X C o n t e s t   2 0 0 9

Flight detail Wolfgang Bernhard · 8.9.2009 · 60.34 km

Basic info

pilot : Wolfgang Bernhard [wolfbe]
date : 8.9.2009 10:53
glider : NOVA Factor
launch : chamonix [FR]
route : 60.34 km
FT
 84.48 p.
IGC file : 998wobe1.igc
Google Earth : 998wobe1.igc.kml
Desc | Photo | Flight | Route | Start | Land

Desc

jaaaaaaaa!!!!! rund um's mont blanc - massiv!!!! und fast am gipfel!!!!!

da werden heute nacht einige verstörte steinböcke herumirren, so wie ich die vor freude niedergeschrien hab.

********************************

Back at home now, thanks for your comments, sms and calls! As promised some details:

One day before I had my first flight in Charmonix, a fantastic ride along the valley and the glacier with a maximum height of 3200 m. For the next day the forecast was even better: dry air, good gradient, no wind. I wanted to climb closer to the Mont Blanc summit, and therefore I knew I had to go to the SW-side of the mountain.

Because of the rising valley-wind I had to takeoff early and so I spent the first 2 hours by checking thermal quality and watching possible thermal spots on the SW-ridge. At 14:45 I crossed the valley, followed by a hard fight for height almost face to face with a lot of tourist walking to the end of the glacier. 20 minutes later I made it to my preferred ridge, and for the next hour I had good thermals up to 3500m, fantastic view, everything perfect. I thought this would be the final destination for the day, when I saw some climbers relaxing at a nice spot (Refugio Durier, 3300m) on the border to Italy. From their view I was able to see the beautiful glacier down to Italy, and, much more impressing, an even better ridge up to Mont Blanc. Should I stay or should I go? There won’t be a way back if I fail to climb there, leading in a landing somewhere in Italy, spending the rest of the day with walking down to civilization.

Well, there was no wind, the sun hit the rocks, time of the day was perfect - and so I decided to go. After crossing the glacier a perfect thermal brought me up from 3000 to 4550! I will never forget that moment, flying straight to the summit, screaming at maximum volume…. I expected some NE-Wind in this height and was on the lee-side of the next ridge, so I went around the summit with respect. Maybe this was a wrong decision, I did not feel any turbulences, and otherwise it might have been possible to make the last 250m to the summit. Anyway – there is something left to do next time ;-)

The rest of the flight was a perfect sightseeing trip, I enjoyed the time of my life up there.

I’ll be back! Next time I'll take pictures, I promise..... Hopefully accompanied by others, would be great to share this breathtaking impression! Locals told me, there was no one flying up to Mont Blanc for 6 years, until August, 19 this year. Let us shorten the next period!

Photo

die unscheinbare kuppe rechts hinten, dass ist er....

die unscheinbare kuppe rechts hinten, dass ist er....

gletscher auf der chamonix-seite

gletscher auf der chamonix-seite

Aig. du Midi, 3800, am grat links davon wird gestartet

Aig. du Midi, 3800, am grat links davon wird gestartet

Flight

flight duration : 05:27:40 h
max. altitude : 4544 m
max. alt. gain : 2521 m
max. climb : 4.5 m/s
max. sink : 3.6 m/s
tracklog length : 135.577 km
free distance : 24.63 km / 67.82 km

Route

route length : 60.34 km
route duration : 05:22:00 h
avg. speed : 11.24 km/h
route type : FAI triangle
coeficient : 1.40
points : 84.48 p.

