Eight vol-biv enthusiasts set off from the French cross-country mecca of St. André for the first so-named Gumball Transalp Rally. They wanted to take on the challenge of an Alpine crossing in which each would progress at their own pace. When possible, they might tackle sections together, or meet up en route for the bivouacs. That was the idea. Tim Pentreath, initiator of the project, describes how it worked out, and how this new vol-biv format developed.
It’s not a race, it’s a rally
After I took part in a fantastic vol-biv adventure with four friends in July 2019, I wanted to encourage more pilots to try bivouac flying. Preparing and starting such an adventure together considerably lowers the reluctance threshold for any individual. The Gumball 3000 philosophy would be followed: “It’s not a race, it’s a rally”. This legendary road rally runs once a year through various countries, and the social part of it is as important as the journey. So the Gumball Transalp Rally was born as a vol-biv project.
Each participant could decide for themselves how they would manage the vol-biv adventure, maybe adopting the purist approach – completely independent and exclusively under their own steam: or more relaxed, with perhaps a little help from public transport. The intention was that helpful tips could be exchanged along the way, ideally with flying or bivouacking together. St. André in the south of France lends itself as a good starting point. Chamonix at the foot of Mont Blanc was chosen as a virtual goal, and if the rally travelled further, so much the better.
A brilliant start
Despite COVID restrictions and a not entirely promising weather forecast Nigel, Chris, Tony, Feite, Rhys, Ian, Steve and I met up in St. André: eight motivated Gumballers. After dinner we allowed ourselves to be driven up to the Le Chalvet take-off, where we were to spend this first night in our tents. For some this was a vol-biv baptism of fire, and bivouac equipment was put to the test. The forecast was not great for next day, but around midday the weather gods heard our prayers.
We took off one after the other, the cloudbase rose to 3,600 metres and together we set off to the north. By the evening the potential richness of such a group adventure was becoming apparent. Six of the eight adventurers had 100 km on their instruments. On balance, certainly a successful start. Unfortunately one pilot had a hard landing and had to go to hospital. Another missed a thermal connection and landed in the outback, resulting in a long walk.
Beer at Lake Annecy
The next day, the remaining six gumballers were again able to put together considerable airtime. By the evening four members had spread themselves over a larger distance between the southern and northern French Alps. Chris and I once more managed to fly 140 km. We landed independently near Albertville, not far from the Chamonix milestone. Nevertheless, we did not meet up. I landed a little earlier and the Annecy Lake was within walking distance so I enjoyed my evening beer at the Doussard landing site. Chris, on the other hand, hiked in the direction of St. Gervais.
Chris Ashdown view:
"When Tim asked me to join the first Gumball Transalp Rally I was sceptical at first. Am I even up to such a challenge? After all, I have never flown anything close to 100 km in my whole flying career. But then I said to myself: hey, I’m not getting any younger and if I don’t take this chance, I might regret it for ever. When I then circled straight up to 3,600 m on the first flight with the help of Tim and Nigel, and achieved my longest flight with 87 km, I was overjoyed. That was more than I had ever hoped for. And so it went on. On the second day there was another personal best with 143 km. After that came the bad weather, unfortunately. I covered part of the distance by public transport and flew some small distances. But in Verbier I met Tim again. The next day was the absolute highlight of this trip: we flew over the Aletsch glacier in Fiesch and landed in Ticino in the evening. A personal best again, just WOW. After landing, I needed quite a few moments to get my head round it all."
Reunification Day
Everyone took advantage of the upcoming rainy day to get into a good position to continue. In the process, two groups formed again in the widely distributed field. Chris and I, on the other hand, were alone and each sought out a starting place nearby. The following day delivered what it promised. I was able to fly past Chamonix all the way to Switzerland, where I met up again with Chris in Verbier after another rest day. The other Gumballers were divided into two groups also near Chamonix. Two of them wanted to continue and also reach Switzerland; for the others the French mountain village was the destination and thus the end of their adventure.
Tim's video-diary
One-sided luck
Chris and I hiked together up to the Verbier launch site on the morning of Day 6. Due to stronger wind north of the Alps, we decided to take a southern route. It was a good plan, because in the evening I had reached Bellinzona in Ticino after flying more than 190 km, Chris was close. With the worsening weather approaching from the west, luck had been on our side. While we had both crossed Switzerland and then northern Italy in large steps, our friends, who were still near Chamonix, were unfortunately grounded by the bad weather.
Final Sprint
Now a new goal loomed for me: to get as near as possible to Venice. From there I could come home by plane. The closer I got to the Po Basin, the more stable the airmass became and the shorter the flights. My lucky streak was coming to an end. A very turbulent four-and-a-half-hour flight over only 30 km brought me near Bassano del Grappa on day 10. This was a good ending and I was happy about my personal tally: 800 km in eight flights. The group achievement was also impressive, after all, six of the eight Gumballers reached the Chamonix milestone. And where was Chris? Only on my train ride to Venice did I find out that he had also reached the Po Basin a bit further west near Bergamo, and flown home from there. Well done Chris! See you again at the Gumball Transalp Rally 2021.
Tim‘s Equipment
Das Team
Rhys Fisher, Chris Ashdown, Steve Wagner, Tony Chapman, Ian McHardy, Feite Klijnstra, Nigel Cooper and Tim Pentreath got together for the VolBiv adventure, were able to benefit from each other and most importantly had a brilliant time in the Alps.