Our club's summer break ended on 23rd August and some heavy thunderstorms arrived to North-Italy those days. But the clouds disappeared for Saturday, and here we are, again on the airfield, rigging our gliders...I missed it! Chill mood, only 6-7 of us decided to fly this first weekend because a lot of members were still on vacation, flying from France or from Rieti. 

Despite of the heavy rainfalls the previous days, the sky was still blue at 12 am. We needed to wait until 13.30 to have a good start - and thanks to the practicing sessions with the Condor soaring simulator I did my nicest aerotow ever! That's a good sign I thought - maybe I'll better in thermalling as well!

Surprisingly there was more intense thermal activity above the city (the flatland) than above the mountains so I tried to climb there. My first attempt to get further from home was unsuccessful: I did not find any thermal at Mt. Orsa - the first usable thermal was at the southern part of Mt. Generoso and it was too far from home for my ASW15. 

No problem, let's enter to the CTR of Lugano and try to go away mountain by mountain. What a heavy traffic, so many jet flights - I needed to wait quite a lot for them at Mt. Martica. Finally I decide to go to Mt. Nudo from here to leave the CTR, and the last part of the gliding phase is really horrible, I lose a lot of altitude. It might be a downwind zone? 

With a lot of patience I climb until 2400 m so I cross Lago Maggiore and try to search the next thermal at Albergone. I am not running away from here because I arrive high, around 2000 m but I do not find any good lift, only values around 0 m/s or below. What a pity, I wanted to go to Masera! It might be the effect of the clouds which covered the sun? 

I return to Mt. Nudo, climb again with some paragliders and hang-gliders and I go to Sette Termini. No thermals. What to do? I enter again to the CTR, climb quickly till the max. altitude at Mt. Piambello and continue to the east. Mt. San Giorgio, 2000 m, great, I move on. Mt. Generoso, 2300 m, I am happy. Though we are around 4 pm, I continue my way to the east until Mt. Palanzone. Here the clouds are a bit lower, only around 2100 m and they are disappearing. It is clear that summer is ending, the sun is much lower than in July. I return to home from here and I glide until Brebbia airfield before landing safely at Calcinate.

I was much calmer than in the past months, I am quite satisfied with this performance. Not perfect, could have been better, but I see some progress again - thanks to Condor! 

If you want to see my flight on WeGlide, you can find it here:

156 km · Adrienn Kiss · Calcinate del Pesce 08/22/2026

The next weekend I am planning to fly again because these are the last opportunities to collect some points for the Trofeo Flypink or the local yearly competitions of my club. And until that, I keep practicing in Condor! :)

It's been a while I haven't written about any of my flights, I struggled to find the right words. Since the last adventure with an Arcus, I flew four times - three times with my ASW15 and once with a Discus b, property of the club. 

From the month of May I saw a significant decline in my performance, I did not have that nice feeling anymore that any kind of thermal I find, I'll be able to use it. It is very difficult to accept that setbacks happen and that growth includes ups and downs - and the past few months I am definitely in my down phase. The reason? A good question, I wish I could know it! It might be the extreme heat & tiredness, or the obsessed chasing of good results to prove that I have a place in this sport? It might be the fear after the accidents that happened at the airfield where I fly? Or it might be natural, and there isn't any reason to find?

I always believed that a basic skill of a good glider pilot is the ability of turning with an important banking angle, close to 45°. Since the beginning of the season I had my focus on it, and it went quite well - not perfect, but my flights gave me confidence and some satisfaction. Though I need to confess I was able to do it well only on the right side - but at least one side was convincing. I started to notice in May that my banking angles are becoming more shallow but I was not alarmed yet. The real struggling started in June - I was losing my ability of turning with confidence to the right and sometimes I started to turn again to the left (which should not be negative at the end). For many years I preferred the left side, then for the last 3-4 years only the right and now it seems again that I return to left turns! I might be in a transition period, this is why I lost all my confidence? I should try to stop at this point and turn well to both sides! But at the moment it rather looks like I do not turn well neither left nor right side....

It also made me sad that most of the pilots are passing their gliding holiday somewhere now because our club is closed till 19th August and this year because of the circumstances I did not have the chance to go anywhere. 

