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Where's Mike? Section five: Austrian Alps
Click here to see section four: The Swiss Alps
Mason, Austria: It was a pleasure to sleep in this morning. Fresh sheets, goose down comforter, perfect temperature, not having to dress in order to go take a leak, and the list goes on. The included breakfast lasts till 10:30, so I was able to put in about 30 min on the elliptical ski machine, grab a shower, and just make it. They offered me an English newspaper and life was grand. What's this? Flooding in the Alps is headline news! I could have told you that for less than the cost of a paper.
Michie and I met for lunch, and then, after some very scrumptious truffles from a local baker and candy shop, did a quick tour of the Abbey Library of St Gall. No photos were allowed and there is no way to describe the intricacies of this place commonly thought of as the most beautiful rococo interior in Switzerland. Interestingly enough, this is still a working library, and those of a studious nature are able to come and view/study the 150,000 manuscripts housed here, or the 400,000 housed in storage.
After the library we walked around inside the
church, and then on the grounds. Michie pointed out where he once
landed, and then quickly packed for departure. We then headed to the XiX
shop for a WX check. It does not look great, but not as bad as in the
past. Although Michie invited me to stay the night, I wanted to head
into Austria to
Michie mentioned that his favorite flying place is the Oetzeler Valley, near where they found the Ice Age Man preserved in the glacier, and so that is where I headed.
Just prior to leaving Switzerland, I spent my remaining francs on gas, food, stove fuel, and then wrapped my mind back around the Euro.
A few minutes after my supply stop, I was slowly crossing the Rhine River. I say slowly, because the traffic was a bear, and there were tons of people running, walking, and gawking all over the bridge. A glance at the river told me why. It appeared the Rhine is just past flood stage, and water is breaching some of the dykes. This is important to know if you live in Diepoldsau about 200 meters away. I have to stop for a photo or two, but they don't really do it justice. A video would be a better tool to show the raw power of mother nature. Being there yourself is the best!
After a few photos, I decide I better head off for deeper Austria, get to Oetz, and find a place to crash for the next few days. Unfortunately, my plans are transformed by a flooded tunnel, a downed bridge, and general mayhem throughout the region.
Since I can't read the language, I just keep going on back roads for as long as I can. I figure the farther I can make it up the Alfenz valley, the better. E60 is closed, but the old road is working fine for me, and a few others.
I continue up valley, and just past Mason, get stopped by the police. All roads over the pass are closed. I have to ask if there is anyway around, and she tells me only if I have a bulldozer (I do have AWD!) and a submarine. Hmm. I think I will camp here for the night, and hear rescue choppers working till well past midnight from the crappy, little, stinky, muddy, campground I am lucky enough to find.
Wednesday August 24th
Umhausen, Austria:
Holy crap! That is the most incredible sound and I wish I could describe
it! Sort of a long lasting rumble-clunk, as boulders, not little rocks,
but boulders, get rolled down stream in the raging torrent I am camping
next to. It is phenomenal! Every 60 seconds I hear another coming from
far upstream, and then listen as the sound fades down stream. Sometimes
they are louder, and slower, and sometimes they are a touch quieter, but
faster. It is crazy! I am camping about 50 feet away from stream
central, as all the sites right next to the creek are closed off on
account of the flood that came through yesterday. Yep, these boulders
are being moved downstream in receding waters!
After being shut down on my attempted trip through
to Oetz last night, I got up early to see if I could sneak through this
morning. Nope, looks like the road will be closed at least through the
weekend. Drat, that means a couple extra hours of driving around through
Germany via Fussen. Such is life. I head back to
camp under partly cloudy skies and many more rescue choppers evacuating stranded motorists. Wish I were them...I would just set up camp and chill.
I pack up, pay, and head back toward Switzerland, and then around through southern Germany. Since I am now out of cash, after having spent the last of my francs while departing Switzerland, I stop at a few banks to see if I can get an advance on my new/temporary visa. Nope. No pin, no cash! Yikes, at least I have a working card, but not everyone will take Visa...Camp Krismer, in Umhausen, for instance. Ok, back into save-mode until I can sort out getting some cash. I set up camp at a nice little campground next to a stream, grab a photo of yet another Dutch biker, with one of those HUGE stoves I saw in Verbier as well, do dinner, and crash.
