showing the tops of the peaks behind Plaine Joux. And here's a view of the Chamonix valley from about 10,000' msl which was just below cloudbase.

How many places in the world can you ride a gondola to 10,000 msl, walk five minutes to a wide open launch on a snowfield, and then soar for an hour in glass-off conditions amongst spectacular peaks? That's exactly what we did at the Grands Montets, a ski area a little way up the valley from the town of Chamonix. Here's a picture of Pete soaring in front of the Grandes Jorasses and another one of Pete specked out next to les Drus. After flying at the Grands Montets we flew down valley back to the standard LZ in Chamonix where we met a young Italian girl who wanted to try on my helmet.

We didn't limit ourselves to the Chamonix area though. We took day trips to a number of other flying sites. One of my favorites was St. Hilaire, site of the famous Coupe Icare costume free flight festival every year. Here's a picture looking down at the St. Hilaire launch which is a large carpeted area above a 2,000' cliff. Here's another picture of St. Hilaire looking back at the terrain behind launch where you can see Harry flying near cloudbase.

Another day trip took us to the Grand Bornand, located between Chamonix and Annecy. Here's a picture of Kal, John and Byron getting off at the top of the lift and eager to fly. Here's the view from launch showing the cross-country route to Annecy along the ridge in the background near the center of the picture.

Our last day trip was to Mieussy, long regarded as the birthplace of paragliding in the Alps. Once Pete and Byron and I got 3,000' over launch, we followed Bruce cross-country to the town of Samoens. We flew east to the cross at the end of the first ridge, followed by a crossing to a second ridge and then a glide down into Samoens to land next to the swimming pool.

Switzerland

From France we travelled east into Switzerland to the town of Fiesch in the upper Rhone valley. Fiesch is known as one of the premier Alpine cross-country sites for paragliders and hang gliders. We stayed at the Hotel Park, a small hotel/restaurant where we paid US$27 per night for bed and breakfast. Here's a picture of half of our group with the proprietor in front of the Hotel Park. The white van to the right of us in the picture is one of the two 9-passenger VW vans we rented for the trip. Each 9-passenger van was just the right size for six pilots and wings.

After launching at Fiesch the first step is to thermal up toward cloudbase above the Eggishorn and to look over the back at the Aletsch Glacier, which starts on the Jungfrau and ends above the Rhone valley. From there the cross-country options are numerous -- I chose to fly west over the Bettmeralp resort to Riederalp and back to Fiesch. Bruce, Dave, Chris and Kris flew east toward the head of the Rhone valley with Bruce making it up and over the Furka Pass and into the next valley. Here's a picture of the standard LZ in Fiesch. You can see gliders next to the road above my right foot and the town of Fiesch just beyond that. It's easy to get around town on foot, there's no need for a car.

Austria

Our last major destination of the trip was the Stubai valley, just south of Innsbruck in the Austrian Alps. Here are pictures of Bruce launching next to the Elferhutte and pilots landing in the Neustift LZ. We stayed in the Hotel Mooshof (center of picture), which was a two minute walk from the gondola and a five minute walk from the LZ. We also flew from the Kreuzjoch launch above the town of Fulpmes and most of the group flew back to land in Neustift. Here's a picture of Dave laying out at the Kreuzjoch and above him Chris and Kris watching the conditions. The Stubai valley is said to be good for cross-country flying, but shortly after we arrived the foehn wind started blowing which put a damper on the flying. The only cross-country flight I got was south from the Kreuzjoch to the Starkenburgerhutte and across to the next ridge before heading back to Neustift. I saw hundreds of people on the trails hiking from hut to hut. Local pilots told us that on good days it's possible to circumnavigate the valley by flying along the east facing slopes in the late morning up to the Stubai glacier at the head of the valley, then returning on the west facing slopes in the afternoon.

Germany

While we were staying in Austria, we took a day trip up to Garmisch-Partenkirchen which is only a one hour drive north of Innsbruck. There we met up with Americans Lizzy Opitz and Cherie Slivera and we had the opportunity to fly the Alpspitze, a 4,000' vertical site above Garmisch. After flying Lizzy took us for a swim in a nearby lake and out to dinner at a local Thai restaurant.

Postscript

Thanks to Dennis Trott at The Flyer's Lodge for accomodations and weather advice in Chamonix. Most of the information we had about Austria came from George and CJ Sturtevant who flew there in the early 1990's and graciously shared their knowledge. Thanks also to Paul Klemond, Othar Lawrence, Don Marcy, Lowell Skoog, and CB Schmaltz for sharing information about their favorite flying sites in the Alps.