Between the four-thousanders

In early August cloud base in Valais is often very high. You sit at eye level with mountains you usually look up at: Weisshorn, Zinalrothorn, Obergabelhorn, Dent Blanche and at some point the Matterhorn comes into view. We fly across from valley to valley and keep discovering new areas on high lines: from a crossing of the main Alpine ridge via the Finsteraarhorn to a morning flight into the Mattertal, over the east-facing slope.

This altitude also decides how we fly. We arrive above the trigger points and climb with distance from the rock. Figure eights close to the face are rare. Every flank we fly to comes with a Plan B and a Plan C, meaning the answer to where you go if it doesn’t work there.

Where we fly

Our base is Fiesch. From there the launches of the whole region can be reached in thirty to sixty minutes and the morning decides which one, based on conditions, cloud base and valley wind.

The day it most often comes down to in August stays in the Aletsch region: Fiesch, out over the glacier, with the Finsteraarhorn in view and on the big days on into the Bernese Oberland. Cloud base is then so high that crossings work for which there isn’t enough height in spring.

From there the day decides: on towards the Grimsel, across towards Zermatt or down into the southern valleys. Each of these crossings is a decision of its own: how high you need to be, what the wind is doing in the next valley, what you do if it doesn’t work. You ask yourself this question several times a day here.

Where else we go

• Aletsch region with the Aletsch Glacier
• Mattertal towards Zermatt
• Saastal
• Grimsel region

If Valais doesn’t deliver

From Fiesch you can reach the Northern Alps or the Southern Alps, both with completely different weather. If Valais doesn’t look perfect one day, this way you can usually still get a good day out of it.

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.

Where thermals form and how they release. Trigger points in high-alpine terrain have a character of their own. I teach you about it.

Recognising hazards. How does the wind flow in the high mountains? Where does lee form and how far does it reach?

Dealing with steep terrain. Where you look for the thermals, when figure eights are worth it and when circling is the better technique.

Lines along high mountains. When the face is eight hundred metres high instead of two hundred, everything shifts: where you start, how high you need to be, when you go.

Key points. Recognising them, analysing them and solving them cleanly.

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.

Why the southern valleys in August

In Valais, high summer means: high cloud base, strong thermals and valley winds that are now running at full strength. In the southern valleys that works for you: they are narrow and high and almost everywhere on the slopes something is working. You just have to be able to read them.

The honest part: these valleys demand more attention than a wide valley in the Pre-Alps. Lee is an issue here, so is the valley wind and the landing options become fewer. So we only go on if we can reach a safe one. We talk through every crossing before we fly it. In the morning Plan A, Plan B and Plan Z are set.

The yardstick we measure every crossing against: can you still get back to the main valley with your glide ratio? You have to work that out for yourself; I tell you what I work out for myself. There are tools for this such as XCTrack, burnair go or SeeYou Navigator. I show you at the camp how to use them in flight.

Who it doesn’t suit

If you’ve never flown a valley crossing, you’ll spend four days feeling like you’re trailing behind. The same goes if you tend to avoid strong thermals or haven’t done an SIV course yet. In August thermals and valley wind in Valais are at full strength; the same terrain is available in September with weak to moderate valley wind, in The southern valleys of Valais.

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
• Sites chosen with public transport in mind: after an outlanding you usually get back by train
• 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

• Warm clothes, at 4000 metres it’s winter even in August
• 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 thermals and have already flown cross-country routes and valley crossings. Now you want to experience high-alpine terrain.
• 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 15 July 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

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

First flying day

Thursday, 5 August 2027, meeting at 08:00

End

Sunday, 8 August 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

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 2027 · this pageThe 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