Day 1 - Dexter's first flight in Swiss Air Space.
With low level slow winds at take off..(around Noon). Magic Moments 4 meandered, then picked up speed and landed north of Saanen on Highway 11 just south of Schonreid.
The Chalets on the hillsides were huge and numerous. Many foreign pilots rent chalets from relatives or friends that they had made over the years. Many are 100s of years old and stay in families for generations.
Signs were in French, and easy to understand with their international symbols.
The
snow had a nice hard crust which would hold your weight... for about 4 seconds,
then give way. Made for an interesting pack up!
The Mercedes 9 passenger van did not have 4 wheel drive. going down the hill was fine, turning around in an ice covered barn yard was a whole other story.
In the photo below, notice the building in the back- ground? That's a cow shed. They were all over. Swiss Cheese anyone? Since balloons are part of the year round landscape in Chateau d'Oex and the surrounding towns, the cows are accustomed to balloon noise. There were no red Zones! (well, the cemmetary and ???? was off limits) And common sense kept pilots selecting landing sites near roads.
Thankfully Joe (long time friends of Connie & Tiemo) had his 4X4 VW Tarag. And with just a little tow, voila, the van was on it's way up the hill.