Thursday August 25th
Umhausen in the Oetz Valley, Austria: My first priority this morning was to check out the stream running through my campground. It is lower than last night, and the noise from moving rock has diminished somewhat, but I still wanted to grab a BEFORE shit/shave/shower, and AFTER shit/shave/shower, of a couple of boulders near me. Taken from the same post, at near the same angle, I can swear these stones have moved in the past hour! Farther into the water, farther downstream, and one has rolled. Heck, I am still waking up, so you be the judge!
I took another shot downstream toward Oetz, and despite, or as a result of, the raging stream, the valley is attractive, but the weather is not forecast to be so great. That forecast, combined with the morning sprinkles, makes me think, flying today may be questionable, at best...I think I will just head into Imst for some email, and then a tour of the Ice Age Man museum near my campground.
Heading down valley, I see a sole tandem landing. I stop to chat, and, asking the passenger if it was good conditions, hear that it is great!!! I ask the pilot, and he tells me that it is flyable, but barely. It will be worse tomorrow. I ask if he is going up for another and he gives me a firm NO, but it should still be passable for an intermediate or advanced solo, right now, if they hurry
I head to the gondola, and jump the car
behind two other solo pilots. At least I will have company!
On the top, the solo pilots head off to the restaurant, but
I see a tandem laid out the launch 100 meters above. By the
The launch was easy into three miles an hour of straight up wind on a grassy hillside. I head out over the top gondola on this 4300 foot agl sledder and find not a peep from the vario. Smooth sailing all the way. I make a turn and head down the ridge to the north, which sort of protrudes into what prevailing there is, but still find nothing. I am not complaining, after getting the report, and seeing a commercial tandem hiking down to the gondola! I should just be happy to snag a flight, and I am.
I enjoy the flight, do a few spirals, push out on the opposite risers...in order to make it interesting, get dizzy, and then land with no issue. Great fun, and my first flight in Austria this year! I pack up, walk the ten minutes to the gondola base, and my car, and then continue my trip into Imst, where I do a few emails, fail miserably to get cash without a pin, and call Skywalk. I hope to meet up with Dave in the next few day for some test flights.
Back to camp for a nice BBQ (need to get them in while it is not raining) and off to bed to prepare for a late start in the morning! Rain is forecast for Friday, and it has already started as I shut down my comp. Maybe hit the museum tomorrow?
Friday August 26th
Umhausen, Austria: After a rainy morning, I took a drive up the Otztaler valley to Solden, a great little ski and summer resort, which I found much more interesting, and active, that Oetz itself. This is where Sunday's bike race starts and finishes, and I hope to be flying here for the day, and catch some of the festivities Sunday night. Fingers crossed for the WX. Today, however, I just did a quick visit, and then headed back to camp for a late afternoon BBQ and lunch prior to my 3-4 hour rafting trip starting at four in the afternoon.
When I had signed up, I asked them about showing up early in order to gear-up, but they said not to worry about it...the four hours will include that. Just be there by four, give or take five minutes. Well, I showed up at seven minutes after, everyone was geared up, and in van already! I ask if I am too late to make it, and the guide says I am fine, and it was just that everyone else is on a company team building session and showed up early. About that time, the whole team starts chanting and razzing me, in good fun, to hurry up and get my stuff. I run in, toss on some gear, and am back to the van in record time.
The river is running high, muddy, and cold. Very different than the clean, and temperate, water Rich and I experienced in Scandinavia.
We started just above a rapid that was running class 4, and then, for the next two kilometers were working pretty solid class 4. We then got a 100 meter break of class 2, when one of the bow guys, who was just getting hammered, begged someone to take his place. No one wanted to step up, so I offered!
Back to the class 4 stuff, with the whole team calling out the strokes, which was too fast for me, but it was their team! While going through some of the larger drops and surfs, I was able to pace myself better, and get a more powerful, and effective stroke, while the team just held on to the boat. Great fun digging into a high wall of class 4 water while on the bow.