But enough of complaining, because it is definitely far from me to stop at this point and give up :) these days I used my freetime to practice flying with Condor 3 simulator, a super opportunity to work on my thermalling technique. It is also possible to use an ASW15 so I can perfectly simulate the challenges that I need to face with my own glider during real flights. It is even more fun when I fly together with someone, so I have the chance to learn from more experienced pilots!

Soon this summer break of our club will come to an end and I'm hoping to return to the skies as soon as possible (though a significant rainy period is coming)! I'll also see how much the practice sessions in the simulator helped me and of course I'll shared my experience here. Because it would not be real to talk only about the nice moments, gliding is also this: some difficulties to cope with, sometimes looking like high mountains which you need to climb on your own and understand the root of your problems on your own. A journey full of challenges, and I'm still learning to see the beauty in this vulnerability and accept the fact that progress is never a straight line.

Among the above mentioned 4 flights, this was my favourite one, ended too early because of an incoming storm and then the de-rigging of my ASW under heavy rainfall:

145 km · Adrienn Kiss · Calcinate del Pesce 07/18/2026

The first heat wave of June made it impossible to fly well in our area for around 3 weeks. But then July came, the temperatures became a bit milder and the forecast more optimist... the moderate N wind kept the sky blue and clear, and we had some beautiful cumulus above higher mountains.

The first week of July I made a nice flight with my ASW15 on Friday - though the circumstances did not help to maintain a relaxed mood. Right after take-off I got a message from Ryanair that my flight on Sunday was cancelled due to the strike of air traffic controllers in Italy....I need to re-organize everything! Will I have the chance to see my family in Hungary?

Despite of the bad news I tried to remain concentrated and right after the release from the tow I found a very strong thermal above the city of Varese. From here I went to Mt. Nudo but the thermals were not located at the usual places - because of the 20-30 km/h N wind above 1500 m. Here I climbed until 2500 m and I headed to the north. I did not find any thermal above Monte Sette Termini but it was not a problem because I was high enough to go directly to the next mountain, Mt. Lema. Here and above Mt. Tamaro I passed a bit more time, I tried the lifts under several cumulus. Finally, the temperature is pleasant, I am in shadow... when I reached the altitude of 2900 m, I decided to pass above the CTR of Lugano and try to go in the direction of Valtellina. 

A wonderful thermal at a relatively low mountain (Denti della Vecchia): I went up until 3250 m, amazing! I continued to the peak of Monte Bregagno but here the gliding phase was not amazing... maybe I took a bit of downwind from the ridge of Garzirola? I arrived to this mountain at 2600 m and I climbed until 2900 m. But here the clouds were lower, what a pity, I wanted to go above 3000 m to cross the lake of Como. Despite of this, I crossed the lake... but where to climb on the other side? Monte Legnoncino? Another glider pilot told me that it did not work for him excellently... I try another little peak here, but nothing. I decide to go to the south, to the Grigna. Impressive rocks, a very very turbulent thermal which scares me. I lose the focus, I think about my trip to Hungary, I am frustrated that I did not enter to the Valtellina as planned. I continue on the "pedemontana" region but I am not content with my performance and the way how I center the thermals. I try to return to the west but the sky becomes more and more blue. I go until "Albergone" and I decide to return to home afterwards. Not a bad flight but I feel that I do not progress how I should.... I need to fly with an instructor to see my errors and understand what I should change.

And luckily I shouldn't wait a lot for this occasion, it happens on Sunday. A very experienced instructor, the Arcus M, a low and difficult start. We go very close to the ridges and little mountain peaks: an amazing and scary view, but it works! Hard work pays off, finally we climb well at Mt. Lema... but the Arcus is heavy, I do not feel the pedal movements well under my feet.  

We start to feel the N wind above 2000 m and we climb in turbulent thermals on the Garzirola. We decide to enter to the Engadina valley, a totally new place for me. Amazing glaciers, grey rocks, snow, strong wind, and if you make a little mistake and you finish on the southern side of the ridge, you get punished immediately with some heavy sink. 

Alberto, the instructor on board with me identifies my mistakes: when established in the thermal, I do too many movements with the stick and I have the tendency to give too much opposite aileron input. This is dangerous, here is a bad habit to correct! The Arcus is actually a gentle glider, despite of the impressive mass and modern profiles, it never stalls when turning. 

