Austrian Arena

How to safely cross the 1600m Gerlos Pass. This article will try to open the door to the World famous Pinzgau valley… By now most UK pilots will be familiar with the Zillertal valley in Tirol, Austria. My company, the Austrian Arena, has been offering guidance and support to visiting paraglider pilots for since 2002. During the spring and summer months our valley offers the experienced and novice pilot a whole heap of rewards. Previously I explained the 50km out-and-return tour around the valley (Skywings, June and July 2003), which many pilots have now attempted on good days in the Alps.

However, on an epic day in spring or summer, just flying to the mouth of the Zillertal valley and back is not using the day’s full potential as just a few good high climbs will get a skilled pilot round quickly. The following article is not aimed at novices but at the experienced, thinking pilot who wants to make it over the first obstacle to the neighbouring Pinzgau valley, the Gerlos Pass (1,600m).

Once over it the way is open for massive distances. Schladming, 150km to the east and the 140km out-and-return to Zell am See become very possible with the right routes and planning. Thomas Walder, our local matador, flew 260km on May 18th in 2004 flying a similar route. This is a step-by-step route over this tricky pass with limited landing possibilities. Firstly it requires the right conditions. The best wind directions for this flight are a light westerly or north- or south-westerly at altitude with a relatively dry airmass and high-ish cloudbase (although on the day pictured here there were no clouds and I never climbed out above 2,800m).

The stronger and more northerly the wind the more you could find conditions more active than most non-alpine pilots would like. So consulting a local pilot is never a bad idea; even just a stronger than expected valley flow can produce a lot of sink and turbulence on some mountains. Please remember to avoid flying these sort of distances alone - it’s not a good idea. It’s always safer and easier to fly with a guided group or some friends.

Our normal launch for this flight would be Melchboden at 2,040m. You could also use Penken but the way is longer to get across the valley. On a good day you should be aiming to launch at around 11.30am if you want to make a good distance. I mentioned in another article about in-flight toilet problems and avoiding caffeine, salt and sugar, so I won’t go into that again.

Once above Melchboden the first decision is when and where to cross to Kreuzjoch, directly to the east. This is a crucial stage, probably the most crucial. If you’re 3,200m+ at Melchboden then crossing the valley directly is not a problem. However if you are below 3,000m then heading north towards the Oeflerjoch is a good idea, as the crossing is 2km shorter if attempted here (Photo 1).

This may lose you a little time but save you valuable altitude. Obvious heat sources on the southfacing ridge below will deliver good climbs. I’d suggest you’ll need at least 2,800m here if you’re going to attempt the 10km crossing to Kreuzjoch. So get as high as you can, relax and tuck in for the glide. The next stage is vital to making it over the pass. If there is a cloud ask yourself a few questions; how far in is it? And how much drift to the south does it have? From these two observations you can tell heaps about how deep to search for lift and how much lee-side action, if any, to expect.

The further in towards Gerlos you go you should find things get less turbulent. Below on this southfacing ridge there are some power cables. I would strongly recommend that if you have not found any lift by the time you reach the height of these you should turn around and head back to the Zillertal. Below there are very limited landing options, so a good decision here is critical to keeping safe (Photo 2).

You may also find yourselfgliding back to safety in a headwind. As you can see from Photo 2 there are manypotential heat sources below. Pushing slightly further east you’ll find that the ridge goes into a massive south-east facing bowl. This is always a good place to search, especially if it’s early. Once you’ve managed to climb up to at least 2,700 - 2,800m on Kreuzjoch you can glide onwards towards Isskogel.

Just below lies Gerlos town. There is a good bomb-out option on the south side of town. By now in the immediate distance you’ll be able to locate the dammed lake, Durlossboden, just before the pass (Photo 3). Huge faces in the sun on the south side of this mountain should deliver strong climbs as by now the sun should have heated up the valley below.

