Autumn XC Flight from the Sassauna, Switzerland
Pictures taken on October 15th, 2006
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Since the little
gondola from Fanas to Eggli on the Sassauna was fully booked on this beautiful
autumn day, I had to hike all the way from
the bottom, if I wanted to fly there. So did I, it was a strenuous, but very
worthwile climb. When I was near the top, an unlucky
pilot was rescued by helicopter. Nothing really serious happened, but he
injured his shoulder on a blown launch. |
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That's an aerial view
of the Sassauna mountain, where two more pilots are ready to get airborne.
Conditions were perfect. Soon after I arrived on top, I launched and
immediately specked out. Maximal altitude was 2899m/9510ft. |
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That's the lower launch, known as Fanas Höreli, from
high above. Many long and beautiful XCs are started
here. |
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Let's explore the area: a few miles behind launch are the Swiss Dolomites,
i.e. Kirchlispitzen, Drusenfluh & Sulzfluh. |
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And
now it's time to go XC. This is on the first crossing to the Vilan. A nice
peak for skitouring, too! |
| Now that's already the Falknis. I could
soar up the face in very smooth air, and watch were I had skied down last
winter. |
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That's the huge crossing
across the Rheintal (Rhine valley), it's more than 10km/6mi. Next thermal
source is the Gonzen mountain (in the middle of the picture). The low level
clouds, indicating an inversion, are far below me. |
| Look back to where I came from: Falknis
(left, with cloud)), Glegghorn (middle, rocky peak) and Vilan (right). |
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Unfortunately, it's 5pm
and after 25 miles of distance, I'm already on final glide. I had strong
tailwind here and not only made it past this, but also past the next village,
named Tscherlach. Gliding with 60km/h groundspeed above the Autobahn Chur-Zürich
was fun, though I was only half as fast as the cars... |
| My Mamboo got a new trim just this week.
And it shared another great day with me! |
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Loecky needs a lot of
sleep. There are days, where he doesn't even get out of bed. Yeah, I'd say
he's a bit lazy sometimes, but he calls it "recovery". However, he would never
miss out on a paraglider flight!!! |
| Picture Galleries/Home | Marcel Dettling, 15.10.2006 |