It would have been possible to climb until 4000-4500 m, but we do not have oxygen so we stop at 3500 m. After the Engadina, we pass above Locarno and we continue in the direction of Val Formazza. We climb in some tricky rotors, I am still not able to use them.... but Alberto has the skills to use the narrowest thermals as well so we never need to turn back to climb more in easier thermals. 

Around 5 pm we decide to go home, 150-180 km/h... we need to open the airbrakes because we return to the area near Calcinate way too high. Landing was not as easy as with my ASW15, but I guess it is also the experience on the glider type. At the end of the day we clean the glider and put it away in the hangar. Alberto tells me that I should not be so severe with myself, little imperfections are acceptable. I know he is right...he also points out the bad habit of excessive opposite aileron movement when turning. I was there to learn with him so I am happy we found a few errors on which I need to work. 

Though I am very tired (exhausted!) after 4 days at Calcinate, I am also eager to fly again and start the work. I know what I need to do, so let the practice begin!

If you want to see these two flights, you can find them here:

183 km · Adrienn Kiss · Calcinate del Pesce 07/03/2026

286 km · Adrienn Kiss · Calcinate del Pesce 07/05/2026

After my first competition in May, I needed to switch focus and prepare to my intermediate French language exam. Of course that didn't mean forgetting about gliding! But it was rather common to see me under the wing in the shadow reading French textbooks....

The 1st June (Monday) was a day off in Italy as 2nd June is a national holiday (Tuesday)... as the forecast was quite promising, five of us decided to fly on this Monday. A very difficult start, weak thermals, I lost hope quickly... but, in a relatively short time the lifts became stronger and though it was necessary to do 2 tentatives, at the end I arrived to Mt. Tamaro. 2950 m, let's go! 

A luxurious feeling to arrive to Mt. Limidario at the other side of the lake Maggiore and still be high (2500 m). Clouds were a bit lower here, but I saw a nice street ahead of me: let's enter to the Cento Valley! At 2400 m I found a nice thermal on the other side of the valley and I continued my way in the direction of Masera airfield, where I bought my glider.

Higher mountains, better conditions: I arrived to 3400 m, incredible happiness! I did not expect such a nice day when I was trying to stay in the air above Mt. Martica and struggling with those weak thermals. I go more to the north than ever before, I nearly reach Passo San Giacomo. The mountains are really high here, around 3000-3300 m so I start to feel myself low. I am unsure about the way in front of me to the valley of Ambri... so at a certain point I decide to turn back. Especially because a thick high cloud cover is starting to enter from the west...

I could have pushed my limits further? I think so. I arrived home safely? Yes, with a very long final glide of more than 50 kms!

If you want to see my flight, you can find it here:

195 km · Adrienn Kiss · Calcinate del Pesce 06/01/2026

That week I flew three times, but the other two flights were not so remarkable, cloud base got lower and lower and the conditions were much weaker. I was also very frustrated by the fact that I felt that I flew much worse than before and I did not understand the reason. In addition to the pressure of the exam, I had in my mind 2 very recent accidents which happened at our airfield: one person luckily survived a collision in the near forest with a JS3, the other person however died during a competition flight with his AS33. Two events which marked my mood and raised the level of stress and sadness significantly.... 

What is more, starting from the second week of June, Italy needs to face with a very important heat wave, just like the rest of Western Europe... the high pressure system is always a bad news for us, weak and low thermals, often blue sky. It's been two weeks that I haven't flown and I miss it so much. Fingers crossed for the weather change, it will be necessary in order to return there where I belong, to the sky. 

It's Friday morning, I am at home, ready to work because the sky is grey already in the morning and it is raining cats and dogs... we've arrived to the second week of my first competition but the day is cancelled again. Saturday: good conditions, but with significant N wind - that might be too tricky for the people who have little experience in competitions. Another day cancelled...

But here we're, Sunday morning, the second task and the last day of the competition. I am thrilled! The organizers need to face some technical problems in the morning because SeeYou does not work for the task sheet preparation. We receive our tasks around 11 am and I get a bit worried because I see that the 1st WP is in the Valsesia: I've been there only 2 times! Another assigned area task, task time: 2 hours 30 minutes, START: Velmaio, WP1: Zogno, WP2: Piancavallo, WP3: Annone, Finish: Varese. At least 167.5 km, max. 314 km.