We then popped into the slower moving, dirtier, Inn River and the lead guide (we had two, for a total of eight to the boat) asked if anyone wanted a swim. While I was still trying to fathom actually swimming in this guck, two of the Germans jumped ship. Shortly followed by the other three. Heck, it had been years since I have had a nice case of Montezuma's revenge (or Otzi-Man's Revenge, in this case) so I rolled over board for a quick dip in the mud. I was the first one back on board, since I was the only one able to pull myself up, then pulled the others in. Good times, and the shower back at the office felt great afterward.
I think this must be the only day I have not dug out my camera.
Saturday August 27th
Umhausen, Austria:
The weather was looking pretty darn good this morning so I decided
another trip up the valley was in order. I can see from the map that
there are some lifts, and marked PG sites, up in
When I arrived in Vent, the clouds were low, but it looked like it would burn off soon, so I decided to hang around. Took the one running chair lift into the low clouds and fog, found several places for launching, and then took the lift back down, when the fog and low clouds turned into strong wind and building cumulus.
Down in the Valley, I stopped at a cafe for a salad, watched as the skies started dumping rain, and then headed home. I would like to come explore this area, with better weather, sometime in the future.
The one other interesting thing, or perhaps the only interesting thing, that happened today, was a late night visitor I had in camp. I had not experienced a campground girl (not sure what else to call her/them?) since I was exposed to those three, along with my German friends, up in Bliesdorf Germany. I had forgotten all about the ritual of young girls tending to prowl the campgrounds looking for fun times. This one, Juliet, is quite the cutie and had been saying hello to me several times a day as she walked back and forth from her camp to the showers, kitchen, bathroom, etc.. Sort of what everyone does to all the campers, so I thought nothing of it, until she actually left the path to come into my site for a bit. At 16, I thought she was a bit young for that kind of fun, but she did remind me of that really good, upbeat, jazzy ABBA song though..."Does Your Mother Know?", or something like that.
I found this encounter even more interesting than my first one in Bliesdorf, both in that Juliet spoke pretty good English, so I could understand what she was saying, and in the incredible candor she exhibited. I have never experienced such candor from any American woman (not counting those I may have been dating at the time), much less from one so young.
She took no offense at my passing on her offer, but she will be around a few more days if things change.
Sunday August 28th
I am betting on the speculation.
They did have a few interesting animals, all of which the Otzi man presumably domesticated and then used for materials...meat, milk, skin, etc.. Sheep, goat, pigs, cattle, and more. In addition to the penned animals, they had several replicas of tools for fishing, hunting, and making grain into bread.
Back up to to watch some of the bikers come in...my neighbor was happy to have made it, and it only took him 11 hours! I then had a rare dinner out, since all the stores were closed and the cooler-food was not calling to me.
Monday August 29th
Dave, who works with Skywalk, had been telling me to get over to that side of the Alps there for several weeks. Kossen has been having the same rainy weather the rest of the Europe has been experiencing, so I have not been missing anything till now.
I
arrived a bit early, so walked around the LZ,
Gondola, and campsite...a great place, only
a
When Dave showed up we grabbed a couple of gliders
and headed to the gondola for a test flight. Nine Euros and 15 minutes
later we were on the main launch. Large, yet crowded with a ton of
launch potatoes. We waited around for a while, and then I asked about
just hiking 10-15 minutes farther up the slope where there were one or
two gliders laid out, but LOTS more
space
to blast off when we desire. We figured by
the time this mashed potato in
There was a bit more cow dung to contend with, but
other than that, it was fine. I launched first, and immediately headed
into the lee-side conditions (only about 5mph) and the west facing
slope. I was on their DHV 1 Mescal and was about in the middle of the
range with all the gear I have. It did great. Very solid, but still nice
turns and handling. I was able to top out the stack and was happy about
that. There were only a few gliders that actually made it up in the
light conditions we had and I was thrilled with
the
30 minute flight I had. Took a photo, or two, of the area, some other
gliders,
After a very good flight, although any flight this
year is good, we landed at Sepp's Flieglebar,
packed
up, and then checked into Mini's Pension (00 43-53 75-65 88) for the night. At 16 Euro,
After a quick shower, we walked the 50 meters back to Sepp's for dinner...grilled, and served, by several young, attractive, vivacious, women. Sepp surely hires them specifically to pretty up, and add a touch of class too, his flight bar, filled with mainly grubby pilots. They closed at 22:00 so we wandered back to Mini's and some good conversation well into the wee hours.
