Paragliding, from new and sometimes challenging places, has been one of my obsessions for some time. Occasionally, while rummaging through my books on flying destination and finding a place with a new challenge, I would proceed to make the dream come true.
Some time ago, Interlaken and the Jungfrau caught my eye.
I first needed to find out whether it was possible to fly from up there. Looking at satellite photos on Google maps, there appeared to be a relatively flat area between two mountains, the Jungfrau and the Mönch or the Monk, as it is known in English, where the possibility of a take off was not out of the question. The area is known as the Jungfraujoch or saddle. As it turned out, pilots had flown from there with Paragliders on rare occasions.
The destination was put on my whiteboard to remind me to keep dreaming. It stayed there for two years.
The main difficulties appeared to be the cost of getting up there and the changeable weather at that height and location.
The height at the take off is almost 11,500ft or 3,424 metres and it lies between two sharp drop offs, with the Aletsch Glacier on one side. On the other side are the Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald valleys with the town of Interlaken at the end of the two valleys.
Access to the take off is via a cog railway from the skiing resort of Kleine Scheidegg. The railway winds itself through the Eiger and is one of the more spectacular railway journeys in the world. Kleine Scheidegg can be reached, again by cog railway, either from Lauterbrunnen or from Grindelwald.
The cost of the journey is quite high but if you purchase the “Guten Morgen” ticket to be used before 7.30am, the cost was down to €145 return or €117.50 one way if you wish to fly off or walk down. The normal cost is around €200.
After our previous sojourn in Interlaken, Julie and I had decided that Interlaken would be worth exploring further with walks around this most beautiful countryside even if a flight from the Jungfrau did not eventuate.
Julie had booked accommodation in Wilderswil for nine nights. This would take place after our cycling in the northern parts of Germany and a week of paragliding in Austria and Italy.
The weather in Austria was a little unsettled at our time there, with high winds above 2000meters and the occasional shower – not encouraging for a flight from the Jungfrau. However, as we drove into Interlaken from the Stubai Valley, a substantial High Pressure system established itself over Europe and was predicted to remain for the next week.
Glorious weather ensued. A trip to the Schynige Platte was organised and a walk around the Panorama track on the Schynige Platte in full sunshine with Paragliders floating around all over the place confirmed my resolve to finally make the flight from the Jungfrau.
I mentioned my intention to Andreas, the host of the accommodation in Wilderswil. He said that he had flown from there and would help me with some information on the weather.
The date was set for Tuesday.
On Monday afternoon, I went down to the ticket office at Wilderswil station to get the tickets for the next morning.
When I asked for one return ticket and one one-way ticket, there was a pause and a quizzical look behind the counter. I explained that I intended to fly off the top with a Paraglider and therefore did not need the return ticket.
After a bit of consternation on the other side of the window, the ticket officer proceeded to relate to me the dangers of my undertaking and explained that there had been an accident recently up there with someone taking off with a paraglider. Rather than defending my decision, I thanked him for the information and asked him whether it was possible to purchase a ticket for the return journey up there if I found the conditions too daunting. This approach seemed to placate him and he issued the tickets without further comment.
To be able to use the cheaper “Guten Morgen” tickets, we had to get the train at Wilderswil at either 6.40 or 7.10 in the morning. The decision was made to get the bus just outside the accommodation at about 6.10 and after a five-minute bus ride; we arrived at the station well before time.
By this time, the station was becoming crowded with a very noisy and pushy Chinese tour group, an inauspicious start for the adventure. The train chugged off to Lauterbrunnen, where unbeknown to us, we had to change trains to the Kleine Scheidegg train which was on a different platform.
After a bit of confusion, we finally set off to Kleine Scheidegg. Once there, we had to change trains again for the final leg through the Eiger to the final destination at the Jungfraujoch.
Apparently, this railway track with the tunnels through the Eiger was built around 1912 with the loss of 29 lives and it was, at that time, an unprecedented achievement. However, it has withstood the test of time and is extremely popular with tourists.
Once at the top and after a walk through the” Eispalast”, an ice cavern with carved ice sculptures, we arrived at the open viewing area, known as the Gletscher or glacier plateau. I lugged the glider past the fenced off area and walked to the edge to what I thought would be a suitable take off point.
It was a beautiful morning with blue skies and sunshine and a temperature hovering at just below zero. A light breeze was coming up the face.
To my disappointment, I found that I sank up to my calves in the soft snow. The wind strength and direction seemed to be suitable but how was I going to run through the soft snow? Time for a cup of coffee!
On our way back to the restaurant, we came across a couple of young guys with Paragliders on their back. I quickly retraced my steps and followed these two to the take off area.
They did not seem to be perturbed by the soft snow and began to set up their gliders. Conditions were quite calm at this time, with a slight breeze coming straight up the face of this launch area. With some difficulties, they both managed to take off and appeared to just glide down in the direction of Interlaken.
Heartened by this, I set up my glider. However, by this time the wind had picked up in strength and the direction had changed to the northwest, which made launching difficult from the spot where the other gliders had launched.
After a couple of failed attempts, with a crowd of Chinese tourist encouraging me to fly, I decided that I needed to move to a spot where the wind was more directly up the face.
Fortunately, the strength and direction of the wind was now far more conducive for a short run launch and after a brief inflation, the glider lifted me out of the snow for a glorious take off.
I was totally elated. YES, I have done it.
I tried to switch on the video camera on my helmet but did not hear the familiar beep to indicate that it was filming. Disappointed, I then resorted to digging out my trusty Lumix camera from one of my suit pockets. Not easy, as I had to release the controls to free my hands but at last, I managed it and then could at least take enough pictures for an edited film. Luckily, Julie had been busy filming the take off and part of the flight with her Olympus camera so that I had a good record of the adventure.
The scenery was amazing. I floated past sheer rock faces, crevasses and glaciers with the snow glistening in the morning sunshine – the Eiger glacier, the Eiger North Face, the Mönch and of course the Jungfrau and Jungfraujoch. There was just enough lift to maintain my height but being so early in the morning, thermals were absent on the north side of the mountains. My aim to overfly these mountains had to be put in reserve for another time.
Eventually, I headed out towards Interlaken. At this height, the world was open for me to go in any direction. I had a choice to take the easy short route to Grindelwald or attempt to reach Interlaken, some twenty kilometres in the distance. My choice was Interlaken.
The first target was the village of Kleine Scheidegg with the peak of the Mänlichen behind it. The Mänlichen, at nearly 2,400metres had a fair amount of sunshine on it and I managed to find a thermal to regain most of my lost height from the take off.
In the distance now was the Schynige Platte where Julie and I had spent one of the previous days, walking. At this point, it certainly looked as though I would be able to overfly it without too much trouble. I enjoyed looking at the area from this height and perspective as I slowly made my way towards it. I lost some altitude but had enough height to glide past with ease.
After this, the glide into Interlaken was a cinch, arriving with a thousand feet to spare.
After circling over the town for some time to lose height, I came in for a perfect landing on the large grassy field in the middle of town, in front of another mob of Chinese tourists. The bus back to the accommodation in Wilderswil was just a short walk away and I arrived back there soon after to savour my successful adventure with a glass of beer and a cup of coffee. Meanwhile, Julie took the leisurely way back from the top with the train.
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