Red Bull X-Alps 2019 day 7

Day 7 began with heavy rain until I got going at 8am. A beautiful hike and glide up the Inn valley in cloudy conditions just before the next rain – then a long walk to the Flüela Pass, where the sky began to brighten up – and I enjoyed a flight down to the Davos turn point 6 in the sunshine. Up to an evening take off in a hurry but things deteriorated – just a couple of more glides to find a camp above the Rhine, near Chur.

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Some #meteorology for the #weather aficionados. This post rain cloud forms as falling raindrops cool and moisten the air. The classic way to measure humidity is to compare the wet bulb temperature – a sock around the thermometer dipped in water which evaporates just like a raindrop, cooling and moistening it by a certain amount. If the air is already 100% humid then net evaporation is zero and the temperature will be the same as the dry bulb. Not a good day to hang out the washing (not sure how mum and Ben plan to dry the tents!) Otherwise a table of values derived from complicated thermodynamics can find the relative humidity. Advanced: Air that has been thoroughly moistened in this way has a lapse rate of about 6.5 Celsius cooler per kilometre altitude gained, compared to 10 C/km for non saturated air as we experience when we thermal (until cloud base at 100% relative humidity). Does this knowledge help for #redbullxalps ? Keeps me entertained while walking up another hill! Disclaimer: since cloud formation some sink on the mountain sides has formed a circulation to make the cloud congregate over the valley. Clouds are always morphing from one thing to another…

A post shared by Nick Neynens (@nneynens) on Jun 22, 2019 at 12:11am PDT

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Rain radar, another awesome addition from @windy_forecast. It's really raining now! I'm even told it's snowing at the pass I'm headed to. Leaving the Inn valley for the last time this #redbullxalps Talking #meteorology Raindrops scatter microwave radiation back to the radar the same way that air scatters blue light back to us from the sun. The frequency of the radar is designed around the size of the droplets to get the same (Raleigh) type of scattering

A post shared by Nick Neynens (@nneynens) on Jun 22, 2019 at 4:16am PDT

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Rain easing? Avalanche debris east of Flüelapass. Next stop Davos #redbullxalps turn point 6

A post shared by Nick Neynens (@nneynens) on Jun 22, 2019 at 5:42am PDT

Another kiwi visits Davos:

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Hard to believe how quickly the weather changed. Davos pictured with the valley I flew down behind. Tailwinds with mostly buoyant glides and some welcome gentle climbs. Now with turn point 6 under my belt, racing up the hill for an evening flight into the Rhine to conclude #redbullxalps day 7.

A post shared by Nick Neynens (@nneynens) on Jun 22, 2019 at 8:56am PDT

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Social media? Check. Recurring theme? Check. #redbullxalps ? Check.

A post shared by Nick Neynens (@nneynens) on Jun 22, 2019 at 11:40am PDT