Coordinates: 46°18’24″ N  7°51’28″ E  645m ASL

The Baltschieder landing field is located in the main Rhône valley, around 23km south-west of Fiesch, and 2km north-west of Visp town centre.  You will almost certainly find a brisk westerly airflow here, because anything else is only likely if something strange or dangerous is happening, e.g. föhn or a gust front.

Location of Baltschieder landing field, viewed approaching from the east

The Rhône valley breeze can present a significant challenge here, as it normally blows at 30-40km/hr in the afternoon, often with gusts exceeding 50km/hr. In the diagram below, “Geschwindigkeit” and “Mittelwind” refer to the average speed and “Böenspitzen” to peak gusts.

Typical winds at Visp

However, as the terrain here is flat, without any significant irregularities upwind, the airflow is usually reasonably laminar.

The boundary of the airspace of the Raron heliport (from ground level at 640m up to 1150m ASL) lies around 500m to the west, so you should not lose your height too far upwind.  100m to the north, there are some large easily visible high voltage power lines, 20-30m high, but as these run parallel to the valley breeze, they should not present a hazard in practice.   There are also some small local power lines, 5-6m high, on the easterly border of the LZ.   The Rhône river flows along the valley around 200m to the south.  A windsock is usually visible.

Location of Baltschieder, viewed from the north-west

I would never launch from Fiesch with the intention of landing at Baltschieder in the afternoon, due to the potential strength of the valley breeze, but have occasionally needed to do so, and have always encountered straightforward conditions. However, when the Bise is strong enough to rule out the Goms, an early downwind dash to land here can be a reasonable option.

Buses run from the nearby village to Visp station every 30-60 minutes in the afternoon; otherwise to walk there takes around half an hour, but it’s often quite hot and humid down here!