Once we got to Interlaken, we could not believe how many tandem flights are happening there. I heard they have about 8 tandem companies with about 10 tandem pilots each. This town is insane with tourism, I would say it is about Banff multiplied by 10.
We hooked up with a couple locals and followed them to the Niederhorn. This time we did not hike as it got kind of late and the Foehn was supposed to come in pretty soon. So we took a bus to the mountain train and after the train ride with a gondola up to the Niederhorn. It was great to chat with the locals and to find out what can be done if the weather is very very good. For me, I got a very good opportunity to take it all in and get used to the area. Once we got to the top, some pilots and tandem pilots started to pack up to rive back down as the Foehn already started to come in. It was not to bad yet and we got ready right away, took off and had a extended sledder to the landing site.
After that, we headed to the lake for a quick swim to cool off (it was very cold) and then headed to Kandersteg to start hiking up to the Loetscher Pass. On the way up, we met some hikers and they told us to turn around as there is to much snow on the pass. It seams that this year there is way more snow in the alps then usual. We took the advise, turned around and drove to Kippel. This was a interesting drive as we had to go through a long tunnel on a train (with the car). From there we decided to head up to the Loetscher Valley and stay up there (1768 meters) due the amazing views and the cooler temperatures. We heard that in Sion the temperatures got up to 36 Celsius and staying overnight there would be kind of warm.
The next morning we started hiking up to the Loetscher Pass from the other side (Kippel) and half way up we watched the Foehn clouds build in the valley. We decided to fly down as this might be the only chance we had as the Foehn will come again. We had a great flight and I could stay up longer and play with the thermals. This valley is very protected from the Foehn due the high mountains around it. After we packed up and drove to Sion, we could not believe how strong the Foehn was there, it must have been at least 50 to 70 km/hr winds.
From Sion we headed to Chamonix to check out this area and finished out day to set up camp in the Chamonix campground.
Here are some pictures of Interlaken.