Turnpoints and legs

SP | L | TP1 | L | TP2 | L | TP3 | L | KB
Start point
time : 10:53:19 UTC
altitude : 2023 m
GPS lat : N 45° 56.116
GPS lon : E 6° 50.937
Leg between SP a TP1
length : 13.13 km
flight duration : 01:05:00 h
avg. speed : 12.12 km/h
% of route length : 21.8%
Turnpoint 1
time : 11:58:19 UTC
altitude : 3200 m
GPS lat : N 45° 58.057
GPS lon : E 6° 41.135
Leg between TP1 and TP2
length : 22.15 km
flight duration : 02:08:20 h
avg. speed : 10.36 km/h
% of route length : 36.7%
Turnpoint 2
time : 14:06:39 UTC
altitude : 3355 m
GPS lat : N 45° 47.798
GPS lon : E 6° 49.950
Leg between TP2 and TP3
length : 17.51 km
flight duration : 01:02:20 h
avg. speed : 16.85 km/h
% of route length : 29.0%
Turnpoint 3
time : 15:08:59 UTC
altitude : 3605 m
GPS lat : N 45° 55.518
GPS lon : E 6° 57.769
Leg between TP3 and EP
length : 7.81 km
flight duration : 01:06:20 h
avg. speed : 7.06 km/h
% of route length : 12.9%
End point
time : 16:15:19 UTC
altitude : 1537 m
GPS lat : N 45° 55.695
GPS lon : E 6° 51.716

Start

time : 10:53:19 UTC
altitude : 2023 m
GPS lat : N 45° 56.116
GPS lon : E 6° 50.937

Land

time : 16:20:59 UTC
altitude : 1106 m
GPS lat : N 45° 55.760
GPS lon : E 6° 52.620
N dd° mm.mmm' / E dd° mm.mmm'
»altitude . »ground . »AGL . »vario . »speed . »time . »GPS .
altitude ground AGL vario speed GPS date time extend on whole screen minimize to default size Map Topo XC Sat NASA Weather Sat Google Alt Google Airspace Road Layer layers / opacity close move layer background move layer foreground fade in - less opacity fade out - more opacity Warning: Some browsers could be very slow when working with hi-res tracklog with large amount of points. Are you really sure you want to show high-resolution tracklog?

Flight discussion

  • hast es doch nicht verlernt
    Author: jokro | Posted: 08.09.2009 * 19:52

    na Gott sei dank! Ich hoffe du erklimmst das Matterhorn auch noch. lg Hannes

  • Wolfgang Fuchs
    Author: Beda | Posted: 08.09.2009 * 23:18

    ein bisserl frisst mich der neid, des muss ich gestehen. aber nicht umsonst nennt man dich im zweiten namen der fuchs... ;-)

    wünsche dir morgen den gipfel!!!

    Peter

  • beautiful :)
    Author: marcin.skowron [www] | Posted: 09.09.2009 * 00:05

    any flying plans for the autumn/winter?

    btw: from my side - "mission accomplished" ;-)

  • Super...
    Author: Helli | Posted: 09.09.2009 * 07:55

    Wolfgang, jetzt wünsch i dir no a Toplanding am Mont Blanc ! Paß aber auf, das du wieder starten konnst, sonst muasst du z` fuaß owa geh! Bist scho a wüda Hund! Wünsch dir a schöne Zeit do unten.

    Grüsse Helli

  • Vergiss nit Foto einzustellen
    Author: Alpi | Posted: 09.09.2009 * 08:28

    Servus Wolfgang! Super Flug muas i sogn. Ober a paar Fotos wären schun a no lässig. Gruß Stefan

  • Waouh
    Author: SamZed [www] | Posted: 09.09.2009 * 08:29

    Waouh ... Splendid ..the big class !

  • jo.....
    Author: crazysky [www] | Posted: 09.09.2009 * 11:57

    .... elegant! weiter so!

  • beneid di ;-)
    Author: smeyky | Posted: 09.09.2009 * 16:53

    super wolfi

    schaut fein aus und richtig hoch ;-)

    jetzt kriegst dann wirklich mal a camera fix umgschnallt!

    glg aus dem AKH markus

  • Hello
    Author: muller2 | Posted: 10.09.2009 * 10:52

    hello, well done great flight, great.

  • super
    Author: bigfoot | Posted: 12.09.2009 * 22:01

    Gratuliere schwägerchen weiter so. bin schon eifersuchtig. Solche schöne Anblkicke und augenblicke hast nur selten im leben. lg nr 18.

Only logged users are allowed to add new posts.

Main Partners:

logo Gradient logo NOVA logo Axispara logo Chocolate Fikar logo MAC Para logo Skywalk logo Advance
Would you like to be
XContest partner ?
Sections: