Day 9 started by waving thanks to my dairy farmer hosts, for a quick hike and glide to the slopes of Titlis, and a long climb to reach the turn point (and extra supplies from Mum). Then to avoid airspace I took a long glide down to the bottom of the valley to start again! A hot cloudless day, too stable for thermals, with some spectacular imposing scenery on the way to Eiger. Six flights in total followed by a night in the hay in a mountain barn.
Day 8 started in the Rhine near Chur. A cloudy start delayed things and with low cloud base flying was a challenge. Ideally we would top land Titlis (over 3000m altitude) and fly off before airspace opened the next morning, but low cloud looked to make that impossible – especially after crossing through the mountains to the north. Landing at 7pm I raced up Surenen pass for a last minute glide down.
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.
