Gerlitzen expenses

Why not training in Obertraun for Acrojam?

Thanks for the info & the friendly warnings, Manuel!

Let's say I have with me:

1) the flight book
2) the supporter sticker
3) a valid passport
4) a valid PG license from my country ONLY (no Austrian license, no IPPI card)
5) a good attitude and nice disposition ; )

If I need to throw the reserve and land in the water . . . . will I receive any penalties???

If so, then what else do I need to avoid these penalties? (Other than not landing in the water, if possible.)

This is an important question for me as I arrive this Sunday morning at GVA and need to decide whether to train for Acrojam at Gerlitzen (safer) or Murren.

if i get this right teresa,the austrian federation is part of the FAI but is not recognised by the austrian penal code which has been written by free flight specialist for the paragliding concerns,FOR SURE!i believe the law has no clue about what is paragliding and in case of any trouble a judge just go and look in the paragliding federation textes which are the only legal references because the federation received the responsability to organised that sport by the government.so the only law a policeman can follow is the one given by the austrian federation which is in complete contradiction with the FAI if it doesn t let fly pilots wich are insured with an equal aviation liability if they are not holder of a swiss or german licence.it is DISCRIMINATION!!!what if you want to go to fly to spain and they don t accept you because you re austrian(even if you re insured and hold an ippi card wich testify your flying skills)?what if you want to fly in france but they don t accept you because you have a moustache?

Well, you can have fun without violating law and flying like a total retarded, too ;)

Listen guys!

Now there are problems NOT because of landing but because of pilots not being able to hold a 50m distance to the road. Some are flying to the road by a maximum distance of 3 m which not only is dangerous for the pilots due to wind made by cars, trucks or thermals but also dangerous for the cars and trucks (and for some houses, too).
If you are falling into the water be sure you have the supporter sticker (20E available at the local flying school), be kindly and maybe have some 2-5E cash to spend. Than there is no problem, EXCEPT you are in water every day by some really not excusable reasons (making tricks you can't cope with perfectly at low altitude).
There are now problems with the IPPIE-card, which are hardly tried to be solved by some local pilots. However, if you come, be sure, all your documents are valid. Ensure to take a passport withyyou, because, like in every other european country you have to be able to clearly prove who you are and where you are from (and if, by chance, you forgot to take the passport with you DO NOT be unkind to the police, otherwise they may act as unkind as you did).
AND last, but not least, in Austria you HAVE to HAVE a flightbook where your flights are to be written down. If you do not have this, you can buy one at the local flying school and fill in at least one flight a day you are flying in Austria.
However, these are currently the penalties:
€ 300 for flying closer to the street than 50 m (the windsock of the landing place is 80 m away - take this to navigate)
€ 300 for not taking the flightbook with you
€ 300 for not having a valid license
€ 150 for being rude/unkind to police officers

Greetings, Manuel

Until 4 days ago there was no problem at the normal landing.

I am not a friend of the local police, but I want to try to explain:

The mentioned pilot Yungak from Korea had to throw his reserve almost every day, once landing in a tree near the water because he did a McTwist at very low altitude and windy conditions. I wittnessed the accident and I would say it was not a trick he seemed to be good at, and he should not have pulled it at this time and place.

Then, about three weeks ago, a young Austrian acropilot died here at Gerlitzen because he fell into the canopy. Everybody, including the local authorities, is now a bit nervous...

Last, the members of the water rescue are volunteers, which means they don´t get any money. So please be kind when they pull you aboard and do not swear at them for taking to long. This was also happening a few times in the last weeks ... sad but true.

You are right fatfab. Check this link http://www.fai.org/civl-our-sport/ippi-card. So IPPI is valid in Austria, till now. Anyway situation is now even worst. Two more French pilots are penalised, but now they check documents on lending. Lending approach is also restricted. Police make a list of pilots with Austrian and German license, so if You don't have one don't go there, they don't want foreign pilots.
It's not anymore about water landings, now any lending is a problem. Situation is serious if You are a foreigner., just don't go ther.

sorry guys but there are some things to correct:
talking about discrimination etc - that's bullshit. if you go to a foreign country you have to check before if your licence is valid there. in austria there is just the austrian-, german- and swiss licence valid. in many other places you can have the same problems. as soon as you throw the reserve or have a crash, the police is coming and checks everything. if you have no (valid) licence, then it's your own problem and not DISCRIMINATION!
if you want the austrian licence, you have to pass a test. i think the language is not a problem, nowadays everybody can talk english. you will find someone who translates the questions.

Every year there are more and more pilots. And there are many of them who are not able to buy the sticker for the water rescue! it's just 20€!
Everybody thinks it's naturally that the water rescue picks out the paragliders. THAT'S NOT

ivan63 - do you know if it's just Gerlitzen or all over Austria? Clearly, Krippenstein would be a great place to train since I'll be at Acrojam, but not at the risk of 300E! : (

Actually, everybody have problem with Austrian license. You must pay xxx euro, and probably pass the test in German language. We must wait and see the development of the situation with licenses. Second pilot was arrested, Veso from Bulgaria, and he also pay 300 eur.
Camp candy is easy to find, it's close to the landing area (Lindenhof camp), place is easy to find.

From 30.0.2013 police ask for Austrian licence, otherwise if you lend into lake with or without a rescue police will charge 450 euro. Korean pilot Yungak lend into the water after low heli, and there was no rescue boat, so tourist help him to go on shore. After that police came and arrest him. Hi paid for being released from police station. Police was very unpleasant and molest him because hi is not good english speaker.

Everything is within 1-2 km (camping, landing, cable car, shops), Train station in Villach, which is max 10 km away... and has good local train connection.

Gerlitzen:
1. August is maybe the best month, but you'll be flying a lot during the season (june-sept).
2. The acro camp (camp candy :) ) is pretty cheap. ~10eur/person/night, or if you stay longer you can get a better deal.
3. You can get cartridge for life jacket.