The take-offs start earlier than scheduled, I am in the air well before 12.30 am. Only the first thermal needs some patience: the towplane leaves me further from the ridge of Campo dei Fiori... that means that while gliding there with an old glider, I lose some altitude and I might lose the ridge as well. No problem, I calm myself down and slowly climb to 1500 m. I find the first really strong thermals, smile stamped on my face. I hear that I still have like 20 mins until the opening of the start line so I go to Mt. Nudo... the gliding phase is challenging again, after a strong lift, I find a strong descending zone. I arrive there low... I say to myself: don't get scared, that cumulus over there must function well. It is too beautiful. You have plan B, you can even land out, no shame. But the thermal is there, and it is just magnificent: the best conditions of this strange season. I climb until 2700 m and I am surrounded by the competitors of the National Open Class. The start line opens at 13.05 and I pass it nearly immediately. It is a long glide above Lago Maggiore until Mottarone. But I arrive there high, 1900 m, I find a good thermal, I start to believe in the completion of the daily task. 

The dark clouds over Valsesia look good, and though I feel a bit of anxiety as I get further and further from home, I successfully touch the first circle near the little airfield of Marc Ingegno (Varallo). I see here Mariella with her LS1f, I say hi to her in the radio but she doesn't hear me. We need to remain in focus so I quickly return to Mottarone. The thermals are not very good at this time. I decide to touch the circle around the 2nd WP near Gravellona and return to Mt. Nudo to see how to proceed forward.

I have two options to reach the 3rd WP: I can do the "pedemontana", but that means that I can fly max. around 1676 m near Campo dei Fiori and Mt. Orsa. Or I can do a longer way, stay higher and cross above the CTR of Lugano at the north. After I've learned from last week's bad decision, I choose the second option. I go to Sette Termini and I continue to Mt. Lema. Here I discover that I can touch the big circle around 2nd WP close to Mt. Tamaro as well and that must give me a longer distance for the scoring. I decide to do this, it can be crucial to obtain more points though it will make my flight slightly slower. 

I need to make sure that I do not fly into the CTR of Lugano when crossing above it: that would mean the end of my flight, an "outlanding on entry" penalty. I climb till 2700 m and then I go to Denti della Vecchia. Wonderful conditions, I am confident. I go to Monte di Tremezzo, and I continue to Mt. San Primo. I touch the circle of the 3rd WP here and I climb between Mt. Palanzone and Mt. San Primo together with a Libelle from Alzate airfield. I am fast, I start to think about the final glide. I stay on the safe side, I do more altitude then requested and I go: 36 kms from home, I announce on the frequency that I am in the final glide phase. 140-150 km/h, a long and calm arrival till home, some tears in the eye because I did it! A special thought to my grandmother, lost 2 years ago, while I touch the keychain in my pocket with a little airplane. It was from her, a last memory which accompanied me during this incredible flight.

The surprises did not finish at this point! With a great average speed, no penalties, I can expect a good result: but who could imagine it that I obtain the 2nd place in the daily classification and also in overall?! We have the award ceremony at 18.30 together with the National Open Class and the participants of Coppa Cittá di Varese.

It is still hard to believe that I am there, on the podium, surrounded by friends and people who taught me a lot in the past years. Roses, a special glass trophy, a well-deserved cold beer... and another incredible news to shock me: I reached more than 60% of the points of the 1st place pilot so I will obtain the promotion to the national class when I'll participate in another "Gara di Promozione" (where I do not need to reach any good result, it is sufficient to participate).

What does it mean for the future? That the next year I'll continue to compete! Another competition at home? Maybe at Alzate airfield? I'll make the decision during winter. And now it is time to celebrate!

If you want to see my flight on WeGlide, you can find it here:

202 km · Adrienn Kiss · Calcinate del Pesce 05/17/2026

You can find the final results here:

Soaring Spot :: CCV - Coppa Città di Varese

This long-awaited moment has finally arrived. 8th May, Friday morning, Calcinate del Pesce. The sky is quite covered with clouds but we're rigging our gliders because the "Gara di Promozione" starts today with 6 competitors and some very different gliders (LS6, Discus, ASH31, ASW15b, LS1) in race. In Italy an interesting concept exists for the entrance to the national competitions: first it is necessary to pass the "Gara di Promozione" by winning it, or it might be sufficient to do 2 competitions within 18 months and reach at least 60% of the points of the first person during one of the competitions. 

