Austrian Arena

The Greifenberg Int. Open is being held in the east-west running Drautal for 4 days from the 28th April. A field of 139 of Austria’s and Germany’s league pilots have gathered, many Nationals pilots and PWC veterans.

The likes of Oliver Rossel, Torsten Seigel, Alex Schalber, Martin Brunn, Rudi Untermoser and Heli Eicholzer were some of the guns competing. As yet only 2 tasks have been flown.(30.04.07)

There are also a lot of serial wings in the comp. 3 local lads entered from here, T.Regensberger, H.Huber & S.Gruber. I went to train for the first 2 days to get used to flying in gaggles again. It was quite a shock with the amount of traffic at the start gate as it always gave loads of time to get there with the strong conditions.

The forecast on the first day was for high bases, strong thermals and light winds at altitude so the task commitee set a 139km FAI triangle. Running 40km west to Matrei then north to the Moelltal then Goldeck and a 20km final glide back to Greifenberg. There was strong conditions with 7-8m/s climbs and further to the along course the north wind made for rough climbs in the bigger mountains. UP test pilot Oliver Rossel won the first task in just under 4hrs with 2 FR3s in the top 5. Check the scores here. The 3 local lads made goal with ok times. I had to land half way round due to the 4000m base and succumbing to the cold. Although 28deg on the ground it’s around freezing at 4000m. Pilots were still coming in after 6,5hrs in the air, mainly serial wings. 82 pilots made goal.

The second day was a similar forecast but with slightly more north in it. A 97km. It was it was pretty smooth under 2500m but once you climbed thru it got a little more disturbed. It meant long turbulent glides under active streets along the closed ridges. Again the 7-8m/s climbs were there and at time it was a little uncomfortable. That did not stop some of Europe’s finest pilots pushing hard on the bar to fly 97km in 2hrs 16min. Incredibly fast. It involved five 20km legs east - west then across the valley twice. It was an interesting task with a tricky final glide calculation and route choice at the end. Again the 3 locals got good times at around 2hrs 40 and I took just under 3hrs. 114 pilots made goal, the last needing 4hr 16min. Schalber won the task closely followed but Untermoser Rudi on an FR3. Click here for results.

With a lighter wind forecast than the previous day we went to Hirschbichl Alm again with the view for an early start. A 40km task was set around the valley but with a downwind glide into goal to avoid the carnage from the day before.

Window opened 12.15pm
Race Started 12.45pm
1km radius around tp1

tp1 Perler church
tp2 Kupfner Berg
tp3 Melchboden launch
tp4 Gerlosstein hutte
tp5 Laimach church
Goal: Bruggerstube

Thermals straight after launch were pretty horrible and it took a while for everyone to find something that didn’t try to spit you out. 6-7m/s thermals and just as impressive sink in the same 360 concentrated the mind close to the trees. Finally the lead gaggle climbed out and moved south to climb and wait at the radius. At around 2800m we all pushed forward to take tp1 and back to the ridge to climb again. The lead gaggle split here but there were equal climbs all along the way to around 6km form tp2. Climbs were still gnarly so pilots didn’t hang around in them too long just taking what they needed to push on. At this stage I was leading over Kaltenbach plateau with Torsten 100m behind and Gruber 1km off to the right.

I connected with a rough climb at the turnpoint and watched the others take the radius and head off low to the south again. Once I topped out I was again in a leading position with just Pati climbing well to the south west and the other climbing 200m beneath me. Again the gaggle was altogether as we pushed on to Melchboden, looking for the final climb to get us to 2500m so we could go on the 15km final glide across the valley to the east. Pati left first follow by Torsten and Huber and myself. Karli was 200m lower but left with us hoping for a lifty line.

I watched in horror as Torsten 50m in front of me took a huge full speed collapse on his Boom Sport, he lost 150m but recovered it well considering he was facing the wrong way for most of it. Hat off to him as I thought it was gonna be a long ride down under his reserve. I was extremely conservative with the accelerator after y’day. Pati lost a lot of height on the 8km crossing and was down with Karli by the turnpoint(tp4). We were unable to catch Huber, his Magus is so solid on gas he just got further away. Myself, Pati and Karli all came in within 30seconds of each other. They had just enough height to cross the line, turn into wind and land. I came in with around 300m so I wasted time climbing when I didn’t have to, DAMN!!!

Still it was a good task with around 10pilots in goal and no incidents. Huber did enough to convincingly win the Golen Eagles Club masters for a 2nd time. We count all 3 tasks so I’m a close 3rd. Hannes Sandhofer was in goal when we got there having taken a very low line in the beginning, however on the track download it was found that he’d jumped the start by 10mins so received distance points only.

Task 3

1. Hannes Huber, Magus 5
2. Karl Strasser, Magus 4
3. Kelly Farina, FR3
4. Torsten Gunnar, Boom Sport
5. Stefan Gruber, U3

Overall

1. Hannes Huber, Magus 5
2. Karl Strasser, Magus 4
3. Kelly Farina, FR3

After first going to hirschbichl alm we were not satisfied that we could run a safe task from there as the wind dummys(germans) were having a pretty nasty time in the lee. So we decided to drive up to Wiesenalm and take advantage of the valley wind and do a soaring task of just over 30km.

tp1 Gerlosstein Hutte
tp2 Zell am Ziller swimming pool
tp3 Gerlosstein Hutte
tp4 Edel Hutte
tp5 Mayrhofen Church
tp6 Wiesenhof
Goal: Bruggerstube

We made it an elapsed time with the possibilty of ‘early bird’ points. I was first to leave and had good fast lines to tp4 but got slowed down by the weak valley wind. The others guys who left later had faster downwind glides to catch a little time on me. Huber left last, a wise decision as he could see where it was going good along the course. It’s easy to see why he’s one of Austria best up and coming pilots. Gruber was now with me and I knew he had taken a later start time so there was no beating him, we just had to work together to stay ahead of the later gaggle. After taking tp4 we pushed out towards tp5. However by this time the valley wind had strengthen to around 30-40kmh, very strong and had we all been flying with radios the task should’ve been cancelled then.

Knowing we were slower and trying to not waste any more time myself and Gruber took tp6 with a 6:1 glide into goal. All was good until we hit the strengthening head wind, half bar glides with just 15-18kmh penetration. 400m from the goal line and at about 300m agl I took a HUGE frontal and had both wing tips cravetted. Not a great situation, I cleared one side but landed safely before the line with Gruber landing next to me on his U3. Huber and Karli could see us pinned down low and elected to top up and tp6. They pushed hard into wind to make goal. The rest of the field hung in the wind until they realised it was pointless and landed and Edenlehen. Some reporting that they were going backwards at 6-8kmh at trim. Pretty windy.

1. Hannes Huber, Magus 5
2. Karl Strasser, Magus 4
3. Joe Wechselberger, Nemeton
4. Toby Kaes, Magic 4
5. Hannes Sandhofer, Stratus 7

Run report on 1st task of Club Masters

On Sunday the 8th April we held the first task of the Golden Eagles Club Masters, it was a little windy so together we called a 27,5km task that involved a few thermals, soaring up in the valley wind & with both head & tail wind glides.

start Rosenalm
tp1 Gerlosstein hutte
tp2 Zell am Ziller swimming pool
tp3 Gerlosstin Hutte
tp4 wiesenhof
tp5 Mayrhofen Church
tp6 wiesenhof
Goal: Bruggerstube

30 pilots started and after a good climb I managed to stay in the led for most of the course. Myself and local crack Huber raced in together on the 4km final glide low and into a strong head wind. It was an exciting race. Huber left slightly earlier than me on finals and got around 60m in front of me on his new Magus 5. Karli was close behind. The air was bouyant on the hard final push to goal. And was into a 20kmh headwind, we both needed a 8,7:1 glide to make it. I watched Huber take an small asymetric which needed sorting so I was able to catch him and beat him over the line by about 10secs, not much of a lead going into the next tasks. However it was good to see that the FR3 is stable and good performance on bar. Looking forward to the coming comp season.