Not sure if we solved the worlds problems, but we did our best.
Tuesday August 30th
Kossen, Austria: Mini's place is great. Right on the LZ, a five minute walk to the gondola, quiet, breakfast of meats, cheeses, breads marmalades, and pretty much any other thing you could care to ask for. The guests all enjoy breakfast, while Walter, Mini's husband, peels boiled potatoes for the massive amounts of potato salad they provide to Sepp's Fliegelbar each day. I can attest to the fact that it is some great stuff!
After breakfast, Dave and I took a 40 minute drive over to meet the rest of the Skywalk Team in their Grassau Germany office. Great facility, and Thomas Allertseder, one of the five owner/partners, and office manager, offered a great tour and introductions to all.
We talked about their Jet Flap technology and he mentioned that they see about an 18% slow speed performance improvement in the wind tunnel tests they have done. Makes the glider safer for launch and landing, and they currently have them on both their 1 and 1-2 gliders, with plans for them to go on the full range.
Another interesting note is that they are using Dyneema for 100% of their lines. Thomas used to work for a line manufacturer (Liros?) and played a part in the development of a low-stretch line by spinning the Dyneema tight, then heating it to 150 Celsius under tension. I had always thought that Dyneema was fairly heat-sensitive, but I guess 150 is ok. Anyway, they find that the elasticity gets reduced to about 1cm over the length of a standard line and that is all. Also, ALL the lines shrink the same, regardless of the weighting difference from A to B to C and D. Hmmm. I was a bit skeptical, but I would sure like to see more, and maybe fly these wings/lines for a while. I always liked Dynema over Kevlar...and speaking of Kevlar and how knot-sensitive they are, these new lines show ZERO strength degradation over time!!! They did a 5000 time bending test, multiple times, and with DHV, and could not tell the difference from old to new during the break test. Very interesting stuff!!!
All in all, Skywalk seems to be a great company. Solid, diversified into making paragliders, yacht spinnakers, and kite surfing wings, nice guys, great experience (Manfred Kistler is their production manager and partner, as is Armin Harich, and Jurgen Kraus), a with a vision of slow/sustained growth for the future. Sort of reminded me of how Flight Design was set up in the early days.
After that, Dave dropped me back at Mini's and headed off to work, and after a couple hour nap, I wandered over to the gondola to test out the Skywalk Tequila, their 1-2 glider. The conditions were very light from the east, high pressure, and lots of pilots were taking sledders. Again I hiked up a short distance to avoid the crowds, and get just that little extra altitude that would put me in the lift, and above the inversion.
The launch faces generally north, the sun was baking the west face, and I figured the east flow was light enough to not be a factor, so, I launched to the east and then immediately skimmed around to the west face. I had found some great lift here yesterday, in similar conditions, but not today. Just sink, mixed with a few mild bumps. I headed out, with the plan to just go land, but caught a fat thermal over the valley that took me back up to the base of the inversion. Some pilots were still doing sledders, but many more were now working the low lift for as long as they could. After about 30 minutes, I went and tried some mild maneuvers, landed, packed, and then joined Walter and his family for his 75th birthday celebration.
Oh, it was interesting to find out how many people are actually taking a look at my diary! Many (ok, there were three) of which I have never met, and do not know! It seems my server space has run out, and some of the photos are not being posted, and people emailed me to let me know. Thanks. I tried to get Datapipe to increase my space, they told me I already have it allocated, but it is just not turned on, but they would fix it. After a couple days of still not working, I typed up an email to Eric Troili, an HG pilot I have my account set up with, and will see if he can help.
Wednesday August 31st
Kossen, Austria: I got up before anyone else was awake in the house (it was quite a celebration last night!), so took a walk into town, picked up a bit of lunch, and then grabbed an early gondola to launch. There were a few pilots sitting around watching the wind either blow down, or do nothing at all. The clouds were definitely over the back. Wind from the south.
I decided to hike up to the launch Dave and I used the two days ago, only to find the same conditions. Of course. So, I kept hiking the several hundred feet to the very top of the peaks. On my way, I caught a glimpse of a lone pilot actually soaring below cloudbase to the south of the gondola and mountain. Figured there must be a south launch up on top that he used, so was inspired. No other pilots were joining me on my hike, but what do I care if they plan on sitting around next to the gondola all day long, waiting for the wind to change?
