The Goms

Four days, one valley, six people all at the same point.

We fly up the Goms and back down again, along the spurs: clear trigger points with reliable thermals above them. We go through the line together in the morning. I give you the tools for a whole flying day: spotting the right day in the forecast, launching at the right moment, finding and centring the first thermal, moving on to the crossing and learning from the track in the evening. That can be practised and the Goms is, I believe, the easiest place for it.

In the air I fly ahead and show you where the next thermal is and I tell you when it’s time to move on. With every day I say less and you decide more. It’s your flight that gets flown.

Why the Goms

From Fiesch the cable car goes up to the Fiescheralp and from there the route starts right in front of your eyes. The Goms is a straight valley and the line is the same from start to finish: along the slope on the sunny side, from thermal to thermal, towards Oberwald. For learning that makes a big difference: one decision after another, never three at once.

And Plan Z, the way out, is almost always right below you here. There are meadows all along the valley floor and the train stops in every village: Niederwald, Reckingen, Münster, Ulrichen, Oberwald. Where you’ll land isn’t fixed in the morning and yet you already know how you’ll get back. I find that’s exactly what clears your head and with a clear head you fly better.

Where we go

• Up the Goms, towards Oberwald
• And the same line back again

Launches

• Fiescheralp
• Riederalp

If the Goms doesn’t deliver

From Fiesch you can reach the Northern Alps or the Southern Alps, both with completely different weather. In the morning we get there by train and bus. If it doesn’t work out in the Goms one day, this way you can usually still get a good day.

What you learn

Reading the forecast. Which day has something to offer and where its potential and its hazards lie.

Planning the cross-country flight. Going through the line beforehand: where the key points are, where the hazards are and where the landing fields are.

Recognising hazards. Where the lee is, where the valley wind flows and how high, where it gets tight. And which options you have then.

Finding the moment to launch. A first window shows up in the forecast. On the mountain you check it against the signs: the upslope breeze, the clouds, birds climbing. And you feel it when the first lift comes through.

Launching with a plan. Plan A and Plan B are set before you put on your harness.

Looking for the first thermal and flying to it. Where it has released, how you can see that beforehand and from which direction you approach it. I’m with you for the first climb.

Centring. Where the core is and how you get there, instead of turning along the edge. Along the way you get to know the different characters: a thermal on a steep slope feels different from one over a hollow, one in the morning different from one in the afternoon.

And then the same game all over again. Thermal after thermal, until the first crossing comes up. That’s how a cross-country flight comes together, all the way to landing.

I’m on the radio the whole time, right in the headset I lend you for the four days. In the evening we look at the track and learn from it.

Where a spot commands your respect. We go through it together beforehand: what do you need to see to fly it? Where is your turnaround point? Getting further and staying safe on the way are the same question here, not two.

What it builds towards: from the Fiescheralp to the Grimsel and back again. The weather decides whether it works out. What you need for it, we practise from the first day.

Why May of all months

Because it’s the easiest time of year to learn cross-country flying.

The valley wind is still weak. The more thermal volume, the stronger the valley wind. In May the volume is only starting to grow: the month in which you can get to know it. On top of that the days are long and there’s still snow high up on the slopes; you can see the trigger points from launch.

And after that you have the whole summer. You can come back to the Goms and fly the same line again, this time without me on the radio. Or you take what you’ve learned to another area. The craft stays the same, only the valley looks different.

Who it doesn’t suit

If you’ve just got your licence and are still searching for thermals, you’ll get little out of four days in a group. A better start is then a coaching day for two: write to me and I’ll tell you what’s next for you. And if you’ve already flown thirty kilometres, the Spring in Valais camp a week earlier suits you better: same area, longer lines.