For me this is the first time that I compete so I am really excited (even though we have doubts about the weather for the 1st day). We had a long briefing with the competition director who explained us very well the rules and the airspace situation near Calcinate. The cloud base remains around 1300 m during the afternoon, and for this reason the first task is cancelled around 2 pm. I decide to derig my glider and it was an excellent decision because just 30 mins later thunderstorms start in the area. I drive home and prepare myself for the second day which must be much better.

9th May, Saturday: I arrive even earlier to the airfield, before 8 am. The fitness exercise is not missing: we rig again several gliders but I have time to drink a cappuccino in the bar, listen to the weather forecast and then go to the briefing which takes place at 10.30 am. We get an AAT task of 2 and 1/2 hrs, min. distance 167,5 km, max. distance 314,1 km. We take-off at 12.45 when the weather is already magnificent. We have some nice dark cumulus above Campo dei Fiori but we need to wait for the opening of the start till 13.35. It is difficult! The max. altitude in this area is 1676 m so every time I arrive around 1610-1620 m I start to open the airbrakes in order not to ruin my flight before its start. I have two annoying things to deal with: the zoom of my navigation screen does not function properly and the tape on my wings did not remain well-fixed... but I overcome the frustration, and I start the task just after the opening of the line. I find a good but narrow thermal between Campo dei Fiori and Mt. Orsa and I go away quite easily. I was very afraid of this part of the flight because I usually did it through the CTR of Lugano.... but it is not possible to enter to a controlled airspace during the competition otherwise it worth like an outlanding on entry. 

At Mt. Generoso it takes a bit of time to find a good lift but then at Mt. Bisbino I am really happy: I arrive, I do 3 circles in a strong thermal, I reach the cloudbase around 2150 m and I go forward. What a nice day, I am very determined to complete the task. The problems start around Lecco, the first WP: the cloud cover is quite thick, I find everywhere 0 m/s and I struggle to reach again the clouds (only around 1950 m here). I don't want to make my flight longer by passing to the north on higher mountains so from Resegone I directly glide to Cornizzolo. Horrible decision, I do not find any thermal here, blue sky. I need to go forward to Mt. Bollettone where I arrive only around 1300 m QNH. Here I find thermals, but it takes time to reach 1900 m and start the return in the direction of Calcinate. Some difficulties again at Campo dei Fiori to reach a good altitude of 1500 m and go to Mt. Nudo to turn in the 2nd WP. It is around 4-4.30 pm and the clouds are disappearing, the conditions are getting weaker. I seriously start to doubt if I will be able to finish the task. I insist around Mt. Orsa and Mt. San Giorgio, but I do not find any good lift. I do not want to finish on a field in the area of Arcisate so after a final try, around 5 pm I land at home. Slightly disappointed, partly content. 

I obtain the 4th place with this flight: I am happy because I perfectly respected all the airspaces which is not easy in this zone. I am sad because only 35 km was missing for the flight completion... me and Mariella (LS1f) could not finish the task, the others with more modern glider succeeded in it. It's a pity that we did not start the flight earlier when the conditions were already very good because the day finished earlier than I expected.

We closed this evening with an aperitivo in the bar with the participants of the Coppa Cittá di Varese. We had fun, and this is what really matters during the first competition experience.

On Sunday we did not have a task because it was raining all day. The competition will re-start on 15/05, and we might have 3 tasks the next weekend - depending on the weather. Wish me good luck for this next chapter and stay tuned! :)

If you want to see my flight on WeGlide, you can find it here:

179 km · Adrienn Kiss · Calcinate del Pesce 05/09/2026

The page of the competition on SoaringSpot:

Soaring Spot :: CCV - Coppa Città di Varese

The first weekend of May, on a sunny Saturday morning I arrive to the airfield before 9 am. There's already a long queue of gliders waiting for take-off and hoping for good conditions. But as the title suggests, the weather doesn't really want to collaborate this year, the Southern Alps is affected by lack of rain and too high temperatures for the season. 

Even though I am at the back, I take off right after 12.00 (relatively early) and I am happy to feel the first thermals on Campo dei Fiori...at least it is possible to stay airborn. I enter to the CTR of Lugano and catch some strong thermals there. I go to Mt. Orsa where I need to search a bit and then Mt. San Giorgio: a wonderful thermal lift here! I go until 2000 m: oh, if the weather will be like this, then finally we can say that we have a good soaring day. 