I arrived on the summit, with several other hikers just doing it for the view, and started looking for a place to launch. Did not look great, but it did look doable.
There was a small clearing facing south, and one facing southeast as well. Both were small, and had two meter high brush and scrub pine at the end of them. With a bit of wind, and a reverse inflation, it would be a snap. The cycles were coming up periodically that would allow for a reverse....unfortunately, the hikers were relaxing with their lunches right where I needed to be, so I waited. By the time enough of them had cleared out, the wind had gone very light again.
I started to lay out, and KNEW there was just not enough room for a forward, but was hoping the cycles would pick up. I ran the scenarios in my mind several times, and concluded that I would have to have some wind in order to make it, and if I did not make it, the likelihood of me damaging myself or the glider was very, very, low. Ok, I may be embarrassed, and feel like a complete idiot if I did a FUTO, but walking away physically unscathed was almost a 100% guarantee.
I coached about ten hikers on the how to help me with holding up the wing. In this small area, the glider was going to be resting on them, and their benches, anyway. Just pinch lightly from behind, never grab a cell or line, a bit higher in the center, etc.. Then it was time to sweat it out in full gear, until that perfect cycle came along. The cycles strong enough for a reverse were nowhere to be seen, so alpine-style it is. Got the cycle, gave a loud countdown in German, and ran.
Immediately I could tell something (someone?) had snagged on the right side, but pulled clear, and I took two more steps before knowing the wing would not be flying before I had to clear that brush, so, in another 4-5 steps, aborted this steep launch just before the scrub pine that now looked a bit taller than two meters.
The wing came down over me, and into the brush in a messy pile of lines and fabric. FUTO.
Some of the hikers helped me pluck the glider out of the bushes, I packed up, and then started the walk down the hill, tail between my legs, in search of a better launch choice.
After another hour of waiting for the wind to cooperate, I manage a cross-wind launch and enjoy a small amount of ridge soaring before heading out to look for a thermal. With these conditions, and the poor decisions I had already made today, I did not want to stay too close to the ground.
I catch a little something down about the level of the main launch area, but quite a ways from the hill. Manage a few turns, notice that there are very few pilots in the air right now, and then land for another 45 minutes of air time.
As I pack up, I see a few others launching, but
We had arranged for me to just leave the glider with Mini when I left for Italy and the Gruppo delle Marmarole in the morning, but instead I asked about returning it to the factory so they could survey the damage, and I could pay for it. Dave wont be there, but he will set it up for me to meet Thomas at 11am.
After two days of dinners at Sepp's I decide to head into town for something different. Found a great little Adventure Bar that had a rope and fire act, live music, and a pretty good pizza & salad. Just a 15 minute walk from the LZ and Mini's so it was convenient as well.
Thursday September 1st
St Johann, Austria: After another great Austrian breakfast, and saying my goodbyes, I drove north over the boarder to the Skywalk factory to meet Thomas. He had gotten an email from Dave, so knew why I was there, but was not at all concerned about the glider. For the last 15 hours I had been trying to figure out a fair price for the damage I caused, and was prepared to just purchase the wing outright if it had been new (It was not brand new when I got it, but was not sure how much time was on it) or, at the very least, pay the cost of the repair and a reasonable depreciation. 300-500 euro was about the minimum I figured this three centimeter rip was going to cost me...2-3K would be the most.
Thomas essentially told me not to worry about it, it
is a demo, these things happen, we will just fix it and keep using it.
He was not even concerned enough to survey the damage, but I insisted on
at least that. Yep, about a 3cm tear on the upper surface, 12th cell
from center. Not quite sure how it happened since
Back on the road heading south to the Marmolada, but also considering what Thomas just said about it being known as an extremely rough site to fly weather-wise this time of year, and that Oct is typically better. Hmm, I should be able to handle a few bumps, but with yesterdays events, who knows?!?!? I never got a chance to find out because as I drove through St Johann, about 30 minutes south of Kossen, I saw a great mountain with Gondola service and just had to stop. I did not really feel like flying, but did not feel like driving either, so looked around town, grabbed a site at Camping Michelnhof, and headed back to the lift to check out the scene.
