This legendary route has now become the classic flight from Fiesch.  It begins along the Goms, to an easterly turnpoint near the Rhône Glacier, returns back past take-off again to continue along the main Rhône valley to a westerly turnpoint beyond Sion, and from there heads south-east to a southerly turnpoint near Saas-Fee or Zermatt, before the final leg back to Fiesch.   This XContest page contains hundreds of track logs which you can peruse to see exactly how this challenge has been accomplished.  However, be aware that the UK XC League flight rules would not accept this route for an FAI triangle declaration, because it does not start and finish at one of the apices.

One of the reasons for its popularity is the way that the typical schedule for the flight harmonises so well with the topography.  Firstly, the orientation of the slopes over which you will be flying progresses logically from ESE through to S and then around to W, optimising the benefits of solar heating throughout the flight.  Secondly, you will be in the terrain with the greatest altitude when base is likely to be at its highest.  However, it will of course be getting pretty late by the time you reach the section to the south of the main Rhône valley.

This flight (not one of mine) shows a fairly typical choice of route and turnpoints:

Complications include airspace issues around Sion, and only limited landing options away from the Rhône valley, where the breeze at ground level may well exceed paraglider trim speed in mid-afternoon.  This wind affects conditions at considerable altitude, resulting in some of the cracks preferring stronger leeside climbs there over the torn thermals on windward slopes.  A substantial proportion of pilots accomplish this route on EN-B gliders; indeed, a higher rated wing may even be a handicap due to the difficulty of maintaining the intense concentration required to fly a hot ship for many hours in big air.  I have never completed this feat, so the information here is based partly on my experience flying various sections of the route separately, and also on advice from better pilots than me who have achieved it.

At this point, I will assume that you have read the pages on Fiescheralp and the Goms, as these cover the initial stages of the flight, and are nearing the end of your return trip along the Goms, having taken your first turnpoint in the Grimselpass area.  Both flanks of the shoulder above Bellwald are likely to be baking in direct sun, and generating the strongest conditions of the flight so far, so I generally take full advantage of the lift here to max out before setting off back across the Fieschertal towards Eggishorn.  On days with a really high base, you may be able to arrive above the peak, and you will then be in an excellent position to pick up lift off the spine of the ridge leading to the Riederhorn. With less height, the thermal 1km north-east of the Heimat takeoff (which may well have provided your final climb before you started across the Fieschertal on the way out) may still be working; otherwise there are usually plenty of gliders in the general area marking the lift. Experienced pilots have told me that I should try taking a line behind Eggishorn, beside the Aletsch Glacier, but I lack the confidence that I will always find lift here, and no sensible bomb-out options are visible if you go that way.

You can expect base be higher and the thermals stronger than when you started here earlier.  It’s not unusual to find that the conditions below ridge level are uncomfortably choppy at this point in the flight; I suspect that this turbulence is caused by the arrival of the normal main Rhône valley wind, flowing up from Brig to Fiesch.  The air is likely to become smoother as you gain height.  Once above Eggishorn level, pilots seem to choose one of three route options, with examples shown below.  The Tiger line is favoured by the cracks and requires plenty of height; from Eggishorn you immediately cross the Aletsch Glacier to reach the big mountains to the west, aiming to pick up anabatic lift as you traverse across their south-easterly facing slopes.  The Standard line runs along the glacier side of the spine connecting Eggishorn and Riederhorn, and seems to be reliably buoyant, with the likely added bonus of a couple of good climbs on the way.  The Cautious line, above the sunny slopes of Bettmeralp and Riederalp, is the instinctive choice of those who are apprehensive to be on what feels like the “wrong” side of a ridge, but the lift here can be surprisingly disappointing.

Assuming that you haven’t taken the Tiger line, your next challenge is the critical transition (between Blatten on your right and Brig on your left) from the Aletsch area to the south-facing slopes of the main Rhône valley.  If you want to top up beforehand, your last opportunity is the Riederhorn, which usually provides a reliable trigger point for a good thermal.  I am always very keen to maximise my altitude here, firstly to stay above any headwind from the westerly breeze flowing up the main Rhône valley, and secondly, the lower you arrive, the more tricky and turbulent your first climb after the crossing is likely to be.  If you set off with less than 3000m, you may find that you have insufficient height to be able to glide over the crest of the ridge above Nessel to reach the windward terrain beyond, but there is often a usable lee thermal on the face which you are approaching.  However, you should be prepared for significant turbulence due to mixing airflows in this location, i.e. the lee and windward side thermals and the valley breeze, as shown in the picture below.

Beyond Brig, it’s usual to continue along the sunny south-facing side of the valley.  The ground features here are much larger and more widely spaced than the spines and gullies in the Goms, so you can expect longer glides between thermals.  The westerly valley breeze becomes an increasingly important feature, as it tends to strengthen and reach higher altitudes, the further you advance to the west, so you are likely to make faster progress and experience less ground-induced turbulence by staying high.  If you lose height, forcing you out over the lower slopes, I strongly recommend making it your first priority to work your way back up towards the higher terrain rather than fighting with this headwind.  Not only would staying in this valley breeze reduce your groundspeed, but you would find yourself spending much of your time in leeside conditions.  In addition, you may encounter some currents of light northerly flow, due to cooler air in the Bernese Oberland pushing through cols in the main ridge, and descending katabatically at first before crossing the valley.  This effect, which tends to be strengthened by north overpressure and weakened in southerly conditions, is another reason for striving to stay high.

You will soon be approaching the Sion TMA – hopefully you have made yourself aware of its status from the Daily Airspace Bulletin for Switzerland!  Mil off times include a short period in the middle of the day – 12:05 to 13:15 – which may enable you fly through some parts legally if you launched early and have made rapid progress.  Don’t be tempted to follow other gliders for guidance if you are uncertain about the geography here, as they may have obtained permission to cross the airspace, or even be ignorant of its boundaries.  The next two cruxes are the transitions at Gampel and Leuk; again, height is your biggest asset in getting up again successfully after these glides.  Once past the large ski area at Crans Montana, you will need to decide where to take your second turnpoint; most pilots aiming to clock up 200km will turn near Les Diablerets.  As this is the longest leg of your triangle, continuing further may not improve your score (if that bothers you!) due to the way that the software optimises points.  You will by now have flown well over 100km, and it is likely to be mid-afternoon.

You must now make an important decision concerning your route.  These days, the area around Saas Fee seems to be chosen most frequently for the third turnpoint, so I will assume that this is roughly where you will be heading.  You have three options, as shown below. 

Option a is the long way round, but the least committing. You simply retrace your outward route until Visp, where you cross the main Rhône valley to the west-facing flank of the entrance to the Vispertal. This slope, leading up to the antenna on Gibidum, may be soarable in the Rhône valley breeze from quite low down, but any dynamic lift will fade as you ascend, and disappear as soon as you fly up the valley, where landing options are scarce, so most pilots work their way up to ridge level here and hope to then find a thermal before continuing. The height of the valley floor (and the mountains) increases steadily as you progress further; maintaining plenty of altitude is likely to lead to a more relaxing experience than a lower line. I have been told that going down here may not be as bad as you might expect, and that the landing options at Saas Balen and Saas Grund are quite reasonable, but I have no first hand experience of either.

Option b is the most direct route, and seems to be the favourite of the most experienced pilots. You fly back only as far as Sierre, where you then cross the main Rhône valley towards the Illhorn, at the entrance of the Val d’Anniviers. This will require taking account of the status of the Sion TMA.  At various times, it may be only the CTR which you may not enter, while the rest of the airspace is inactive, enabling a simpler crossing. From the Illhorn, you continue to head south-east, across the Turtmanntal and Mattertal; the landing possibilities are more scanty than for option a.  However, you are likely to be here at the time of day when base is at its highest, so if there are plenty of cumulus around which have been providing reliable lift so far, you may be confident that you can cloud-hop over this terrain or find thermals off the sunny slopes below.  Also, Mil off resumes at 17.05, allowing you an extra 500m of height to play with.

Option c avoids the TMA completely, by flying around its western border, and is shorter than option a.  However, it is the most committing of the three choices, as the route crosses many high alpine valleys where landing out would be an unattractive prospect.  Choosing a third turnpoint to the west of Saas Fee may make more sense when approaching this area from that direction.

Once you have taken your southerly turnpoint, you will now be around 40km from completing the flight. In good conditions, you may well find yourself at base with over 4000m at this stage, in which case reaching the Fiesch landing field at 1050m can be quick and relatively easy. Alternatively, if it’s late in the day and the thermals are fizzling out, it may be a struggle or even unattainable. The standard route (shown below) is to cruise north, following the ridge from Weissmies leading towards Brig, where you can expect to find a climb at the Fülhorn, the final peak just south of Brig, before heading north-east to the Folluhorn, east of the town, for your final climb of the flight, well shown in this video clip (not mine!). If you have a lot of height, or are able to dolphin along under a nice line of cloud, you may be able to cut the corner, but you should stay to the west of the Simplonpass road unless you really are very high, to avoid the risk of getting sunk out into the leeside turbulence induced by the Rhône valley wind to the east of Rosswald (just north of E62 in the picture below).

Even if there is a substantial westerly wind at the Folluhorn, tempting you to believe that you can set off on a triumphant final glide to goal with the assistance of a tailwind, be aware that you could (especially with north overpressure) hit a significant headwind lower down, due to the Grimseler penetrating down the Goms beyond Fiesch.  To avoid the disappointment of falling at the final hurdle, I suggest that you aim to get above the peak before moving on from here, and work your way along the ridge rather than cruising along the middle of the valley.  Finally, remember that you are likely to reach the landing field so late in the day that there will probably be a katabatic north-easterly off the Fieschergletscher at ground level there!