Prose & Photography: Matt Mansell

Since 1942, the Schweizer Armee (Swiss Air Force) have conducted live firing training in an area located in central Switzerland, on the Southern face of Axalphorn. At around 2,240m (7,350ft) above sea level is Tschingel, a dedicated spectator area which attracts thousands of photographers each year. 

My Axalp experience began with a 5:30am start to catch the shuttle bus. This service is pre-booked, takes around 35 minutes and takes you from Brienz railway station, onto Brienz Park & Ride and then finally to the remote alpine town of Axalp. From here, you are then able to take a ski lift which takes you several hundred feet towards the summit. 

As the sun started to illuminate the breathtaking Swiss scenery, we reached the top of the ski lift. It was around 7:00am, and this was when the real work began. I’d heard rumours and read about people’s experiences of the climb, and this proved to be tougher than any climb for photography I’d attempted before, particularly with a heavy camera bag full of equipment. 

After a couple of hours of climbing up steep, seemingly endless paths, I finally made it to the top, and was rewarded with both spectacular views over the North Western Alps & Swiss beer. After only around 20 minutes, and to my surprise, the mountains came alive with the scream of a single Hornet at around 300ft, filling the valley with flares. As spectacular as that was, what followed was beyond belief, a sneak pass from the second hornet between the viewpoints, very low & very loud (https://www.instagram.com/tv/CVQyfBLFBRv/?utm_medium=share_sheet).

After this enthusiastic welcome, the action continued as a four-ship of hornets began to strafe each of the four targets with live rounds angled 90° apart, something that is rarely seen at such close proximity by an aviation photographer.

Over the course of the day, the demonstrations continued to surpass expectations, from fast jets to helis, old to new, the vast array of aircraft and contrasting landscapes made for some challenging yet rewarding images. One of the highlights was the surprise appearance of the tiger-painted Hawker Hunter T.68 (J-4206) just days before its final flight to Altenrhein Museum (Fliegermuseumm Altenrhein) where it is now displayed. 

After the initial elation with the Tuesday shots, we descended and headed back to our accommodation, grabbed a bite to eat and were flat out by 8:00pm ready to do it all again in the morning. The Wednesday climb felt better, possibly due to the fact that I knew what I was in for. By the time we’d reached the top the conditions were perfect, not a cloud in the sky, sunny & just warm enough. Due to the heat, the snow from Tuesday had melted, despite it being a great backdrop on Tuesday, it was nice to have less of a contrast for the Wednesday demonstration, making it easier to properly expose the shots. 

The Wednesday programme mirrored that of Tuesday. In addition to the above-mentioned Hunter, there were several Hornet demonstrations in the form of; live firing, air policing/intercepting (with a PC-24), several flypasts with not only the Hunter but also a PC-21 & PC-7 & the 2021 Hornet demo (flown by Capt. Yannick “Fönsi” Zanata).

Other displays consisted of the Swiss Super Puma display, a firefighting exercise conducted by a pair of Super Pumas, the Swiss Para Wings parachuting display, a PC-21 solo display and last but by no means last, the Patrouille Suisse. 

Over the two days of flying I got through some 320GB of memory cards, made some of the best photography memories from all my time using a camera and managed what is deemed to be one of the hardest climbs in aviation photography. 

My recommendations to anyone looking to make the trip: pack light, wear a decent pair of walking boots, take hiking pole(s), plenty of water, cash for the food & drink stalls at the top. Take nothing but photos, leave nothing but footsteps. Costs wise, for each of the 2021 show days, the tickets for the shuttle bus, car parking & chair lift were 55.70 CHF (around $61.00 USD / £45.00 GBP). Food & drink at the summit is priced reasonably, two pints of beer was around 8.00 CHF, whereas you’d pay more in the surrounding towns. 

In summary, Axalp, along with maybe one or two other spots, is the absolute pinnacle of low level aircraft photography, a spot that to my knowledge is unrivalled anywhere worldwide, an absolute must for aviation photographers.