Results:

1. Kelly Farina, FR3
2. Hannes Huber, Magus 5
3. Karl Strasser, Magus 4
4. Patrick Horhoerger, Targa 3
5. Stefan Gruber, Magic 4

click here for previous news (since 2004)

Walder Quits Flying?:
Big news that I’ve heard the last days in that Tom Walder, our local Legend has stop competition and XC flying. One of the reasons in the time it’s taken over his whole career but also compounding this is a problem with circulation to his fingers. Have years of prolonged high altitude and low temnperatures taken their toll, the doctors have no answers. I reckon that Tom will be back in the future. So maybe this is just a break and not the end of one of the best pilots this valley has produced. News is is that his given his equipment back to his sponsor and bought a new Kayak…

Also as if this was not bad enough Stefan Steigler is out for the whole season due to a skiiing accident. His knee ligments are shot and needs an Op. So the question is with the BIG GUNs not fying XC this season it’ll be up to the young, up and coming pilots to do well in both the Austrian Liga and the OLC. I hope we can pull it off.

FR3, the performance of a hang glider?:
I received my new FR3 a few weeks ago & recently started using “Seeyou” for flight analysis software. I entered my first XC flight in the Zillertal valley, a small 45km out and return. However when I uploaded the track to Seeyou it kept putting me as a hang glider! I emailed Andrej from Seeyou and
he said “You must have flown too fast and SeeYou thought you were in a Hang glider “.
I had to manually change myself to a paraglider. The performance really is this good.

KF

Brits do the X-Alps:
Just heard that Ulric Jessop and Aiden Toasse have been picked to compete in the X-Alps. I’ll be helping their supporters with as up to date info as possible on weather and routes to take. Hopefully Aiden doesn’t have to walk as far this time around.

Golden easgles clean up in OLC:
The local club the Golden Eagles has cleaned up in the Austrian OLC (online xc contest) by winning first places in both the individual and team events, not only that but in both Paragliding and Hang gliding. This unprecidented result has left us very proud of our area here and the ability of the pilots who train here. Ex-World Champ Stefan Steigler won the paraglider event and XC Veteran Martin Buchberger won the hangglider overalls. This competition runs all season and saw the boys pul in 3 massive flights each. Stefan equaled the FAI triangle WR of 238km in June starting from the Hintertux Glacier and landed back at the end of the day besides his car. More info can be found here.

Bassano trip, bellisimo!:
The trip to Bassano was a great success although we lost the first few days to wind and rain. Frustratingly enough it was perfect for XC flights in the Zillertal, well you can’t win ‘em all eh! On the last day I closed a 50km triangle pushing out the flats. Luigi effortlessly picked the guys out after they got low in the flats. Well done to all on the week, I hope you’ve taken a little bit more insight into how to fly XC in the Alps and flats. Using SeeYou was a great way to analyze the flights after.

BIG Austrian pushes BIG XC in March:
Gerald Ameseder, FR3, flew a 125km FAI triangle on the 14th of March. This is insane for so early in the season with so little sun light. I think that this wing is capable of great things in the right hands. I believe that this coming season will see the boundaries of what is possible pushed further than ever before.

World Championship has a new winner:
Bruce wins World Championship, after 5 tasks Bruce went on win the Biggest competition of 2007. Congratulations mate!
Petra Slivova went on to become womens Champ after leading the whole comp for a day.
British Team finish a respectable 6th place, after slipping down from 3rd.

XC season has started:
Golden Eagle member, Gitti, flys first 100km trangle in Bassano this week, the season has started!!
Plus I flew the first Zillertal tour flight in 1hr 40mins. The days are coming.

