Walchensee / Zwergern has no other spot on this map within 40 km of it. straight-line distance
On the clock
11:00 · 12:00 · 14:00 · 16:00 · 18:00
Thermal usually starts around 11:00 and holds to about 16:00, sometimes 18:00. The dependable window at Zwergerlinsel is 12:00-14:00, so arrive in the morning and be rigged before noon.
The marks are the clock times the record names, laid on a 24-hour day. The bar between the first and the last covers those hours; it is not a promise of wind.
The wind
locals call it Blauthermik
Direction
Kite sizes
metres · typical quiver highlighted
Character
thermal
fills in: Thermal usually starts around 11:00 and holds to about 16:00, sometimes 18:00. The dependable window at Zwergerlinsel is 12:00-14:00, so arrive in the morning and be rigged before noon.
Typical strength
6-18
The quiver, in words
Even on the best days a light rider needs at least a 10 m, and hard gusts punch through between the lulls, so keep depower in hand. Nothing is published by rider weight: at 75-85 kg plan on the largest kite you own or a foil, indicative rather than measured.
Direction to shore
Sideshore at Zwergerlinsel.
Forecast
Month by month
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec
riding season from the spot record · no wind series here is trusted enough to name a season
- Jan0
- Feb2
- Mar2
- Apr, riders' month0
- May, riders' month0
- Jun, riders' month0
- Jul, riders' month0
- Aug, riders' month0
- Sep0
- Oct0
- Nov0
- Dec2
windy days per month (3 h+ at 12 kn+)
Ringed months are the ones riders and schools name: Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug.
The model is wrong here
The model reads 2% of days at its best month, which does not sit with the season this record states. The figures are kept and drawn as hatching so no wind colour can be read off them, and the ringed months are the ones riders name.
| Month | Windy days | Force 4+ | 12 kn or more | Knots | From | Peaks at | Air | Readings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 0% | 3% | 3% | 5.3 kt | SSW | 12:00 | -0.6°C | 62 |
| Feb | 2% | 11% | 2% | 5.7 kt | SSW | 13:00 | 1.8°C | 57 |
| Mar | 2% | 16% | 6% | 7 kt | NE | 14:00 | 4.5°C | 62 |
| Apr | 0% | 7% | 3% | 6.5 kt | NNE | 14:00 | 6.6°C | 60 |
| May | 0% | 2% | 0% | 6.1 kt | NNE | 15:00 | 12.2°C | 62 |
| Jun | 0% | 2% | 2% | 6.9 kt | N | 15:00 | 16.6°C | 60 |
| Jul | 0% | 3% | 3% | 6.2 kt | NNE | 15:00 | 18.3°C | 62 |
| Aug | 0% | 8% | 5% | 6 kt | NNE | 15:00 | 18.1°C | 62 |
| Sep | 0% | 0% | 0% | 5.2 kt | NNE | 15:00 | 13.6°C | 60 |
| Oct | 0% | 0% | 0% | 5.3 kt | SSW | 11:00 | 11.7°C | 62 |
| Nov | 0% | 5% | 2% | 5.6 kt | SSW | 11:00 | 4.1°C | 60 |
| Dec | 2% | 6% | 6% | 5.3 kt | SSW | 10:00 | 0.5°C | 62 |
riders' months
Riders and schools name these months. The model reads lower here, and both are shown rather than averaged.
Modelled from the operational forecast archive at 1.5–7 km (2023-2024), daylight hours only, not a ground station: it resolves thermal, lake and valley winds far better than coarse reanalysis but still tends to understate a strong local thermal. A windy day has at least three consecutive daylight hours at 12 knots or more. The typical daily max and the direction are columns of the table above, month by month. Highlighted months are the riding season from the spot record.
High-resolution weather model (modelled) · Open-Meteo historical forecast archive — best-match operational model (ICON-D2 / AROME / ICON-EU / GFS by region), not a ground station · 2023-2024
The water
Type
lake
Standing depth
Small standing area, and how much of it you get depends on the lake level. At the Zwergern entry the bottom shelves less steeply than the rest of Walchensee, so you can wade a little further out than elsewhere, but it is stones underfoot and the shallow band is short.With the water low there is enough gravel beach to launch and land dry; with it high you stand in the water to launch. Past that band the lake drops away fast, which is exactly why it suits a foil.
Tides
none; freshwater lake
Temperature
17-22°C summer · 2-7°C winter
Wetsuit
Wetsuit needed even in summer; thick winter neoprene if riding cold-season fronts.
Currents
no tidal current; main risk is wind drop or downwind drift on a cold alpine lake
Your level
The scene
What riders come here for
Launch and rules
three ways on to the water, and what each one asks of you
With a school or a boat
No school names this spot
Nobody has been recorded teaching or running a boat here.
On your own
Room to launch: small to medium
Somewhere else
No neighbour on record
No other spot in the atlas sits within reach of this one.
