Feel like an eagle

The sun sinks lower over Lake Tegernsee, drenching the sky above the foothills of the Alps in a warm glow that moves slowly from yellow to brilliant orange. A beautiful summer’s day is nearing its end. The rough thermals of a few hours ago have now been replaced by a warm, steady wind blowing towards the Wallberg.

While most walkers are already starting on the second course of their hotel dinner or curling up on their sofas at home, the launch site is buzzing with a group of people united by a single passion: paragliding. Preferably in the sporty version known as Hike & Fly. This involves walking up the mountain, which eliminates any need for cable cars.

It’s a great way of clearing your head. And it also makes it possible to launch at the right time from the right place. Taking off high over Lake Tegernsee at sunset, with the lights of Munich twinkling on the horizon, is a truly breathtaking experience. If the flying alone didn’t already engender a sense of euphoria, this backdrop would do the trick!

Lake Tegernsee: Wallberg to go

The pensioner, the entrepreneur, the balloon pilot - they all do it on the Wallberg. The priest often does it twice a day: Martin Weber has already made the six-kilometre ascent and enjoyed his first thrilling flight. For him, this is the perfect counterpart to his work in the Evangelical Lutheran community of Tegernsee.

Hike & Fly has become a regular appointment in his diary, assuming his plans are not scuppered by a passing weather front. For me, it tends to be spontaneous, and I prefer going up in the evenings when the air is calm. Once the Wallberg mountain railway has transported the last day trippers back down into the valley, you sometimes even get to enjoy the stillness in delicious solitude.

Metamorphosis: from human to bird

In just five minutes, the human figure becomes a bird! That’s how long it takes to unpack your wing, spread it out and fasten your harness. A quick look at the windsock: the wind should be blowing nicely towards you. And you’re off!

"When I fly, my stomach tingles like I've just fallen in love"

Although I’ve been flying for 20 years, I still get a real kick out of the moment when the wing rises up above me and I feel the power of the air. Priest and fellow paraglider Weber says that while he may not have encountered God up there yet, he still sees the experience as utterly spiritual. I compare the butterflies in my stomach to the feeling you get when you first fall in love.

The Wallberg is rightly one of the most popular viewpoints in the Alps. The panorama is impressive: to the south, the glaciers of the central Alps gleam in the light. To the west, the Karwendel and Wetterstein mountains rise up into the sky. To the north, the vista extends far across the foothills of the Alps. Meanwhile, the Klotz at the end of the Tegernsee valley is one of the most well-known flying sites in Germany.

On clear summer days, a whole swarm of colourful wings circle in the thermals. In the evening, in contrast, the Wallberg can be an almost exclusive experience. The soundtrack is provided by the jangling of cow bells and the cawing of Alpine jackdaws.

The full lightweight kit of wing, safety wing and harness often adds just six kilos to your load, but my equipment weighs around nine kilos. This is why Hike & Fly - walking up the mountain and gliding down again - is not just a trend among regular flyers: more and more mountaineers and alpinists are discovering that having a wing in your backpack is a practical way to descend.

The 850 metre ascent to the launch site on the Wallberg is thus not a problem, but rather a nice bit of training. And there’s no other flying device that allows you to go shopping in the supermarket after you land!

Neuschwanstein and Chiemsee from above

Bavaria offers many beautiful flying areas, with the most spectacular of them usually on the edge of the Alps. Many peaks of the Bavarian Alps rise up from the plains like a wall. This makes it possible to do more than ride the thermals.

North winds thrust upwards from their cliff faces. Soaring up on these updraughts is like endless, relaxed surfing on the perfect wave. And the views of the extensive foothills of the Alps are phenomenal!

When you fly from the Kampenwand in Aschau, you get a great view of the “Bavarian Sea”. The panorama of Lake Chiemsee from the air is unparalleled. The Tegelberg near Füssen is also legendary. Here the launch site is above King Ludwig’s fairy tale castle: while tourists from all over the world form a long queue below, the towers and battlements of the cloud-cuckoo land that is Neuschwanstein Castle, which the Regent himself never lived in, can be marvelled at in all calmness from above.

On a par with the Zugspitze and buzzards

The Wank in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, on the other hand, offers what is probably the best view of the Zugspitze. And real paragliding fans can stay up in the air all day long. This wide ridge is known as a real thermal gem.

Not so much an adrenaline kick but more an overdose of endorphins

When I go flying, however, I put flight records and stressful thoughts to one side. They get left behind on the ground. Flying is not so much an adrenaline kick but more an overdose of endorphins: a rush that lasts long after you have landed. And when the wind blows nice and steady on “my” Wallberg mountain, it’s only daylight that sets the limit.

Time and again you can soar up this treeless triangular peak to the very top and far beyond. In the twilight, Munich sparkles and glitters like a giant spaceship from Spielberg’s famous movie “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”. 

Sometimes at this time of day, the buzzards are still on the wing. When it comes to flying like a bird, some of the best paragliding experiences come when you encounter birds of prey and ride the thermals with them. Most of the time, however, I only see them from below. I don’t stand a chance compared to these feathered masters of the air!