I usually end up landing at Oberwald at least a couple of times every season, but I don’t recommend doing so, as it’s more often dangerous than safe.  I haven’t provided any coordinates because there’s no official LZ or even an accepted area for paragliders to touch down.  However, if you do find yourself landing here, you should be aware of the potential hazards, hence this page.

It’s very unlikely that you will have planned to end your flight at Oberwald when you took off; you may be bombing out having failed to get over the Furka Pass or there could be some problem with flying back towards Fiesch.  So the chance that there’s something wrong with the conditions is higher than average.  If the weather is going bad with overdevelopment or föhn, then because you are enclosed on three sides here, your only escape route is towards Ulrichen, which could well be out of the frying pan into the fire.  Having access to live wind station readings may be very helpful in working out whether it’s reasonable to take the risk of landing here, or worth striving to avoid it.

On a normal flying day, the Grimseler may well be strong enough to produce turbulent gusts here exceeding paraglider trim speed, at any time from midday onwards.  However, in that case you are likely to be able to use slope lift to the south of Oberwald to soar up from relatively low in order to continue your flight, or at least reach a landing option where the wind is less vigorous.  However, you may be constrained by the Münster airspace (in June, July and August) if you can’t gain plenty of height.

Föhn can also produce malignant turbulence here, as there may be wind funnelling down the Geretal into Oberwald from the east, and tumbling down the slope to the south of the village at the same time.  However, sufficient wind blowing out of the Agenetal at Ulrichen to cause concern will often be associated with thermodynamic lift on the slope directly opposite this outflow enabling you to gain sufficient height to reach Ritzingen, which is likely to be your safest option, but again the Münster airspace may get in your way.

The good news is that the terrain around Oberwald consists of large flat fields with no trees around (as you can see from the header image).  On the down side, there are very few wind indicators apart from a flag at the station buffet.  Local hazards to be aware of are high voltage power lines and the river but these are easily seen and avoided.  The most convenient landing spot is to the south-east of the river near the train station, but it may be difficult to tell until you’re committed to a particular area whether the grass there is short or long.