Rescue
Launch
Remote peninsula launch, about 2 km in from the parking in the wood past the Walchensee campsite entrance or from Einsiedl, along a single-track tarmac lane closed to cars: 20 to 30 minutes on foot with gear, ten on a bike.Tarmac as far as the farm in the bay, then gravel, then a rooty footpath from the St Margareth chapel out to the shore. Behind the pebble beach there is a larger flat area to rig, and that is also where riders launch and land, standing in the water when the lake is high and on the gravel when it is low.Tight, stony and chaotic when several people arrive at once, and no place to learn.
Space
small to medium
Rules & access
- 2026: Walchensee and its shores are a Landschaftsschutzgebiet and the Zwergern peninsula is named in the protection as landscape to be preserved. No kite-specific ordinance for Zwergern exists, and the etiquette is to ask the riders already on the grass. From 15 March to 15 September a sail- and surf-free zone is marked for swimmers in the bays at Walchensee village and at Niedernach. Park only in marked lots; camping and sleeping in the open are not allowed and a lake-wide night parking ban runs 22:00-06:00. Stopping and parking are prohibited along the B11 between Urfeld and Walchensee and along the south shore, whose road is a toll road with parking only in marked lots. Do not walk in to the west shore between Urfeld and Walchensee outside the marked accesses. Motors of any kind, electric included, are banned on the lake, and boats must be open, no cabins. The island of Sassau is a nature reserve with a 50 m ring around it closed to boats, landing and access. The lane out to Zwergern is closed to cars.
- 2022: the forest parking after the campsite entrance charged 6-8 € for the day and the Einsiedl camper area 10 € from 06:00 to 11:00 the following day, and overnight parking is checked.
Access rules drift faster than anything else we hold — check locally, and propose an edit if this has changed.
Rider tips
- Be rigged before noon on a Blauthermik day; the good window at Zwergerlinsel is 12:00-14:00 and it can be shorter.
- Bring the big kite: light riders need at least about a 10 m even on a good day, but the thermal is gusty, so leave margin.
- Park at the camping/settlement area in Walchensee and walk or bike the roughly 20 minute path; do not drive down the walkway.
- Ask the riders already on the grass where to rig and launch; nothing about this launch is written down anywhere.
- In late summer and autumn the thermal can stay up at Urfeld and never reach Zwergern; have a plan for a wasted walk.
- Wear a wetsuit even in July; the lake is 17-22 C in summer and a wind drop means a long swim.
- Be rigged before noon on a thermal day; the reliable window at Zwergerlinsel is 12:00-14:00 and it can be shorter.
- Bring the big kite: light riders need at least a 10 m even on a good day, and the gusts between the lulls are hard.
- Park at the campsite lot in Walchensee or at Einsiedl and take the closed lane; bring a bike or something with wheels for the 2 km.
- In autumn the thermal often stops short of Zwergern and Sachenbach works better; in spring it runs longer here.
- Wear neoprene in July; the lake sits at 802 m and stays 17-22 C, and a wind drop means a long swim.
- Do not slide off to the south-east: the wind thins towards Einsiedl and you end up walking the whole bay back.
- Foehn days are a write-off here; if the south is blowing, look at Kochelsee early in the morning instead.
- Overnight parking is banned lake-wide 22:00-06:00 and it is enforced; sleep at the campsite or the Einsiedl camper area.
Getting there
Airport
Munich Airport (MUC)
Route
By car from Munich on the A95 toward Kochel and Murnau, then Kochel and the B11 up to Walchensee. Park in the wood past the entrance to the Walchensee campsite or at Einsiedl, both ticketed, and take the closed single-track lane on foot or on wheels for the last 2 km.A bike, skates or a longboard turns the slog into a short ride, and the path gets rooty after the chapel, so get off and push. Public transport reaches Kochel with onward local buses; no direct airport-to-spot route is published.
Transfer
About 90 minutes by car from Munich Airport; public transport from the airport to Walchensee is much longer and involves transfers.
Cost level
medium
Staying
Hotels, guesthouses, holiday apartments and camping around Walchensee and Kochelsee.
No-wind days
Hiking Herzogstand/Heimgarten, cycling around Walchensee, Kochelsee, swimming/bathing areas, sailing, windsurfing, restaurants and the Franz Marc Museum area.
Photos
FAQ
Is Zwergern suitable for beginners?
No, the launch and landing zone is described as dangerous and chaotic, and the spot is marked for advanced and expert riders only.
What is the wind like at Zwergern?
A localized, gusty thermal called Blauthermik builds around midday on sunny days after cold nights, with the best window roughly 12:00 to 14:00.
How do you get to the launch?
Riders park away from the beach and walk about 20 to 30 minutes, or use a mountain bike, since driving gear down to the beach is not allowed.
What hazards are there at Zwergern?
Rocks and a stony shore, wind that may not reach the peninsula or may drop before riders return, and cold alpine water requiring self-rescue ability.
Last updated: August 2026