Spoke with the girl who schedules tandem flights and explained that I am a solo pilot looking to fly. Ok, just wait here for five minutes and the tandem pilot will come show you around. By the time I grabbed my gear from the car, he and his passenger were there and waiting. We jumped a cab for a two minute drive to the main Gondola and headed up the hill.
Herman
seemed like a great guy, lots of information about the flying, LZ's and
launch areas. He was, as most tandem pilots are, fast on launch and
punched out before I was clipped in. The place had absolutely no other
pilots around, and supposedly never does!
They group up in Kossen, 30 minutes to the north, or
Herman took a sledder, but I was hoping to catch a bit of lift off this northeast facing ridge. Launch my XiX Form 3 into five mph, turned left, and immediately got some lift over a gully coming up to a shelf just below the top station. A few turns later and I am a few hundred feet over the gondola and able to head right/south back to the higher ridge. Sink along the way prevented me from getting up there, but I still had enough altitude to come make it back over that shelf. Worked it a while, and then, after getting a few hundred feet below launch, headed out.
This area offers about 3K feet vertical, but it is difficult to easily see it because it is shallow, and broken up by ridges and shelves. The whole way out though, I was able to catch periodic lift and stay level with launch...give or take a few hundred. I saw where the tandem landed and headed that way, but was still quite high. There were two sail planes working the valley so I kept my eye on them, as well as the other air traffic from the small airport on the other side of the valley. ` Nice flight, and another hour of fairly smooth time, that I was not expecting to get.
St Johann, Austria: It stayed fairly dark, fairly late, this morning from the already developing cumulus nimbus clouds to the east that was blocking the morning sun. Looked like it was raining a few clicks over, but off the west, the mountains just had a few clouds hanging near the tops.
Basically, the flying in the Alps this summer of 2005 has been less than stellar. Ok, it sucked! LOTS OF RAIN! Not that I mind that much, since I have been thoroughly entertained just road tripping, meeting some fun people, and flying when I can. I do, however, fear I will be very rusty by the time my Chile Tour rolls around in late November.
So, with the WX, I decide I am ready to head to Prague, and start September heading through Eastern Europe. With this in mind, I boxed up my tandem, a spare sleeping bag, and some various camping gear that has seen little use, and shipped it off to my brother. This now enables me to put everything, but the Coleman, either in the rocket box, or under the trunk cover. I have heard too many warnings about the high theft rate in Eastern Europe and this allows me to better hide/protect what crap I do have left.
A slow laundry/chore day, topped off by a great visit, over my BBQ, with my two Dutch (again!) neighbors who are on a three week hiking trip.
Saturday September 3rd
Idrsko, Slovenia: I have never broken a tent pole in my life...until this morning. My two main poles on my REI Base Camp Four had been "remembering" four stress points for the past couple weeks, but I figured they would be fine. No such luck. At some point after I took off the fly, and while I was washing dishes, one of the poles snapped at a joint.
The tent came with a sleeve, but I still searched around at all the sports stores for a spare just in case one of those other points blow. Will need to fix that in the morning, or the next time I camp, being as I snagged a Zimmer for tonight after a long drive in the rain from St Johann to Tolmin Slovenia.
Yesterday I was preparing to head north into the Czech Republic, but something a friend of mine, Amir, said, kept bugging me..."Tolmin is the nicest place I have ever flown in Europe!" That is a pretty large statement, but one I had to investigate, so, I headed south and east toward Slovenia instead. I figured I would never make it there if I did Prague first.
A Wildpark in Austria is a place where the vast majority of the indigenous wildlife has been eradicated, the roads are paved, and the fences are barbed.
home, home on the range, where the sheep and the cows are a pain, where seldom is heard, an ecological term, and the skies seemed cloudy all day.
Essentially, it pretty much looks like the rest of Austria...oh, except there is very little logging done in the Wildpark. Perhaps that is because most of it is rock or ice, sort of like Mt. Rainier National Pork, and I hear logging is more difficult if there are no trees. Cynicism aside, the place was beautiful, and I was very interested in seeing their idea of a park, when much of the country is so beautiful in the first place.
