Dachstein take 2

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.

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.

Walking in the Dachstein Mountains

Today was spent walking in the Dachstein mountains.  I followed a trial from the west Dachstein ski area along the length of the mountains to the cable car which goes up to the high altitude take-off that is the second turnpoint in the X-Alps.  We set off up the mountains on foot (my father had joined me with the necessary via ferrata gear), mainly to see how long it takes.  It was a stunning route up and very enjoyable, except we were thwarted in our ascent about 100m from the summit due to snow still blocking the route (and so burying the via ferrata cable).  Still, we learnt what we wanted to learn. Another day and another part of the route under our belts...

Another busy day...

After a long drive yesterday we arrived this morning in the Salzburg area.  First stop was Zooom productions in Fuschl am See, which in July becomes the X-Alps HQ.  After a pleasant cup of coffee with Nick, we set off on the next task - map purchasing and food shopping!  I left my father in charge of the provisioning and set off running in the direction of the Gaisberg, the first turnpoint in the X-Alps.  Being some way from the mountain the first part of the run was more or less flat to get to the bottom.  We’d agreed to meet up at the summit, but I was barely a third of the way up when a phone call informed me that due to a vintage car rally the road was closed and so the van (and more importantly lunch) were at the bottom. A quick change of direction and lunch back down at the van, was soon followed  by a quick look around the vintage cars (see photo) followed by a hike up, by both of us this time, and with glider in my case.  We made the top in less than half the time indicated by the signs, looked at the rather wind blown take offs, looked at some more vintage cars and trotted back down.

 A drive south east along the course line led us to a hill about half way between the Gaisberg and turnpoint 2, the Dachstein.  After some sun earlier there had been some storms developing both east and west of us, but now, around 6pm the weather was fine and the wind was light.  I ran up a hundred meters or so, only to find that the wind, although light, was coming from the back of the hill and blowing down the slope, I worked around onto the NE face where it was at least cross slope and threw myself off the mountain for a glide down to the valley near to Abtenau.  We are now in the van parked up in the West Dachstein ski areas while thunder storms rumble around us.  Another successful day training!

We have the Van!

Our team sponsors, Pringles Xtreme, have provided us with a fully equipped Mercedes-Benz Marco Polo campervan for the final training and race, and here it is!

It arrived last night and today we are loading the van for another training trip, this time to Austria.