Winter isn’t over:
Looking out my window now it’s snowing again!!! At least 20cm has fallen in the valley, proving that the winter isn’t over yet…

February news from the Austrian Arena
Hi Everyone, hope you’ve had time to look around my new blog, on it you’ll find articles about theory/routes, news on the world championship plus a ‘flight blogbook’. This will have my personal and clients flights over the coming season. A great way of seeing what’s happening here. Once I get organised there’ll be SeeYou files so you can look at the flight in 3D and see how the valley works.I’ll also be reporting from the cupcoming comps I’m at, with pictures plus results as they happen.

Please take time to register so you can comment/query on the articles/posts, it’s secure so you won’t receive any more spam than usual!!

Well the biggest news is that the Worlds have been taking place in Australia and I’ve compiled a run report on each day with some interesting links to other blogs on this site.

So far with just one day to go Bruce Goldsmith is in 1st place but not by much so he must do well if there is a task tomorrow to remain on top. He’s very happy with the new FR3 and I can’t wait to have it in some strong clombs which will be coming after this weekend as a huge high is on it’s way,

Although the comp was dogged with bad weather and even worse airmanship the cream still rose to the top, however the Cracks like Donini, Maurer and Cox(WC in ‘05) f**ked up the first day by being too cagey anad psyching each other out at the start gate.

The gaggles were terrible with many reserves thrown due to mid airs. Poor conditions and noboby wanting to lose a meter on the other pilots so cutting in with no regard for safety was a big problem.

Good luck to Bruce for tomorrow(Friday 9th) and the team could even make 2nd team if they have a better day than the French.

News closer to home:
The early xc courses are now full to capacity, so sorry if you intended to join us for those weeks. There are still limited places left on the main XC courses in May & June, so I hope to see you then.

Also the 5% discount still stands those you wish to visit and are members of the BHPA or returning visitors from outside the UK.

Well the first XC days were here last week, 26-2700m base with light winds, a few of us got together to try out a small but tricky out & return flight. Just to test our new equipment like for like. It was a 25km out and return with the winner the first one back over the start point at 2060m. Local Cracks Karli(Magus4), Huber(Magus4), Sandy(Targa3) and myself(Magic FR3) flew the route in a little under an hour with 3-6m/s thermals and fast glides.

The Targa3 seemed extremely slow at trim and even worse glide, so much so Sandy gave up to top land at the first turnpoint when he realised he had no chance. I think he saw pretty girl on the terrace there and stopped for a quick flex then started again.

The magus still climbs extremely well and glided good too, but I think the FR3 has the edge but not by much. We’ll see over the next few weeks if the FR3 is that good or if Bruce is just one of a kind!!

I’ve got 2 red ribbon pilots out for the next 2 weeks, the first day was great for them. Over an hours thermalling each with me helping them on the radio. Both got around 300m over launch and when they got cold hands they both flew down to Mayrhofen. The next days were a bit foehny, ok for experienced pilots at the Hohe Salve but still a bit too much for pilots with 4-5hrs each. Next week is looking great so there’s no stress as they are skiing every non flyable day.

There are still a few places left on the Bassano trip if anyone is keen, I’m really looking forward to that one as all the pilots coming are of a good standard and are looking to puch some kms around Italy.

The Ager trip is 100% going ahead as is the Dolomite trip, only one place left on that one now. Not surprising it is so popular.

I’ll be adding to this newsletter as oftenas possible over the coming season. So check it out or just subscribe to the RSS feed to be notified of any updates.

Fly High, Fly Far, Fly Safe.
Kelly, Stocky & Alban

Early Winter news from the Austrian Arena,
I know it’s a lot so take your time

Firstly I just want to mention that for 2007, we are offering a 5% discount on our courses here in Austria to BHPA members and pilots who have already been here in the past. Just subtract the discount from the price for the week you’d want. Simple.

Well as I write this so far the season has been pretty snow free, a slight downer for the people who’ve paid a lot to come and ski here. Luckily the resort over the past years have invested in snow cannons everywhere. So a least they can ski even if the off-piste is green.