After the park I headed east on 106 to E66 where I enjoyed a brief experience with Italian toll roads, between Arnoldstein and Tavisio, after missing a turn off. Love Italian food, but their highway system, and the people working for it, are F#@%ed up. Pardon my French, German, Italian, or Slovenian as the case may be. Today, it should have been Czech.
Once I got back on track (54 south from Arnoldstein) I crossed the high boarder in the rain, rolled into Tolmin fairly late, found the main LZ, learned that the Czech nationals and open had been taking place here for the past week, heard about some hurricane that flooded New Orleans (flooding is something I feel neither the Dutch nor the Cajuns, should be allowed to complain about), and then headed up stream to find a nice little Zimmer for the night.
Click here to see Section Six: The Slovenian Alps
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Tuesday
August 23rd
get some flying done. I was also getting a
bit nervous about all my wet gear packed in the Rocket Box, and wanted
to get it set up before it could mold at all.
I
stop one more time to get at shot of the flooded Alfenz river. Got here
when it was just muddy, but then the level jumped a few inches, and all
of a sudden it was chocker blocked with logs, lumber, and a huge amount
of debris. Some mill owner up valley is pissing his pants right about
now.
Many of the waterways here in Europe have been lined with rockwork over
the centuries, in a sometimes futile attempt to avoid flooding and
meandering, so I am not sure if these noise makers are being plucked out
of the sides of man's rockwork, or have traveled from far above. In
either case, it is not a good time for a swim.
time
I make it up there, the tandem pilot is packing up. I don't
know why, and don't want to. Conditions look fine, and I
second guessed myself in Verbier a few days earlier for no
reason. I hike another hundred feet above where the tandem
was, and lay out.
Vent, a small village
on a secondary road out of Solden. Although I have not seen any type of
a forecast, I feel pretty
confident that it will be flyable in Oetz late morning, or early
afternoon, but I would like to see another site, and some of the sites
in Vent catch the morning sun.
Umhausen, Austria:
Finally did the 
Walking
back to camp, in addition to getting a shot of my camp from the trail
above, I noticed the rescue choppers are still working...it is amazing
at some of the devastation, but even more amazing at my lack of angst
over it. Just a bit exciting when I see a washed out road, flooded
stream, or chopper. A bit of an inconvenience when I had to drive around
to get here, but, even though I am in the midst of it all, I am not
concerned for myself, or, worse yet, for the locals. Camping and
backpacking have always grounded me a bit, and helped me put things in
perspective. When it comes down to it...we just need food/water,
shelter, and clothing to survive. Ok, more to thrive, and relish life,
but it is something to contemplate.
Kossen, Austria:
Once again it is time to move on...this time I am headed to Kossen Austria,
supposedly a great flying site that Tom D. and I visited two years ago
while we were exploring Austria,
but were unable to fly on account of the WX.
three minute walk from the gondola, but, since I
did not have time to set up before I
was to meet Dave, I headed back to Sepp's Fleigelbar,
and 
the red glider would get moving, we could
be up to the other area. In LP's defense, the
wind was light.
and also the innovative "Jet Flaps" 
including breakfast,
it is hard to pass up considering I have been
spending about 15-20 Euro/night while
camping and then having to make my own breakfast.
After about 45 minutes of hiking, exploring, and
route finding, I made it to the top and dumped my pack. Took a drink of
water, and then started looking around for the launch. That pilot in the
light blue glider was still above me, practically calling me out to fly.
There
are now about four gliders soaring, and I can see where they are
launching from...a small ridge, several hundred feet below me, that
faces southwest. When I arrive there, I untangle my lines, and check
over the 
nothing
like the 50-100 pilots that can be common for
Kossen. The other thing I notice is a tear in my
wing. Damn! It is actually not even my wing so this
really sucks. I hated making that phone call to Dave to explain just how
stupid I was today, and what I did to their demo.
the
glider set down very softly in the brush, but it was my problem to deal with, and it
seemed that 
Kitzbuhel, 20
minutes to the south, leaving St Johann relatively quiet.
Friday
September 2nd
It
was a nice drive, albeit long, from St Johann south on 161, east on 168,
and then south on 107 that took me through the Ferleiten Wildpark.