The next stage is very important as landing options will all but disappear until you are safely on the other side of the pass. Once you’re high on the Isskogel, glide directly to the south-facing forests and fields to the north of the lake. This normally works but if you get too low here it’s not advisable push any further; much better to land in Gerlos. The crux here is to be patient and get as high as possible over the now-quiet ski area of Konigsleiten, the mountain in Photo 4 with the ski run coming down it.

To the east you’ll see the large flat fields of the Pinzgau valley and countless landing options(Photo 5). With about 2,800m over the lake you should have plenty of height to glide in safety to Wald even if you find no more lift. For me this is very important so I can relax and enjoy the views while flying over the forests below. Just to the south-east is the 400m vertical drop of the Krimmler waterfall, the largest in Europe. During warm spring days the glacier meltwater cascading over this drop is at its most powerful.

Knowing that you are within gliding distance of friendlier terrain, it’s time to think about gliding to the Gernkogel. There is one ridge before this mountain (see Photo 5), but in the past I’ve found it to be unreliable and rough due to a northerly that blows down the valleys on both sides of this narrow peak.

However this is not always the case so give it a try maybe on your day it will work. If you don’t find anything, gliding to Gernkogel could cost a lot of altitude. Don’t panic, as on a good day this mountain works low down really well, if a little rough due to the northerly blowing out the bottom. Again glide further onto the south face for the best climbs. Active piloting here is essential.

Once at a good height above Gernkogel(Photo 6) it’s possible to just cross directly to the next ridge, Rohrberg. It could be around 13.30 by now and the day’s activity should really be getting going. On a good day in these mountains I’d expect climbs of anything between 2 and 8m/s, especially on the Wildkogel (pronounced Vildkogel). This is the mountain visible in Photo 6 around 8km in the distance.

Due to the Bayern wind (a northerly valley wind from the flats of Germany) at this time of day the climbs are always the strongest on this stretch of the Alps. It’s important for pilots to have their gliders fully in hand and suitable for their skill level. This will leave you comfortable and relaxed enough to concentrate on the task. You are now in the Pinzgau. Should conditions be good the amount of kilometres you eat is up to you.

If you want to fly just a long one-way trip I suggest crossing to the west-facing mountains on the south side of the Pinzgau no later than 15.30 by then pilots should be at least over Kaprun. Then the way to Schladming is open… but this will feature as another pictorial article in the future.

Good luck, and if you want to attempt a flight like this anywhere I would always consult the local pilots. If you’d like to know more about alpine flying in Austria you can join our weekly courses based in Mayrhofen. Joining one of our informal courses is a good way to safely push a little harder for that elusive 100km+. Check out www.austrianarena.com for more details.

We all know learning to fly well can be frustrating, as we’re pretty reliant on the weather to play ball. However the rewards are huge. The following are steps of progression, as I see it, through the long process of becoming good pilot.  

If you feel I’ve missed anything please leave a comment at the bottom.

Step one. Elementry level. We’ve learnt to launch, turn and land safely. After a while would have finished the tasks to get through the exam. We are now learning how the glider works on the local club sites and will probably think about a foreign trip soon.

Step two. This envolves getting our launches wired. When launching becomes less of a mission we can relax, look around and observe the conditions. When confident about your launch your mind is more free to notice things like thermal cycles, gliders/birds climbing out front, etc.

Step three. So as we can start when we chose now there’ll be more chance of being sure there’s lift. Thermal training is what we’ll need for the corner stone of XC flying. Just going up and down the ridge is good but it’s the thermal training that will help us fly XC. We need to train until it’s a feeling and not a conscious thought.

Step four. OK so we’ve got a fair amount of thermal experience and can now climb in weak and strong lift without thinking about your body postition, angle of bank and brake positions. When flying becomes 2nd nature, the mind can start to relax.

Easier to concentrate on decisions about which route/line to take or if there are any clues around for next move, new cumulus forming on course line, etc. It’s important that you make the most of the day for long distance flights, as the sun isn’t standing still and there are only a fixed amount of workable hours in the day.

