SAFA Skysailor Magazine

28 SKY SAILOR December-January-February | SUMMER 2025/2026 by Suzy Gneist After a few seasons of disappointing local weather, and a distinct lack of opportunity to get airborne, I decided to make sure my next European holiday ensured recreational airtime alongside the catching up with family and friends. To make sure my goals were all ticked, I had booked a PG tour in Austria with Roger Stanford from SkyOut for the end of my trip. Beforehand, my itinerary included spending time with my sister visiting Italy, meeting up with friends and more family in Berlin, and forgetting all about the stress of re-roofing and renovating my house after our 2024 Halloween hailstorm disaster requiring major insurance repairs! As my exhaustion subsided – helped along by walks in fresh Bavarian mountain air and the hills of Tuscany, Italian cooking, and plenty of rest for my renovation induced tennis elbow – the much anticipat- ed Stubai tour approached. Roger’s van pulled into the off ramp carpark where I had been dropped off by a friend with my too heavy paragliding gear and minimal other luggage. The van was already packed with the other pilots and their gear, some still bleary-eyed after Schlick from 3300m Alps and Recreation