Thwarted by the snow on the Dachstein Via Ferrata yesterday but today we came up with a cunning plan... use the cable car, so after negotiating a small mortgage for the return fare we arrived at the top and wandered along the edge of the cliff to find a suitable take-off point. That done Jon duly took off in a steady wind, (the signpost at the base of the mountain said wind speed 60kph, a slight over exaggeration) intending that the flight would possibly be just a top to bottom with the bottom being at Radstadt some 15km away. I drove down the mountain and duly made my way there. Once in the ‘Radstadt’ valley the sky was blue and the clouds fluffy, I just knew he would not be there. Sure enough by this time he was well on the Way to St Johann im Pongau so I gave chase. Eventually threatening clouds forced a landing in Goldeggweng so today being Sunday and with the Supporter having failed on the bread buying front yesterday we treated ourselves to a lunchtime pizza.
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| On the way up the Gross-Glockner pass |
After lunch a drive up the valley to Wurth which is a direct route towards the Grossglockner turn point. No road access exists at the top of the valley although it would be a good bad weather route (if walking). We then drove back towards Zell am See and up the Grossglockner pass pausing on the way only to part with another king’s ransom to the Austrian Highways authority to be allowed to use the road. Spent some time at the top surveying various route options before Jon elected to fly down the other side to explore the westerly valley towards the turnpoint (see picture below!) Strong valley winds eventually brought the flight to a halt on the mountain slopes as Jon had no desire to revisit the type of landing he had in Sondrio a few weeks ago, ie 15kph backwards. Tomorrow Lienz and who knows how much further.
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