It`s the beginning of September and my friend Thompson and I finally found the time to try another one of our projects. Conditions were looking quite promising and so we set our expectations quite high. The plan was to fly from Seegrube all the way into the Zillertal and then further , maybe even attempting to make it back into the Wipptal via Hintertux. Winds up high were not too strong but we definitely felt them during the flight. After a slow start from Hafelekar we made our way towards east. Thermals were weak and we had to fight to stay high. Right before Hinterhorn Alm we found some better air and managed to climb all the way up to over 2800m. From there we were able to spot the main problem of this day. A thick inversion layer at about 2100m was blocking the rising air so we knew that we had to stay high to fly far.
But right after the crossing from Hochnissel to Stanser Joch my bladder decided that it was time to land because it was full. So in expectation of a long flight afterwards I decided to Copland at Stanser Joch, go to the toilet and continue afterwards. Thompson joined me because he as well wanted to land on this mountain for quite a while. Fit and ready for another few hours of flight we launched with some difficulties because of the westwind in this area. It took almost 30min until we both had a phase of startable conditions. Back at cloud base everything was looking quite promising. We couldn't make it all the way up to 2600m for the crossing but I thought that 2450m should be plenty and that we'd find some more thermals at the entrance of Zillertal.
But what a mistake! The over regional west wind was pushing over the higher mountains and we found ourselves in the lee side if it. From there on it was only nasty sink and a tricky landing at Fügen im Zillertal in strong valley winds. Thompson had some more high to play with but he as well got flushed down and landed 10min after me in the same field.
We packed our bags, hiked about 15min to a little lake in Schlitters for some beer and ice coffee and then took the Zillertalbahn to Jenbach and the next train back to Innsbruck.
So all in all it was a really beautiful flight with some adventures along. But the goal of making it into the Zillertal and also back home still stands.
Cheerio, Oben Bleiben, Misi
28 окт 2023