I get disappointed earlier than expected: Mt. Generoso is not generous enough, I struggle to arrive to 1950 m. Heavy descending zones, very weak thermal at Mt. Bisbino. And not only the weather is problematic, some other pilots as well because of not respecting the rules of thermalling together... so I continue to Brunate because they say that it always works well. Indeed, at least here I find a lift which take me up till 1700 m again. At Mt. Bollettone I meet a lot of gliders and paragliders because there is a competition at Alzate Brianza airfield. My favourite thermal spot, Mt. Palanzone is not wonderful this time, so I slowly go back to Brunate and try to do the maximum altitude for the return in the direction of my home airfield. 

It is always more difficult to fly without cumulus, we never know where we can find the next thermal. Between Mt. Bisbino and Mt. Generoso I find a narrow lift which ensures the safe glide till home. I want to discover the western side as well so I search for lifts around Campo dei Fiori to be able to go to Mt. Nudo. It takes more time than expected, but I arrive there. Unluckily I cannot cross the lake because I am not high enough for that. Nevertheless, I am quite happy when I land around 4 pm, especially when I get to know that the day was difficult for everyone, and several people needed to outland.

If you want to see my flight on WeGlide, you can find it here:

122 km · Adrienn Kiss · Calcinate del Pesce 05/02/2026

Now an exciting week is ahead, I still can't believe what I am typing on my keyboard: I will have my first competition! I spent some time with the preparation during these weeks: I sent all the necessary documents to the organizers, I studied again the airspace limits in the pedemontana region (where most tasks of the competition are expected) and I went to visit some outlanding places on the Swiss-Italian border (Arcisate, Mendrisio). I used Microsoft Flight Simulator to practice the circuit at Kong airfield and Alzate Brianza, and I flew above the Poncia, an other outlanding option between Alzate and the city of Lecco. All the experience confirms again that the outlanding options are not very good in this area and it's better to have the glide always until the next airfield. 

The weather is questionable for the first days of the competition, but the second week might be better as we are in May, which should be the best period here in North-Italy. Wish me good luck, I am excited!

Soaring Spot :: CCV Coppa Città di Varese - Promozione e Lega Amatori

A challenging day ahead. It's only 8 am in the morning and thick fog is covering the airfield of Calcinate del Pesce. Though it might seem crazy, many pilots are preparing and rigging their gliders on this Thursday morning... the forecast was promising, so I also decide to take a day off and get ready with my ASW15.

These days our airfield is hosting a lot of Italian and international guests for the SAP (Stage Alta Performance) organized by the champion Alberto Sironi. Even though I am always happy to get to know other pilots from around the world, the airfield becomes really busy in this period and the air as well. We start the take-offs with 5 towplanes at 11 am so I get airborn around 11.35 am. Very early, the cumulus are low and not nice on Campo dei Fiori so when I release from the tow I immediately enter to the CTR of Lugano, Mt. Martica. I knew that it will be hard, but still... many pilots at the same places, everyone is low, the tension is always high. More than an hour passes when finally I arrive to 1950 m at Mt. Sette Termini...let's try then Mt. Lema! The gliding phase is not easy with an ASW15, I find it difficult to circle to the left with many others close to the ridge so I am searching desperately at around 1600 m.... if I do not find anything, this will be an outlanding. But a Ventus 3 saves me, he finds a very good thermal a bit further from the top of the ridge (surprising for me) and we enjoy reaching 2000 m. Before crossing Lago Maggiore I reach even 2400 m so I directly go to the southern part of Mt. Limidario.

A very nice dark cumulus waits me there which works well. This is the most enjoyable part of my flight: I enter to the Cento Valley with 2500 m and I am relaxed when I arrive to the other part of the valley at 2300 m. The clouds work here magnificently! Those smooth, strong, easy thermals that we always look for... I cannot stop smiling above the snowy peaks, I reach 3200 meter here... just wonderful, did I arrive to heaven?!

I would like to go up to the north to see Passo San Giacomo but as usually, while heading to the north, cumulus clouds disappear and thermals as well. I see lower bases in the western direction so I decide to return to Mt. Tamaro... maybe I will have enough time to try the Valtellina as well. 