However it’s not all bad news, for us the conditions are working well. Even on one of the shortest days of the year I managed to easily climb out to 300m above launch. Insane for a time that is normally cold glides down. This is because there was no snow in the valley or on the trees. Thermals are free to form and on this day the average climbs were 2-3m/s. And 4 weeks there have been quite a few days like this and I was having a good time even if things were getting desperate for the skiiers. Then as if by magic it snowed for 3 days solid, transforming the whole valley white. Actually looks quite nice now…

This is how desperate it was, the annual downhill race is Kitzbuhel was on the brink of being cancelled, as a last ditch effort they got 50 or so HGVs to bring snow down from the Gross Glockner glacier. They then used helicopters to spread the snow all over the piste. All at a cost 350,000€. The Slalom races went ahead even though it rained again on the lower pistes after that massive effort…

A few things about our re-vamped website, we hope you like it and when you get a chance have a look around it. One major thing is we got rid of the squint vision text. Some new features are the monthly updated wallpapers, just click on the picture you want and install it on you desktop at home or work. There is also a new ‘latest news’ section on the right of the home page, if you see blue icon next to topic then you haven’t seen it yet. Red means already visited. Also I’ve made all the previous skywings articles from over the years available to view online. This could be interesting for visiting pilots who want an insiders view on how the valley works here.

Some stuff a little further away from home. Congratulations to the Valic brothers from Slovenia, who both on the 7th December broke the World Record for free distance, 426km, and declared goal flights, 368km. These records were broken in De Aar in South Africa, both aboard the new Magus 5 protos. I don’t think it will be much longer before the WR is pushed to 500km but the bigger question is where it will take place. Zapata, Texas or De Aar, S.A. have to be the favorites, although with enough pilots there over the next few weeks maybe even Australia has a good chance. Especially now with some comp protos claiming glides of close to 13:1. I suppose we’ll see over the next few months if these outrageous claims have any worth.

Anyway I hope that everyone out there is looking forward to the coming season in the northern-hemisphere as it’s literally just round the corner. The courses in early April are now close to full and the Bassano trip is going ahead as planned, looking forward to that one. I really love this time of year as all the local guys are training with their new toys in the weak conditions and some days it feels like a PWC competition as everyone is fighting to gain that little bit more and test their new machine’s performance.

Some new weapons over launch the last days have been the MacPara Magus5, Nova’s new DHV2 the Ra, which looks fantastic with only 2 main suspension lines. A few guys are testing the new Trango 3, also the new comp weapon for the World’s from UP has made it’s debut in the Z.V. aptly named the “Bonzer”, A.R. of 7.5 and looks good although Stefan Steigler has said that it’s not the replacement for the Targa 3 but just a research avenue that he may or may not pursue.

I have the new Magic FR3 from Airwave. Haven’t had a chance to do any real comparisions yet but feels absolutely amazing in the air, aspect ratio 8 and extremely curved. I’ll post some photo’s on the gallery very soon if anyones keen to see it. Reckon it’ll be able to do some amazing things in this years comps and this year I’m hoping to fly at least one flight of over 200km+, the prep’s been done so just need the right day. Some time in May or June would be perfect as I’ll need a lot of daylight for this one…

The first big comp this year is the Worlds in Manilla, Australia. I’ve not been picked to fly this time round as places are limited to just 5 pilots, Bruce, Adrian, Steve, Russell & Mark will represent Britain this time around. Will be interesting to see who wins in the flatlands. Also which gliders will do well, as most manufacturers have new weapons for this comp. Advance’s O8 proto, Boom5, new U3, Magus5 and FR3 are my favorites. Wonder if Luca Donini can pull of another amazing performance or will Chrigel Maurer show his true form to gain the only title that has eluded him so far. Anyway I’ll be watching the results and run reports like a hawk….

Just a few words about this coming season and the courses which are available with us.

First I’d like to let you all know about the two new launch sites that will be coming this year. The first will be on the Penken, this will be halfway between the usual north launch and the south launch at Penkenjoch. It is at 2080m and will face south. This will be ideal for those days that the valley wind is not strong enough to over come the thermals on the south side or when the wind is from the south.