Step five. Once we’re climbing on autpilot and have time to chose the next move and line to get there the next question is ’speed to fly’. Generally the stronger the day the faster we can fly. We managed to use 1/2 speed holding the glider steady with the rear risers(as using brakes with a half gas can create nasty yawing I find) coming off when we feel rough air. so we don’t lose the leading edge. This requires us to have set it up correctly. So now we can fly faster around the sky and try to fly further than before.

Step six. any ideas?

There is also a possible step about understanding you glide-ratio especially in comps but this will keep for next time. Some easy calculations of L:D. Interesting if there’s a long glide to a waypoint then to goal over an area you know there the lift will be light or non-existant.

N.B. Maybe worth noting is that if you’re at one stage there’s nothing stopping you trying the stages above but whether it’ll make a difference is if we’re doing it right. Even if it’s just groundhandling on a light day or using speed bar on a crossing.

OK so that was the 5 steps to XC Nirvana, maybe it’s easier to progress when we have a better understanding of what lies ahead.

Fly Safe
Kelly 

 Please feel free to comment on any of the articles on this [b]log.

How to fly the Zillertal out and return, part 1…

The following article outlines one of Austria’s most spectacular flights.

By now most pilots would have heard about the Zillertal valley. My company Austrian Arena has been running trips out here for the last five seasons. We thought it would be a good idea to answer the question most frequently put to me each week.

How do you fly to the mouth of the valley and back?

There is no easy or single answer. Different days and conditions allow pilots to use slightly different strategies. The following advice is how we would attempt to guide a group of pilots around our XC arena. The flight would ideally take place on a long, spring or summer day. We’d have little need to rush, and we can take in the breathtaking panoramas that the Austrian Alps has to offer…

I believe it’s important to prepare for the day before it even starts. There have been many articles written about this recently so I’ll be brief.

train your brain!

I don’t claim to be an XC guru, but I have made some hard six- and seven-hour flights in the past. To prevent yourself becoming mentally tired too early, it’s necessary to train your brain. Make some longer flights the weeks before in stronger conditions. The best training for flying is flying itself. Making your next directional decision during the climb so you can relax on the glide helps greatly. Eating some kind of lowsugar muesli bar on a long glide also helps.

In-flight toilet problems

Sleeping good the night before and not drinking too much - one or two small beers is fine. On the day, drink only water and on launch resist the urge to go for as long as you can; this may help to stretch your bladder slightly. Go again just before you clip in. Before launch I avoid caffeine, sugary drinks like Red Bull and Coke, and I don’t eat anything too salty. These act as diuretics and cause your body to flush out the toxins. Drinking or eating too many of the above and you could be bursting after only 15km and the day could be lost. I try not to drink too much whilst on distance flights, although I don’t recommend this (any doctors out there will probably blast me for saying it). Friends have used condoms with tubes attached to alleviate this problem.

The Flying Bit

On an average, unstable day in spring, thermals start to work at 11am and can be usable from around 1,000m (amsl). Although small in the beginning, once they get established they can carry a patient pilot straight to a chilly base, normally around the 3,000m mark. With a cloudbase this high, most regular XC pilots should be able to negotiate this 50km task quite easily. The best high-level wind direction for this task is a light west or north-westerly.

We would normally choose our house launch site, Penken (2,000m amsl). Valley and thermic winds come straight up the north side of the mountain allowing an easy take-off. After launching at around 12.30pm, pilots will have to cross into the sunny south side, effectively the lee side but things start to mellow out once you’ve climbed above ridge height. Expect climbs here of 3 - 4m/s. Active piloting is required as the cores will be a slightly disturbed by the valley wind.

Once the group has climbed out to at least 2,500m, we’ll go on the 5km glide to the Hohenstrasse. There are two possible lines to take here. The closest being into the leeside again, but arriving there high and having light meteo winds means we can stay safe. The other line is to glide further on the east-facing ridge and find the thermal that comes off some avalanche barriers. This is not as strong as it is north-east facing, but generally smoother.