With great disappointment I realize that thermals are not so wonderful here as in the Cento Valley... everything broken, I never do a whole circle with the same m/s value. I cross above the CTR of Lugano (but I call the tower, in order to avoid finishing in their airspace suddenly) and I find a good thermal at Denti della Vecchia. But the base does not seem particularly high so I decide to continue on the pedemontana region and not to the Valtellina. And this is the point where I actually did a mistake, I should have stayed more to the north where the clouds were much higher so I could maybe try to cross the valley to enter to the Valtellina. 

I feel myself exhausted and thermals are not very good at Mt. Generoso and Bisbino. I return to home without any problem but I have a question in my head all evening: I could have done more? I should have done more!

The next time I will try to remain always above the high mountain area and try to forget the pedemontana region, the "comfort zone" for me. I keep learning, this sport never disappoints... challenges, difficulties, some rewards for the hard work, and the obsession of going further, faster, to discover more.

If you want to see my flight on WeGlide, you can find it here:

178 km · Adrienn Kiss · Calcinate del Pesce 04/16/2026

Though it's always more difficult to resolve flying on Monday or on Tuesday at Calcinate, the 24th of March (Tuesday) seemed to be very promising. A nice high base of cumulus, quite easy thermals, everything went well. Even though I wanted to discover the Valtellina, I felt myself too low to enter (2000 m at Grigne) so I remained in the pedemontana area. I tried to concentrate on a good speed between Lecco and Mt. Limidario, and indeed my average speed was acceptable. At the end of the day I was satisfied and happy that I took a day off from work. 

But then April came and summer-like conditions arrived to Calcinate. Very hot on the ground (25°C), 0°C around 3000 m, blue horror and inversion... However, I decided to try to fly every day during the Easter holidays. Saturday: broken thermals, disturbing wind (15-20 km/h), I felt myself in a washing machine where it was impossible to do a whole circle with the same m/s value. 

I was not content at the end of the day, I wanted to re-try it on Sunday. The conditions didn't become better but my determination made me fly again for around 4 hours, mostly above the little mountains in Lugano CTR. At the end, it's also a good practice for radio communication with the tower. 

I didn't do more kms than on Saturday but I found again my inner peace, I was content that I resisted and I could fly. I left my glider rigged so I could try it again on Easter Monday. We knew that the weather above the high mountain area will be magnificent, but the start will be difficult. 

Worse than expected: many of us couldn't even stay airborn. Once someone lost the ridge of Campo dei Fiori, it was impossible to find lifts above the city of Varese. The nice conditions were so close (above Mt. Piambello it was already enjoyable), but I was unable to reach them. A very frustrating closure of the Easter holidays!

But it is what it is, I need to accept the failure and prepare for my next flight. Calcinate is situated close to the mountains, but often not close enough to the high mountains therefore in summer, when the high pressure system stops here, it's difficult to go away. It's only April, this hot weather with the summer conditions were strange, but the climate changes and unluckily we often have this problem. 

The upcoming week will change the weather and colder days are expected for the next weekend. So let's retry it again, because giving up was never an option. 

If you want to see my flights on WeGlide, you can find them here:

24th March, Tuesday:

269 km · Adrienn Kiss · Calcinate del Pesce 03/24/2026

Saturday:

69 km · Adrienn Kiss · Calcinate del Pesce 04/04/2026

Easter Sunday:

68 km · Adrienn Kiss · Calcinate del Pesce 04/05/2026

It's the golden hour... a warm light reflects on the canopy of my glider. I feel a bit cold and I know that in half an hour the sky will be dark, covered with stars. It's late in the evening (after work) and my ASW15 should still wait for me... the stage of the Italian female pilots will start tomorrow, on 18th March (day 0).

The success of the first declared task of the season makes me think about another declared task for day 0 so I prepare it on WeGlide (255 km): start from Campo dei Fiori, WP 1 Roncola, WP 2 Mt. Limidario, WP 3 Monte San Primo, WP 4 Laveno. It seems to be a bit challenging, but I want to try! 

Even though the planned distance was too much for such an early spring day, I close the first day with a nice flight: I arrive to Mt. Resegone and I return to Mt. Nudo without any problem. The fresh snow on the mountains like Mt. Generoso looked wonderful and I was happy to see some cumulus with flat and dark base lines around Lake Como. If the weather will be so good every day during the stage, we have luck this year!

