Greifenburg sits at 620m in southern Austria, close to the Italian border. Due to its topography the area gets very little valley wind, producing reliable and comfortable flying with big fields for landing. The main launch of Emberger Alm is at 1,740m. You’ll find nine-seater taxi shuttles at the LZ carpark on any flyable day. There is a higher launch at 1,840m for SE winds, which requires a 15-minute walk.
Most routes here are closed circuit. Unbroken south-facing ridges shoot off in all directions with short crossings in between. This allows pilots to stay high and eat kilometres. Triangles from 50km to 350km are possible. For beginners the 50km milk run around the eastern end of the Drautal can be comfortably done when base reaches 2,500m. For those with stamina the 200km plus out-and-return to Brenner and back is mainly attempted in early spring when the valley winds are light.
Photo: Martin Scheel / Azoom.ch
Originally appeared in the 2017 Travel Guide, in a section entitled ‘Going Big in the Alps’. Read other entries from the same section here