The next transition, once high enough, is to cross the 7km towards the Kaltenbach ski area. There are heaps of fields in the sun below and pilots are normally rewarded with solid climbs to a rising base. If low here things can get a bit turbulent as you’ll find yourself in the partial lee of the valley flow which runs north to south. If too low there are heaps of landing fields. Please try to pick the official landing field behind the swimming pool in Zell am Ziller.

Farmers in the whole valley can get angry if pilots land in their fields as they grow the grass for winter feed. Offering the offended farmer 5 euro and doing a lot of smiling will normally minimise the damage! Plus he’ll be handy to ask how you get home (if you’re on our guiding programme you’ll be picked up by our radio-controlled retrieve, usually before you’ve finished packing up!).

So once high here, above the now quiet ski resort of Kaltenbach, our goal is clearly visible. The mountain cable car station of Spieljoch, 12km away.

However when you are within a good climb’s reach of the turnpoint it’s very easy to become complacent. Arriving high for the next thermal is crucial, so if you connect with something small en route it’s never a bad idea to top up on altitude. It’s very important to take the direct line to the smaller wooded hill in front, the Kupfnerberg.

If low here you could have trouble climbing out. The valley exit is guarded by some power lines -not a major problem but something to be aware of. Aiming for the small dip or col on the hill usually delivers, but if not go to the small farm in the sun and await a cycle. This is usually the crux of the flight and has grounded me in the past. Once high here it’s a straightforward glide to the turnpoint, connecting with the climb and/or cloud on the south-facing slopes.

As usual, you’ll need to get as high as possible here as by now the sun would have moved around enough to make the west-facing sides of the valley work. Once at altitude again the views of the whole Zillertal and Inntal open up. Across the way to the north is the Achensee lake, testing ground of the DHV. To the west is Innsbruck and the white limestone Karwendal mountains, and to the east the flatlands of Germany are clearly visible.

The average time taken with groups from Penken to Speiljoch is around 2 - 2.5 hours, depending on conditions and pilots’ skills of course. Although I’ve described the classic and safe way to reach the Speiljoch turnpoint, this is by no means the only route to reach the mouth of the Zillertal. There are more direct routes in the higher mountains to thewest, and the route we decide depends entirely on the conditions of the day.

Now we’re high over the turnpoint, it’s time to change to the other side of the valley. I’ll explain how to make it back, and the pitfalls to watch out for in part 2…

If you want to know more join our XC course in Spring. Contact info@austrianarena.com or visit www.austrianarena.com

In the last article I explained how to fly the outward sector of the Zillertal xc tour. We also discussed training your head… and your bladder. With a bit of skill and some luck, most regular XC pilots will have made it to the mouth of the valley without too many problems. If not, the rest would have had easy landings in the many bomb-out fields along the route. In this second and final instalment I’ll be explaining how to make it back, and identifying few pitfalls you could encounter along the way.

First, a word of caution. Before attempting this flight, please check that the weather is suitable. Winds may change throughout the day and over the length of the valley. To fly a distance like this in the Alps requires good thermic activity, which can sometimes be on the rough side. We need to be able to safely use these thermals, but there is no smoke without fire. Make sure that you know your glider inside out, and that it is appropriate for your skill level and will allow you to concentrate on the task in hand. And wherever you fly, flying with someone with local knowledge will better your chances of completing the course.

Last article we ended up high over Turnpoint 1, the Spieljoch cable-car station (1,900m), where it’s very important to not exceed the Innsbruck CTR ceiling of 7,000ft (you can actually go to 2,400m or 7,800ft above Spieljoch itself, and once you start to glide across the valley you leave the ceiling behind). With this amount of height it is possible to make progress towards our goal, the Bruggerstube, by flying back down the other side of the valley.

By now it will be around 14:00. Checking out the shadows of the trees near the turnpoint, you’d have noticed that the sun has definitely moved round. Gliding north-east along the ridge, in the direction of Turnpoint 2, the Steinerhof guesthouse (1,080m) offers a good line with less sink which will be helpful on the 8 - 9km crossing.

