In front the Rhine river flows into the Lake near Bregenz and on the far side the national park Rohrspitz. Covered by fog is the airfield of Altenrhein.

Almost on top of Hohenems airfield in the Rhine valley and three countries insight; Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

The lower right corner shows the Walgau. To the right is the town of Nenzing. From this town the Gamperdona valley, also called Nenzinger Heaven leads to the Rätikonengruppe. The valley ends in Liechtenstein. Towards the left is the 2965 meter Mount Schesaplane, the highest in the Rätikonengruppe.

One of the most beautiful parts of the Alps is the end of the Gauertal valley at Montafon. It encompasses the chalky part of the Sulzfluh (to the left) and the three towers of the Drusenfluh (to the right). In the middle you can see the skiing area of Golm.

… at our altitude of 4000 meters, even the 3312 meter Piz Buin looks a bit small.

We have reached the main ridge of the Alps and turn eastwards, following the ridge towards Zell am See. Another look at the Dreiländerspitze, where the borders of Vorarlberg, Tirol and Switzerland meet. On the right hand horizon the Berninamassiv is visible, on the left horizon you can see the Ortlergruppe.

After passing the Reschenpass we climb to 4500 meters, heading towards the Ötztaler Alps.

The Kaunertal glacier of the Ötztaler Alps and its large snow covered area acts as a huge mirror, sometimes dazzling us.

From time to time the main ridge of the Alps permits us a glance south, like here at the Meran basin. On the horizon the chalky towers of the Dolomites can be seen.

Innsbruck and the Europabridge as seen from above the Brenner.

The lonely Stillupp valley and its lake bearing the same name are located in the Zillertaler Alps. They are simple and beautiful.

My renown pilot and glacier-crosser Jürgen Geiger (to my knowledge not related to glacier pilot Hermann Geiger) and I are approaching the Gerloss Pass.

Where the Zillertaler Alps and Hohen Tauern meet, Durlassboden is located in the Wildgerloss valley. From here we start the descending part of our flight…

... towards the approximately 60 Km long Pinzgau, where Zell am See is located at it end. Jürgen believes that at this altitude we can turn off the engine and just glide to Zell am See.

The Kings of the Hohen Tauern: to the middle the Grossvenediger (3674 meters), at its left the Kleinvenediger. The right peak is the Grosse Geiger. Jürgen wants to hike it one day.

After a flight of 2.5 hours we pass the compulsory reporting point Whiskey and cleared directly for a final approach on runway 08 of Zell am See airfield.

Directly after landing we park our glider and go for a well deserved Lunch. Next time I will ask Jürgen to show his face instead of his back.

We start homebound after a good meal (with our belts somewhat loosened). After take-off we turn North and cross Lake Zeller.

The Wilde Kaiser is the last obstacle on our journey towards Übersberg.

The Wilde Kaiser is behind us, we are clear of the Alps. The most impressive part of our flight lies behind.