SCPA & SBSA Discussion Board

High guys,
It,s been a bit wet here at times, that must be why its so green here. We got in a nice flight yesterday, then the front moved in, AKA Fohen. The people are great and have really made us feel welcomed. Marian and I flew in Zell Am See Austria last week, the air is sweet. We met up with Rob and RaeLynn on Sat in Geneva. This location in Verbier is beautiful, just like a postcard. The beer is fantastic and great food to go with it. Rob is afraid that his wing will be damaged by the soft grass on the launchs and LZs, it only knows rocks, dirt and cactus. I cant get use to this keyboard, its Swiss. We are taking lots of photos, but cant down load yet.

It has been great to hear how well the SB/TOPO pilots did in the Rat Race and Nationals, Dean has really kicked it up. Rob will be posting photos soon.

Best Regards
Bob P.

It looks a bit like this:

Right now the chalet is at cloudbase, but tomorrow morning we may be back in the air.

Beautiful, more pictures please.

Benson

We got two flights in yesterday, but the second was in the rain. There is snow just above launch this morning. I took these two pictures during breakfast:
and

so we may not get too much airtime today.

Here's my favorite so far:


Updates will be here:
http://www.pbase.com/randr_resort/verbier

Robb

I'm with Benson, keep the pics coming!

While it's been burning in the western US, it's been raining in Switzerland. The fronts have been comming through every day, many times with frightening results. On Thursday the guys from SLC, Utah got caught in the air when it hit and had to perform a full manuvers clinic to get back on the ground. On Saturday two tandems signaled to the rest of us to pack up when they pulled big ears just off launch and still risked getting blown over the back. This morning I set off for my last flight of the trip as I could see a line of clouds on the way in, and half way to the LZ RaeLynn was on the radio from the chalet announcing high winds and rain. I caught lift over a clouded over hill side and hit the down button. I was safely on the ground when a brit in our group got his butt handed to him. This guy was far too experienced to need advice from anyone, especially the locals, and also didn't want to be disturbed by a radio. So our guides were yelling to him from the groud as he was being tossed around like a rag doll in a dogs mouth. Less than 100 feet from the ground. As proof that god watches out for fools, he went from beside his wing facing the ground, to having two others jump on his wing to prevent dragging, with out injury. Further proof was the Swiss guy who's spiral dive held him at 800 feet as the gust front carried him the length of the valley and into the narrow gourge at the end. When we last saw him he was headed for the power lines from the hydro dam up the valley. Unbelievely he was completly uninjured.

The best weather was Saturday morning. We launched from ~7,000 feet:

and got the complete tour of the valley.

Having 4,000 feet of altitude at launch is pretty good for picture taking

and also helped give a feel for the geography:


Bob and Marian left yesterday, and we head out tomorrow morning. The scenery was like something on the side of a box of swiss chocolates. The chalet and the group here were great, and the food was wonderful. Despite the weather, I'd recommend Stu and Mike to anyone thinking of comming here. Contact Verbier-summits.com.

It is very nice to be on tour with you all!

Thanks! It looks spectacular!~!!

Dave

We are having a wonderful time and after touristing around Italy for a week we (Marian and I) made it to Monaco. We finally got out of the the rain. Our Hotel is fantastic and the view is terrific. Yesterday I drove to a nearby mountain flying site "Groelier" and hooked up with local instructors. The guys were very friendly and they all know "Santa Barbara". Made two flights about an hour each. The location is huge ridge lift with some thermals mixed in. We flew along a several KM long, 2000 foot cliff/mountain ridge. The conditions made boating around fairly effortless. Due to tech difficulties photos taken while flying over ancient ruins (these are real un-doctored photos) will have to wait until we get home. Hope everyone at home is having as much fun as we are!

"Hope everyone at home is having as much fun as we are!"

Highly doubtful........

Looking forward to the pics.