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.
Day 6 saw me swapping places with the Croatian as I hiked and flew west along the Inn river into Switzerland. Starting in the lead, waiting for morning low cloud, mistiming my flight before sunshine, and catching him again with a long evening glide.
Day 5 began with a hike and down valley glide, then a long brisk walk (or run) to get under Innsbruck airspace and up the mountains to the north. Not only did I want to use the first thermals, it was also a rush to get past Zugspitze to the Lermoos turn point 5 before storms. It felt like the first day where I really got it right (or maybe the leaders were too far ahead to make me look bad this time). Storms hit just after I bagged the turn point after an amazing flight, and the evening reflight rounded out the day.
Day 4 began in Italy with rain – what?! It cleared for some morning glides but it took its sweet time for the cloud to clear and finding the first thermal was the hardest. Once away to the west, conditions improved and I bit off more than I could chew with a long valley crossing. Hiking up for another go I lost height and then spent the afternoon “hanging around”, a bit of a waste of a day, but it was nice to get high in the evening and finish with some glides towards Innsbruck, right up until the 9pm deadline. Then the storm blew in…
Day 3 began with some unfinished business, tagging the Aschau / Chiemsee turn point 3. A hike and fly brought me most of the way there. The next flight started well but ended prematurely, I had to hike for an hour to resume on the other side of the hill. Then it was a long flight over the main divide (near Gerlos pass and Krimml) to Italy. Unfortunately storms and rain blocked the turn point, separating the field. I climbed up to the Kronplatz turn point 4 and flew off just before the 9pm curfew.
