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The best CH shooting places?

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Imagers of Switzerland •6 replies•188 views
Sascha Wyss avatar
Sascha Wyss avatar
Let me try to revive this group…. ;-)

From your experience - what are the best / darkest / most convenient places in Switzerland to take your telescope to for a shooting session? (no, "my garden" is not an applicable answer)
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Michael Ring avatar
Michael Ring avatar
For me definitely the big parking lot on Gantrisch (Stierhütte Parking), very easy to reach, quite high with 1650m and beautyful skies with great visibility of the milky way.
Sometimes a bit crowded but you can't have everything….. Because of this it is perhaps not the best place for visual observers, but for photography the constant flow of cars in and out of the parking lot does not matter much.

Thanks for trying to revive this group!

Michael
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Palmito avatar
Palmito avatar
  1. I have heard a lot of good about Gurnigel Pass (1610m), but haven't been there yet.

  2. I have been around Col-du-Pillon (1550m), there is no body there, only have to find a good spot away from the cable car station.
    3. One year in October I was able to drive up to 1700m, but that's quite exceptional.

  3. I found Schwenden Im Diemtigtal to be even darker, but not knowing the place, made it a bit of an adventure and I settled at lower 1100m.

  4. Close to Geneva, I have been at "La Barillette" (1520m), very nice, only don't plan shooting anything on the east as there is a big antenna.

  5. If you want the best possible sky "not too far", I recommend you drive to France, in "les Cévennes" (~6h from Geneva).
    6. It is a "dark sky preserve", all lights are shut of at night.
    It goes up to 1800m, and is a big big region.
    MP me if you want I can recommend a place there.

  6. But then if someone knows a way to get real high in the mountain in the winter here in Switzerland there might even be better options


Cheers and CS,

Carl
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Michael Ring avatar
Michael Ring avatar
Schwenden sounds like a good tip, I was never there for Astrophotography, only for hiking. 
In the good old days when there were not clouds simply everywhere all the time it looked as if diemtigtal often was clear when the conditions on Gantrisch were not that good.
What I forgot to mention is that  wind can sometimes be an issue on Gantrisch, it pays off to check before driving there.

Another place I sometimes go to when there is no fog is the parking lot on Chutzen (Belpberg) it is by far not as high as Gantrisch with roughly 850m but when your target is high enough in the sky and not in direction of Bern then it is also a good option.
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Nicola Beltraminelli avatar
Nicola Beltraminelli avatar
Col du Sanetsch is also à nice option directly accessible by car in summer. Of note the road is closed in winter.
Manuel Peitsch avatar
Manuel Peitsch avatar
I have been around Col-du-Pillon (1550m), there is no body there, only have to find a good spot away from the cable car station.
One year in October I was able to drive up to 1700m, but that's quite exceptional.

Indeed, thanks Sascha for breathing some life into this group.  

Hi Carl,

There is a spot in the vallée des Ormonts which is quite nice for northeastern to southeastern targets:

Chemin de la Lé: https://goo.gl/maps/aNubJxoEuFxJUtEP7  46°22'14.4"N 7°07'50.2"E. Altitude 1800m. 
You'll have "la chaine du Pic Chaussy" in your back, while the mountains in front of you will be less than 20° higher than your scope.

Reachable in summer. In winter the road is closed of course. But this season it was reachable until October and from mid-March given the snow conditions!

I live across the valley in La Forclaz, where I have my fixed pier. But on occasion, I go there, like during the planet alignment in 2022. There is a broad place where one can easily park and setup gear. Only visitors may be a few (curious) cows between June and late August.

Cheers and CS
Manuel
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pabloa avatar
pabloa avatar
5. If you want the best possible sky "not too far", I recommend you drive to France, in "les Cévennes" (~6h from Geneva).
It is a "dark sky preserve", all lights are shut of at night.
It goes up to 1800m, and is a big big region.
MP me if you want I can recommend a place there.

The Parc des Baronnies Provençales is nearly as dark (they plan to apply for the dark sky reserve label too) and is only 3 hours from Geneva ;)
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