The other launch is even more interesting as it will enable us to leave it later before getting up the hill for the last flight of the day, sometimes a little close as the cut off is relatively early at 1600hrs for the Penken chairlift. The new site is directly next to he new gondola station on the Ahorn, 2000m. This extra hour gives us the option to see what’s happening better and will make the afternoon flying even more flexible. I’m excited about this one. Photos of both launch sites will come on the site when I have them.

New for 2007 I’ve made around 10 movies so far, what makes a good day, how valley winds are created, what are lee-sides to other subjects like the foehn, how thermals form and how to put it all into practice. I used Google Earth images and real photos with arrows depicting the flows and affects the topography has on the air around us. Check out the short samples here.

Quick Overview of this year’s Itiniery…

Now onto this years courses, all details of courses are found on this website.

First off will be Bassano in Northern Italy, this place is such a nice place to fly, if a little busy sometimes. We are teaming up with local guy Luigi who will be helping with the logisitical sides of things.

Then I’ll be running the usual and extremely popular XC courses around the Zillertal for May and half of June.

One of these weeks, not 100% sure which as yet, will be put aside as a ‘just FLY’ week. Over the years I’ve always offered courses to pilots wanting to better their understanding of the mountains. So instead of the usual theory and route planning, this week will be pretty much “let’s just get up the hill, brief and fly”.
Aimed at pilots who don’t want a technical course but feel that they just need somewhere cheap to stay, good weather/site briefing and then just cruise about where they like. This week due to it’s simplicty is offered at only 330€ and there will be no limit on numbers. I’ll still be on hand to answer any questions but with much less hands on contact then is usual. Click here for more details…

In July I’ll be running the usual thermalling courses but this year with a twist as I’m combining it with a ‘how to assault the Ahorn Spitz, 2968m’. This peak is towers directly over Mayrhofen and with my guidence I’ll be helping pilots fly the small XC flight to get to the summit. Last year was amazing with never so many pilots over the top, ever. Check March’s Skywings article for more info.

Later on in the season there will be another chance for pilots to fly to and from the Hintertux Glacier on our BIG mountain course. Last year’s surpassed all expectations as I guided 3 pilots the whole way there and back reaching 4300m. Everyone was stoked after we completed a tour of all the 2800m+ peaks in the immediate area.

Also new for 2007 I’ll be running together with Alban the intro to XC courses. This year they’ll be held in Stubai. This valley works well throughout the summer months and has a spring like quality to the thermals. We’ll be setting very achievable tasks around the local area, with the aim to get to launch in the late afternoon for evening soaring on the Elfer. Very similar to the Ahorn.

Then I’ve teamed up with Mark Leavesley from Leavesley Aviation to do a guided XC trip to Àger, in Spainish Pyrennes. This will be a great course and is filling up so don’t hang about if you want to fly somewhere completely different. After seeing this place for the first time last Autumn, Mark & I saw huge potential to run a guided trip there. We have local support from the flying school there and long time resident and British team member, Nicky Moss.

Then last but by no means least will be an XC ramble thru the Dolomites in October. This place has to be seen to be believed. One of the greatest places on earth to fly a paraglider. Again places are limited to 8 and has nearly been filled already. If due to demand they may be another chance in the season to go there, possibly the week earlier too.

So it looks like a very busy year for us here, not to mention the upcoming competitions, Nordic and British Opens in Spain, British Open in UK and the last round of Brits in St.Andre, one of my favorite places to race paragliders on the planet.

I’ll be in the UK for some time during August. So I’ll be available to give some XC seminars with movies and pictures for your local club. Please email me if you think your club would benefit from this and I’ll for sure try me hardest to help you guys out.

Anyway have fun wherever you fly this coming season and I hope to see you somewhere over the coming months.

When I have more news on flying around Europe I’ll write about it, so keeping checking the site when you get a chance as it’ll be a busy season.

fly high, fly far, fly safe

Kelly, Alban, Mark and George.