Depending on the time of year, it’s quite easy to get grounded by the lee of the Inn valley flow which runs east to west over the Steinerhof. So when crossing the Ziller valley it’s important to aim where the ridge is much higher, effectively blocking out the Inntal flow. Expect to lose 1,000m on the glide. Once high here it’s possible to make Turnpoint 2, then run back to this lee-side again. If however on the crossing you noticed that there was strong sink, aim further to the right. Only think about going to Turnpoint 2 if you are high (around 2,500m), as you could lose height in the rougher, tumbling air of a stronger Inntal flow.

As you glide south at altitude, it’s important to stay as high as possible along this ridge, as the next obstacle is the Hamberg at 2,080m. Its aspect is south-west but thermals can be disturbed by the lower northerly valley flow which can be as high as 1,700m amsl. Your actions on this mountain should be dependent on the conditions on the day, the time of year and what the upper winds are doing. In any case it’s very important to have lots of clearance (200m or so) to cross this mountain. Expect the most active climbs here, at around 5 - 6+m/s

By now it should be just after 15:00, and if it’s not a blue day you should be looking for signs of overdevelopment. As you climb on the Hamberg look at the other clouds around you. How are they developing? Is there anything that you’re not happy with? Looking back out of the valley towards the Achensee lake can give a good indicator of what the air is, or will be, doing.

If the Hamberg is too much, if the lower valley flow is quite strong or there is a north-westerly upper wind, just glide directly to the next ridge where large fields in the sun should deliver good climbs. If you find yourself low on this ridge, below 1,700m, don’t panic! In the past I’ve managed to just circle in small thermals, drifting and gradually gaining height along the whole of the 10km ridge. And at the end you are very close to goal.

If you find yourself in this situation, drift along until you can glide to the north-facing ridge after the small valley crossing. Care must be taken as there are a few power cables close to the hill, but they are not a major problem and you’ll see them in good time.

The north facing ridge in front of you can be soared with the valley wind (it’s one of the ridges we regularly fly on), and once at around 1,400m(amsl) here you can safely make goal, the Bruggerstube.

If, however, you found a good climb after Hamberg and stayed high under a cloud street the cross-country possibilities are still huge as the last thermals will die out at around 19:30. It’s possible to overfly goal and do the sightseeing tour of the large granite peaks that mark the end of the Zillertal, or complete a 70km triangle. These will be in for future articles…

If you want to know more you can join our guided groups. Contact info@austrianarena.com or visit www.austrianarena.com

What causes Valley Wind.
Now there is a myth that valley winds are caused only by thermals leaving the ground and drawing in the air around them. This is just part of what’s happening as the volume of air drawn in on strong days is incomprehensably high, 4.2 billion litres per second in the Zillertal alone. This is not possible with just thermal development, as this wind persists long after the sun has gone down.

So there must be something else happening and I’m going to attempt to explain this somewhat complex phenomenon in this next section…

OK, it’s late spring and there is a high pressure over the Western Europe, odds on that it’ll be a warm sunny day with light winds at altitude. A classic example of an excellent XC day over the Alps. Ideally a cold front passed thru recently and there is a light North west wind in the high level. This front has left the airmass behind relatively unstable but as the air pressure is rising and the air is drying out the threat of over development is very low.
As the sun starts to warm the ground over europe the first thermals start to form, this happens pretty much everywhere but the strongest activity is over the Alps and the Iberian pennisula.

As the heating gets stronger throughout the day something very interesting is happening to the air pressure over these areas. Without going into the finer dynamics of what’s happening I’ll keep it simple. Basically the air over these areas is heated and expands as it expands the pressure drops creating what are called ‘heat lows’. These lows are not to be confused with low pressure systems but they do rotate an airmass the same way and draw air in towards the centre.

