Knock knock, anyone there?
Yes, we are still alive! After returning from our Sabattical last November, there was a period or "work eat sleep repeat" cycles but the spring/summer is now in full swing so we get to enjoy some adventures! Memorably, this year, we went to Piemont with our friends to sniff out the italian thermals. It was also our first time, conquering the jump from Wallis to Bernese alps.
Little excursion
So as a little excursion here are three highlight pictures from there:
....And we accompanied Thomas our friend in getting his pilot license and already introduced him to some really nice areas like the Uetliberg! So we still love travelling by public transport and paraglider. A most CO2 compatible hobby.
Back on Track
Today, we had one of the hottest days for Zurich in the last 100 years. So I am sitting in the shades while we wait on the bus to go boating in the cool river. Enjoy our latest story as a day in our lives because yesterday we experienced both ends of the spectrum called "freedom".
The air adventure
Pushing our boundaries
The idea was lingering in my head for quite some time: Explore the south of Schwyz and check out the Klöntaler lake. But bombing out can leave you stranded in the middle of nowhere. The weather was high altitude south west stream and a bit of South pressure (2hPa) but the forecast worsened and many friends decided to skip the day.
We decided to checkout Rotenflue, a place we haven't visited in a long time. Due to it's trickyness of entry: You'd have to gain altitude early or directly traverse to Kleiner Mythen in the north. Grosser Mythen looks thermally nice but is a massive b** I have seen numerous collapses on it's west flank so I am ever approaching with respect.
So we cought up with Michi Klein in Zug and met some other guys at the peak restaurant where we enjoyed a nice lunch. The thick cloud cover lifted as expected and we laid out our gliders.
Tough entry (as expected)
The bad pilot I am I lost most of my altitude credit in the first 5min but then decide to go all in and cross over to Mythen. The south western flank provided with a soft lift but I know Mythen. It's like a cat. Impulsive. Shall never be blindly trusted. So I moved over to Kleiner Mythen, the northern - more well behaved - brother of Mythen. I've got a good lift and get catapulted to 2500m. Silke was not so lucky and moved back to Mythen where she caught up with me. I already started questioning my clothing choice of a medium warm pullover..
Silke did have one of those days where thermals just never seem to be in the same place as oneself. So, my calmness in the cold "waiting room" at the cloud base shall be an indicator of how deep my love to her is :-D
Going east
Reunited, we began our road to the east. Along stunning cliffs, green pastures, gorgeous lakes and so many springbocks. It's breathtaking, hearing the echo of the stones moving where these beautiful animals walk along the steepest cliffs. A 3/4 cloud cover created amazing moving shadow patterns above the pure nature landscape.
Low battery
Near Glarus we have summed already over three hours of flighttime so I suggested to get an ice cream. We reduced our altitude by calmly flying south along the Linth valley and landed in a huge field near Braunwald. Mid air I checked Föhn and West wind tendency but it all looked clear and good to go. Silke still managed to step down a bit hard but that might come from not using the legs for that long ;-) A great thing about this valley is that it's a direct train connection to Zurich HB which we obvously slept in so we'd be ready for tonights Zürifest!
Land adventure (Zürifest)
We entered the crowd in Stadelhofen and already in the train we were crammed in with thousands of people and it got worse the later it was. At one point the police even blocked a central region and there was no forward or backward, people were everywhere. The few little holes in between were... strollers. So I guess we weren't the only ones expecting less people. Alas, we finally managed to push through and could end the day with our friends in the Vip zone Utoquai where drones and fireworks signalled the end of an amazing day that had it all from the vast freedom in air to the skin on skin meat soup called Zürifest!
edit: Regarding me bashing her in this post, Silke asked me, how about I mention that she was the one having to wait for me for one hour in Fiesch when we flew from Wallis to Bern. So yes, it goes both ways! We both know, it can feel easy for one person but like hard work for the other so we both bring empathy and understanding to the table in such situations. We win together :-)