Hi all,
My family and I are on holiday in Switzerland at the moment, it was all going great until I managed to get my wife’s new DJI Flip drone stuck upside down at the top of the Schwarzenbach Wasserfall near Zug.
We spent hours yesterday and today attempting to rescue it (with bamboo sticks, duct tape and fishing hooks) but have failed miserably as we can’t get anywhere near it, even to knock it down into the water. Today was our last day in the area. I was resigned to leaving it as there is nothing else to be done but after posting on a drone forum it was pointed out that I am technically littering and making drone users look bad, which I guess is true. The drone is properly labelled in accordance with Swiss law so I’m not concerned about that, and it will get washed down and break in the next rain, but I don’t want to get anyone into trouble.
So I wondered if there were any local climbing clubs that could retrieve it? I don’t expect to get it back now but for anyone even a little experienced with the right climbing gear it would probably be a ten minute job to get. The sides of the river upstream from the waterfall are too steep for me with nothing but a rope would probably be enough to climb down and up.
Does anyone have any suggestions for things I can do remotely on the Internet?
First thing is to give GPS coordinates. Also, what do the arrows indicate?
Sorry it didn’t save the images properly. The purple arrow is where the drone is. Here is a closer picture.
The waterfall is the Schwarzenbach Wasserfall at 47°10’34.2″ N, 08°33’23.8″ E
Hmm. It doesn’t look too difficult to get to. Hopefully someone can help retrieve it.
Here are the contact details for the Office for Forests and Wildlife in Zug:
• Address: Aegeristrasse 56, 6301 Zug
• Phone: +41 41 594 35 35
• Email: [email protected]
• Key Contact: Martin Ziegler, Head of the Office
• Phone: +41 41 594 18 02
• Email: [email protected]
For more information, you can visit their website at Wald
1 Like
Oh thanks that looks really useful. I’ll drop them a message.
Thanks everyone for your help. I’ve contacted the Swiss Alpine Club who have local members and someone from there is going to go and have a look to see if they can get it or need help.
I’ve also contacted the Office for Forests and Wildlife. I’m sure someone will be able to stop it from being washed downstream.
Maybe obvious, but a person with a drone should easily be able to retrieve it using a line connected to a hook. Unfortunately I no longer have my DJI Phantom, because it had a max payload of about 1.5 kg. The Neo which I use now would struggle lifting a pack of playing cards.
1 Like
Haha I did briefly consider getting the replacement DJI Flip and seeing if we could do that, but realistically the most likely outcome would have been two drones stuck on a waterfall.
I did get a brief burst of misplaced optimism when I read about Turtle Mode which I understand allows the drone to flip over if it crashes upside down. Then I found out that it only applies to a few models. You’d have thought that a drone called Flip would have been able to flip over 
1 Like
Who gives a damn about these dumb drones.
1 Like
I was up that way yesterday evening. If I had known…
Streams, by their very nature, generally go down hill gently, unless there is a waterfall.
I know there are rock escarpments around there and on either side of the waterfall but if you walked a bit further, you could have ascended an easier slope and followed the stream down to the waterfall to get your drone.
Or even easier:
The route to the waterfall shown below is basically following a contour so is flat for more most of the way:
2 Likes
Hi, I believe there are two waterfalls there. The drone is on top of the second one to the south, circled in purple
The stream above it may well be navigable but the path climbed and the surrounding land seemed to just get higher and steeper the further I walked upstream. Perhaps I should have walked further.
I absolutely hate drones. They disturb the peace. I wish they could be banned (with exceptions like search and rescue etc).
5 Likes
To be honest I hate drones too right now.
5 Likes
Just to let you guys know that Simon from the Swiss Alpine Club went to the waterfall after work. The banks above the waterfall were no challenge for him and he got the drone. I will meet him later in the week.
Thank you all for your suggestions and comments, without you letting me know how to contact them I think I would have probably been prosecuted by the Swiss Office for Forests and Wildlife if the drone was washed downstream and later found, as when I got in touch they informed me that flying a drone in a forest is prohibited (though they said on this occasion, as long as the drone was retrieved they would not prosecute). So hopefully mine will be a cautionary tale for others to learn from 
6 Likes
So did I get this right, you are a tourist, found the swissforum when you lost your drone which helped you solve the problem? Pretty cool.
Where is home to you?
3 Likes
I’m from Bedfordshire in the UK, famed for its towering peaks and majestic waterfalls.
Just kidding, it’s flat as a pancake and you rarely need to climb anything
This forum has been a great resource nonetheless.
3 Likes
Yes I know what my English friends call a mountain - until I take them up one.
Well, don’t hesitate to pop back in here.
1 Like
Soon to be famous for it’s Univeral Studios theme park too!
1 Like
The most exciting thing to happen in Bedfordshire for years
1 Like