As this low draws the air in from the plains around the Alps it causes a low level wind which depending on what side of the Alps your on will determine the direction of this flow. The air is running towards the centre so if you in the North Eastern Alps as we are here in Mayrhofen, the main flow will be from the North-East and depending on the valley layout this will then control the direction. This wind can be between 500 to 1200m thick depending on time of year and location and can sometimes exceed 40kmh in some parts of the Alps.

There are many entry points around the Alps from the surrounding plains, as the valley flows are low level winds they cannot go thru mountains so need large wide open valleys in which to feed the ‘heat low’ as it sucks in the air around it.

So how do we as paraglider pilots work out which way a valley wind will be moving, notice I didn’t use the word blowing as a valley wind is being drawn and not blown. Well as it’s moving towards the centre of the alps and the bigger mountains you can say that most of the time it will be moving opposite to the river flow or simply uphill.

Valley winds however should not be confused with gust fronts which could also come from the same direction. Gust fronts can pick up to over 80kmh and are definitely not flyable. Big clouds towards the mouth of the valley system you are in should be treated with respect. Gust fronts feel damp and cold while valley winds feel warm and buoyant. And the foehn is something completely different again but that’s coming in the next article.

Dealing with valley winds in real life.
As I quoted before the valley wind is found lower in the valleys. Usually it is between 500-1200m thick so at altitude you definitely won’t feel it’s effects until you want to land or get low on a long valley crossing. It will usually peak in the late afternoon when the heat low is at it’s strongest.

The main sign to look for in estimating the strength of this wind would be to look at the length of heating the day has had and how was the thermal strength. If it’s a long, warm, blue sky day in spring and good activity is still going on late into the afternoon you can safely say that a large amount of air will be drawn uphill through the valleys, feeding the developed ‘heat low’. Well defined clouds on the west facing sides of the mountain will show this very well. This will be great for an early evening soaring flight if there is a ridge that juts out into this flow. However it could easily catch an unwary pilot out who’s trying to push upwind towards the LZ. Once you’ve established the wind strength and direction it’s important to push out into the light meteo wind so you are upwind of the LZ. Burning height off downwind is one sure way to land short in the strengthening wind. Only when pilots are upwind of the LZ should they think about big ears, spirals etc as it’s comforting to know that if you start coming down vertically you will still make the large LZ.

As with all stronger wind it can allow easy soar ups and some potentially pretty nasty turbulence in the lee side. In future articles I’ll be explaining the dynamics of lee side and how to read the terrain. As avoiding them early is better than trusting you glider to keep you safe.

KF

Not everyday in the Alps is a 100k’er we need a certain pattern or chain of events to happen so that the playground is working in our favour for a long distance flight.

I’ve called these ‘elements’ there are 5 main ones, they are all pretty self explanitory so I won’t go into too much detail on each.

Sun or U.V. - needed to heat the earth surface, creating thermal columns of rising air that we can gain sufficient altitude to glide to the next thermal or hot spot.

Light winds at Altitude – this allows us to fly in all directions, enabling us to fly back home after a out & return or triangle flight. BUT more importantly strong winds and big mountains are a recipe for rotor and unpredictable turbulence. Lighter winds makes for a more comfortable flight.

Strong lapse rate – instability allows thermals to leave the ground regularly, inversions will slow thermals down and make the day slower so we can’t fly as far.

Air Pressure – if too high the thermals could be weak, unpredictable and not leaving the terrain as often, too low then the day has a bigger potential to over develop and end the flight early

Air humidity – how much moisture is in the parcels of air the thermals are sending skyward.
If the air is too dry then there will be blue thermals and the sky will give little clues as to where to search for the next climb, still fun but more challenging. Too moist then really big chance that the sky will over develop early causing spread out, cutting of the sun or worse thunderstorms could form.

OK so if we’ve got all 5 then 200km+ could be in the bag, however this means launching early and flying fast. So for our guided groups I like to start when there is a good chance of staying up and would maybe set an 80-100km route on a day where the local cracks would be pushing 240-260km. As most of our pilots are hobby not professional pilots.

The next blog will be about what causes valley winds…