Included

• Four days of guidance, in the air and on the ground
• A weather briefing and a site briefing every morning
• Guidance via the Zello app: I give you the push-to-talk button to keep and lend you a headset and PMR radio
• A line we go through together beforehand: from thermal to thermal, with the landing fields in between
• Sites chosen with public transport in mind: after an outlanding you get back by train, which stops in every village in the Goms
• Debriefing and track analysis in the evening: you come away from every flight with a takeaway
• Exercises for afterwards: what went well for you and what could go even better, I turn into two or three exercises for your next flights
• A one-to-one conversation about your goal for these four days

Not included

• Travel to the camp: by train or by car, you organise it yourself. During the camp we get around by train and bus: where we land is still open in the morning.
• Accommodation: you book it yourself. That is on purpose: some sleep in a camper van, others in a hotel and booking ahead for everyone costs time and money. You get recommendations from me.
• Cable cars, train and bus tickets, food
• Insurance: third-party liability is mandatory, accident and rescue insurance strongly recommended
• The way back after an outlanding: we choose the areas so that the way back works by public transport

What you organise yourself

• Your accommodation in or near Fiesch: you book it yourself and you get recommendations from me

A day at the camp

1. 08:00

   Weather briefing

   We read the situation together and set Plan A, Plan B and Plan Z.

2. 08:45

   Site briefing

   Launch and landing fields, airspace, the spots where you pay attention here.

3. 11:00

   Into the air

   Cross-country with guidance over Zello: sometimes I fly ahead, sometimes I fly with you.

4. 16:00

   Way back

   Back to the starting point by public transport. Most of the day gets talked through on the way.

5. 18:30

   Debrief

   The tracks side by side, mine included. The most important part of the day.

6. 20:00

   Evening

   Dinner together for anyone who wants. Optional, four days in the mountains are tiring too.

Times are a guide. The weather moves them, not the plan.

Requirements

• A valid licence: SHV or IPPI 4
• You climb out in easy thermals and appreciate support on the radio. You want to learn cross-country flying: your flights so far have been shorter than about twenty kilometres.
• Airworthy, checked equipment: your wing is expressly allowed to be an A or B
• Vario with GPS
• Third-party liability insurance with at least one million francs of cover, plus accident and rescue insurance
• Mobile phone with a data plan: communication in the air runs over the Zello app
• Four days in a row free. At shorter notice there are the XC Days.

I don’t much mind what is hanging above you: the line and the right day decide, not the equipment.

I fly with you, I don’t fly for you. Launch, route, turning back and landing are your decisions: my assessment is a recommendation, not a clearance.

Dates and schedule

Whether it goes ahead

By 22 April 2027 at the latest, three weeks before. From 4 people the camp is on; if fewer come together, I call it off and you get back everything you have paid.

If the weather doesn’t play along

If the forecast gives roughly two and a half flying days, the camp goes ahead. If a single day doesn’t work at the starting point, we go to where it does: your accommodation stays where it is and if the route calls for it, I organise a driver. If the whole week looks clearly worse, I postpone the camp. On a day when nothing works at all, we work on the ground.

Starting point

Fiesch landing field

Arrival

12 May 2027. Arriving the evening before isn’t compulsory, but it makes the first day much more relaxed.

First flying day

Thursday, 13 May 2027, meeting at 08:00

End

Sunday, 16 May 2027, around 18:00

Which camp suits me?

Every camp assumes that you fly thermals. Beyond that, the camps differ in what you bring along and what you want. Three sentences, one of them applies to you and behind it are the camps that are built for it.

Learn cross-country flying

You climb out in easy thermals. You have hardly flown cross-country yet, your flights have been shorter than about twenty kilometres.Afterwards you fly the same line again, this time without me on the radio.Season start in Ticino 15–18 Apr 2027The Goms 13–16 May 2027 · this page

Fly further

You fly thermals and have already flown cross-country: about twenty kilometres or more. Now you want to go further than before, longer lines, a new area or high alpine terrain.Afterwards you decide on the way yourself: when to go, where to cross, when to turn back.Spring in Valais 6–9 May 2027XC Camp Flex – The best place 3–6 Jun 2027Between the four-thousanders 5–8 Aug 2027The southern valleys of Valais 2–5 Sept 2027

Not that far yet? If you don’t climb out in every thermal yet, you don’t have to wait until it comes by itself: a coaching day for two shows where you stand and you take two or three exercises away for your next flights. Over the season add briefing and debriefing, so that every flight turns into a takeaway.

If you’re unsure which sentence is yours, write me one sentence on where you stand: flights, wing, longest flight. I tell you honestly which camp is the next one for you and if there isn’t one, I tell you that too. And if three or four of you are at the same point, I make days out of it just for you.

Tell me where you stand