Mürren

Mürren is without doubt one of the most beautiful and most effective over-the-ground training locations in the world! Mürren is a tiny alpine village located on top of a 700 meter cliff overlooking the breathtaking Lauterbrunnen valley. For rusher it is possible to make 1 flight every 30 minutes, but it will become very stressful. However even for the more chilled pilots the rotation will be 1 hour. In the ski season Schiltgrat is the alternate launch a few hundred meters higher.

Access

From Interlaken drive up to the Lauterbrunnen valley. From Lauterbrunnen just keep driving towards the end of the valley till you reach the Schilthorn cable car's parking place. If you come by train to Lauterbrunnen you have to change to a post bus for the last part to Stechlberg. Mürren is only accessible by hike or cable car. Because people live up there it is possible to buy a monthly pass for ~70 CHF (2013) that can be used unlimited from the landing place (Stechlberg) to the summer startplace (Mürren) and it is worth buying if you plan to do more than 7-8 flights. There is a quick change to make to get to Mürren but the cabins are all synchronized and therefore it only takes 1-2 minutes.

Summer startplaces

The tennis court: ATTENTION: it is strictly forbidden to launch from here on the weekends and when the grass is high on the field! It is very important to obey these rules in order to keep the peace with the land owners! Also ask the local pilots about the current situation and rules! This launch is the quickest to access but it is also the most dangerous one. Suitable only for experienced pilots! There is absolutely NO ROOM FOR ERROR here! To find it follow the signs to the "Klettersteig". This startplace is basically a cliff take-off since the field is just on the edge of the 750 meter high vertical wall with nothing but some tiny trees in between! You need good conditions to launch safely! The startplace and the cliff itself is facing east. Conditions to launch can be very good before noon as long as the sun is directly hitting the slope and there is good upwind. However, beware of the upcoming valley wind! This creates dangerous turbulences on the take-off without you noticing! The wind will start to blow cross from the north (left) but you may still feel like headwind on launch! DO NOT START HERE ANYMORE but change to the official startplace when the valley wind is already on!

Official Mürren take-off:
For less experienced ones, or any time when conditions are more tricky better to launch from here! It only takes 5 more minutes to reach then the tennis cord but it is a lot safer with a lot bigger margin for errors. It is also possible to launch in light back-wind here. In winter this spot turns into a ski slope.

Winter startplace - Schiltgrat

Once the ski area opens Schiltgrat becomes accessible. From Mürren take the chair lift (3 minutes walk from the Mürren cable car station). The launch is situated just underneath the end of the lift. The snow on launch is well prepared and the spot is reserved for paragliders. It is a few hundred meters higher then Mürren, however you will not arrive over the valley a lot more higher, maybe just 50-100 meters.

Conditions

On normal days it stays fairly calm down in the valley, however when there is good thermal activity the valley wind can pick up strong. Later in the afternoon at the peak strenght of the valley wind it is sometimes possible to use the dynamic-thermal lift on the opposite side of the valley. However this requires strong conditions with small acro wings and mostly only works for normal pilots. Due to the surrounding high mountain ranges the area stays well protected from strong winds, however beware of flying here when föhn (strong south wind) is forecasted to be strong!

The acro box

From the tennis court and the official take-off the acro box can be reached extremely fast, within 30-60 seconds. Keep north of the landing place for your maneuvers and the stronger the valley wind the more upwind (north) you have to start! Keep safe distance from the cables of the material lift and the cable car station itself. In the winter when there is usually not much wind in the valley you may be allowed to stay a little bit closer above the landing zone. The airspace is kind of tight so watch out for tandems and solo pilots!

Landing

The landing zone is directly next to the parking place of the cable car. Do not land anywhere else! Better not to do any ground spirals as the place is pretty tight and the terrain is uneven.

Contact Acro Club Berner Oberland for more information!