Flying Canazei

A long and winding scenic road took us higher and higher, past the famous Mt. Marmalada, to village of Canazei, located in the Italian Dolomites. Not surprisingly, the higher we got, the colder it got. Colder than usual for this time of year though -- below freezing at night. 

The next morning we checked out the landing zone and drove the even steeper long and winding road up to the launch area. Although we took our gliders and we'd seen two pilots in the air earlier, we didn't hold our much hope for a flight as the winds were quite high. We were right! High winds coming from a variety of directions. But there were still two more pilots trying to launch. After a couple false starts, one of the them eventually took off a bit precariously and the other finally rosetted up his wing and made the smart decision not to fly. 

We wandered around up high for a while admiring the views. Seeing all the ski lifts almost made me want to take up downhill skiing again! We spent the afternoon in the warm hotel lobby, drinking tea and trying to catch up a bit on photos and blog posts.

The next day we took the first (8:30 am) tram of the day up to the launch. It was definitely a lesson in getting ready to go as soon as you can because you never know how quickly the conditions will change. Andrew, me and Cheryl launched first and had good launch conditions. The wind started to pick up and Mike and Guti were still able to launch but Steven and Nick did not. (Jeff and Dan weren't there as they'd gone to a nearby town to change the name on Dan's rental car so that Jeff could drop it off in a couple more days' time.)

Even with big ski gloves and dressed with every single layer of clothing we had, it was still cold! I was most thankful for the wind pants. We all did about 15 minute sled rides (albeit bumpy!) and our fingers were almost frozen by the time we landed. It was the only flight that I didn't take a single photo! I do have a bit of video so hope to share that at some point.

This was the end of the trip for Cheryl, Mike and Jeff. They stayed for another night in Canazei and Mike managed to get a second flight. The rest of us continued on the second part of the trip to Slovenia and Croatia.

For me, still being a relative beginner paragliding pilot, Canazei and the surrounding huge mountains were intimidating. I'd love to come back here and spend a few days to get more comfortable with it. As with pretty much all the sites we've been to on this trip, the views were spectacular. There's also lots of great hiking and climbing around here.

Trying to launch in high winds. The guy on the left launched and the guy on the right finally packed it in

Cold but beautiful morning frost.

Flying Bossano Del Grappa

We had several great flights at Bossano Del Grappa, Italy. With there being about 340 good flying days per year, it is a VERY popular and busy place!

On our first flight from the lower launch there were easily 30-40 pilots at launch. At one point, after landing, I counted 77 gliders in the air (that I could see) and 25 gliders in the landing zone getting packed up. Easily well over 100 pilots.

Getting launched the first day was more a test of how quickly you could sneak into the lineup than anything else. I was in line right behind Mike, one of the others in our group, and the moment he took off I picked up my glider and was about to step into the launch area when a tandem pilot barged in front of me. By then people were setting up three deep so when I finally got a space to lay out my wing I had to wait for two pilots below me to take off before I could. Sheesh!

Dan, definitely one of the best pilots in our group, had launched earlier and radioed to advise there were good thermals coming off the ridge just left of launch. At the time, everyone else seemed to be to the right and he was one of the few over in that direction so I immediately headed over there and was also lucky enough to get some really good lift. Thankfully, on this flight, it didn't seem too crowded in the air.

Later in the afternoon, Nick thought that conditions might be good for the higher launch site. (The wind would have been too strong any earlier.) When we arrived, Nick told us to get moving as conditions were the best he'd ever seen. As we've learned on this trip, conditions can change quickly! There was only one other pilot there.

The late afternoon light and smooth air definitely made this one of the most beautiful flights of the trip. Although some would complain it was "just" a sled ride (i.e. not many, if any, thermals) it was 36 minutes long!

The second day we got in one flight. It wasn't quite as busy at the lower launch when we got there as it had been the day before because the conditions just weren't developing as quickly. Andrew and I got our gear ready and launched before there was a lineup, even though we knew it might mean a shorter flight. I went back to the same ridge as the day before and hung out there for a while getting into some thermals and getting bounced out again. The air was definitely rougher than the day before. At one point, I was headed back to try again when I spotted another pilot coming towards me, above and a bit off to the right. No worries, there was lots of room. But then I suddenly got yanked up by a thermal and the other pilot yelled at me (English speakers were in the minority so I have no idea what he said but I obviously got too close to him for comfort). Shortly after that, my wing took a big asymmetric collapse. When I turned back to try yet again I saw a big cluster of wings quite close. All these things put me out of my comfort zone so I decided that was enough of that! I soared for a bit longer away from anyone else and landed soon after.

Unfortunately, Cheryl (another pilot in our group) had a very unusual situation happen at launch. As she brought up her wing to launch, it came down again off to the side with the lines on either side of the pole that the wind sock was on. Frustrating!! Luckily the pole could be undone at the bottom and lifted out so while it took a while to get her wing out, it didn't require undoing lines.

Overall, a fun place to fly but wishing for a few less people to compete with for air space!

Many people at the lower launch.

Landing zone is part of the big field centre and left in the photo.
A long runway beside the road and then larger square area.

How many gliders can you count? 

The view from high launch.

Love the late afternoon light!

Again, love the light!!

Andrew above me.

Our hotel. Old building, newly renovated. Very nice!

We went into Bossano for a couple hours and, as always, lots of interesting things to see. 

Beautiful river views.

Thought about this for our new ride but couldn't figure out how to get 9 gliders in it!

A Day in Venice

On a rainy and cloudy non-flying day we spent part of the day wandering in Venice. We'd spent the previous night at a hotel outside of Venice and took the train in.

Even though it's off season, it was very busy!! It was neat to see the famous canals and the Venetian Gondolas. Luckily we managed to find a few quiet little back alleys and a reasonably quiet place to have lunch and coffee/tea. However, we were happy to get out of the crowds at the end of the day and back into the country and smaller towns and villages.

One of many colourful flower displays on a small balcony in Venice.

Our hotel in Mogliano Veneto, out in the country near Venice.

While waiting for the train, a nearby church was just finishing its Sunday mass and
we were able to go in and hear the organ being played. Impressive!

One of the famous canals of Venice.

A quiet side street.

Lovely balcony with flowers and vines.

The Venetian Gondolas on the Grand Canal.

Interesting decor on the corner of a building.

Beautiful and colourful paintings under the arches of St. Mark's Basilica. 

The crowds and lineups in St. Mark's Square.

A quiet canal. I liked the look of the brick and patchwork on the right side.