The first official day of the stage was the first real challenge - I needed to stay attached to a Ventus 3 and follow her path. We decided to try to discover the western pedemontana region (the area where the mountains meet with the flatland), a totally new territory for me with less outlanding opportunities than to the eastern direction.

I have no problems flying above Mt. Nudo - Sette Termini - Lema, then cross Lago Maggiore and arrive to Albergone. This is still my comfort zone, I am confident. But then: what's the best way to go to Mottarone? It's a long glide from Albergone! May I stop at some smaller mountains to gain a bit more altitude? Finally we arrive above the highest point of Mottarone and we find thermals here. The sky is blue, no clouds so I'm afraid to cross Lago d'Orta in the direction of Valsesia. Especially because under us there isn't any nice high mountain, only some smaller hills: who knows which one will give us a lift? I close the first day with a shy flight in this area and I'm not really content with the result. 

The next day I need to follow a Ventus 2 and we decide to go until Lago d'Iseo. The flight starts again in my comfort zone and I have no fear until Lecco (50 km from home). The thermal on Grigne was a bit difficult and broken, but anyway we are around 2000 m when we enter to the "Orobie". The person who accompanies me in this adventure has a huge experience and we talk a lot on the radio - it helps me to be more relaxed and understand better the choices that we make together.

In order to avoid the risk of remaining blocked between the many little valleys of this zone, we go to the south, closer to the flatland... and that was not a good choice! I found myself at 1100 m, 12 km from the airport of Valbrembo... but he's with me, we search a lift together and yes, it's there, we drop in the left wing and enjoy the sound of the e-vario again. The stressful moments pass, we gain more altitude and I show the way to home. Our goal was almost completed: though we did not see Lago d'Iseo, I made a big step forward and I didn't need to land out 90 km from home. I am very happy that evening. We go out with the Flypink ladies: a well-deserved dinner with two beers!

The last flyable day of the stage is Saturday: I need to follow an ASK21Mi with a very experienced instructor on board. I start the flight earlier than the ASK21 and I go until Albergone without any problem, the smile stamped on my face. The scenario is the same as the first day of the stage: I get nervous at the gliding phase from Albergone to Mottarone. I arrive much lower to Mottarone, around 1300 m only, well under the ridge. This is a nightmare, from here I would only arrive to a little field on the other side of Lago Maggiore (Brebbia), I would never be able to return home. 

But the previous day has already showed me that I am able to perform well even under stress, I just need to believe in myself (and in the thermal in front of me)! I raise the banking angle and concentrate on the correct speed, that thermal should be there, south east of Mottarone... when I gain at least 100-200 m, I feel the relief...I will do it again without outlanding. We cross Lago d'Orta and this time we enter well to the Valsesia.... I see Varallo, some very dark clouds above us which do not function always well. But there's someone with me on who I can rely... I need to go after him, very close, and try to copy what he does because he has a great experience. We return to Campo dei Fiori without problems and though I wanted to make the flight longer in the eastern pedemontana region, I arrive only to Mt. San Giorgio, I found some very strong descending zones there. 

The sky becomes fully covered, I see rain in the direction of Domodossola, a spectacular closing of the stage and the evening. I land with some tricky east wind and we de-rig the gliders in hurry because there's the risk that it will rain. I'm tired (4 days of flying without any pause), but that good tiredness... I put my heart into this flight.

After the de-briefing we've an aperitivo in the bar and then we eat pizza together. A wonderful convivial moment to celebrate the results and the learnings of these days: we laugh a lot, we enjoy the food and some Aperol Spritz, we share stories and smiles around that long table. A special thanks to the organization (Margherita & Stefano), to the coaches who accompanied me in this adventure (Margherita, Emilio and Alberto) and my fellow Flypink friends, these days will be forever in my mind.

If you want to see my flights, you can find them here:

Day 0

157 km · Adrienn Kiss · Calcinate del Pesce 03/18/2026

Day 1

135 km · Adrienn Kiss · Calcinate del Pesce 03/19/2026

Day 2

218 km · Adrienn Kiss · Calcinate del Pesce 03/20/2026

Day 3

184 km · Adrienn Kiss · Calcinate del Pesce 03/21/2026