rock climbing

I spent nice warm (let's say hot) weeks hiking, cycling and climbing on different locations in Europe. After the very alpine experiences earlier this summer I really wanted to climb some hard good bolted routes, no scarry slippery movements on wet rocks 5 meter above your last piece of protection, you know what I mean.

So our first stop was in the Pfalz area in the south western part of Germany on the border to France. People with great sense for hospitality, culture of good food and wine. First we went to a nice rock and thought let's climb this easy 2 pitch route on the north pillar, it was rated UIAA 2+. I expected kind of a walk in the park, but after climbing the first 10 meters I put the first piece of protection (a small friend in a very sandy crack), pffff. The climbing continued into a chimnee and there were no clear signs of where to go. I already climbed 20 meters, and I thought, ok this a grade 4 or so, climbing was nice but it was not protectable. Then the route got steep and I thought, well I will not return in a 2+, that was definitley not an option. So I continued up and after 30 meters of climbing I put a second piece of protection (a small nut in an undefined crack). 5 meters above me I saw a huge metal ring, ok, thats were I have to go. I made belay on that ring and wished Marieke all the best  with seconding this pitch, because a pendulum would be a very painful experience in this route. The next pitch was easy, I mean easy in the sense of easy....
we had a great view from the top.


cool sandstone in the Pfalz

Next day we came back and climbed a V+, and again, very few bolts, and to be honest, I don't trust these glued rings in sandstone. It's better to protect the route for yourself. The climbing was really nice and at the top of the second pitch I had to climb a real off width crack. I put the biggest friend into it and used a few arm jams to go up, reallllyyyy coool.

Next stop was the Grimsel/Goms area in Zwitserland. we did some really nice hiking and after the sandstone climbing in the Pfalz we now climbed on Gneiss close to the small village of Gletsch. Nice climbing, well bolted, fun!


compact Gneiss in Zwitserland

After a few days we went further to the south. We wanted to go to Orpierre in the south of France. On our way down from the Simplon pass we got some trouble with our car. It was 35 degrees and luckily there was a competent garage and of course there was the lake, the Lago Maggiore. That lake definitley saved my life. After the car was finally repaired we went to Orpierre. I never had been to this place, but we really enjoyed the French way of living and climbing. Either early in the morning from 8 to 10 climbing or in the late afternoon (after 17.00h).
Really cool lime stone, some sectors are steep/overhanging and others are vertical and fingery. All the routes are good protected and the range of difficulties is from 3c to 8c. I really love this place and I definitley will come back in the future. I think best time for climbing is march to may and september to november. But even now in summer we had a really good time on the rock! get up, and try it!

limestone walls in Orpierre

Valais, Switzerland

Yesterday I returned back home after spending a week of climbing in the Valais area of Switzerland together with my brother Peter. Since about 5 years we’re used to climb together. We already climbed a lot of rock routes in the Bergell  but also some ice routes in winter. This year he wanted to climb some higher peaks and the weather forecast was ok. So we drove to Switzerland.

Weisshorn, Schali ridge

Our main target was the Schali ridge on the Weisshorn. It is a long rock route on one of the most impressive mountains in the area (4505m). To get to the start at the route you first have to walk up 1600m from Zermatt to the Rothorn hut. The next day you cross the Schalihorn (3972m) to get into the nice bivouac at the bottom of the ridge. So, actually, you need at least 2,5 nice days. It is very exposed, not easy to access and the climb itself is on good rock with a long descent down the east ridge.

The weather forecast was good until Wednesday with detoriation of weather conditions thereafter. We were not yet acclimatized and therefore we spent one night on the Grimsel pass on our way down to the Valais. We did some nice rock climbing in Meiringen in the late afternoon to compensate the long sitting activities… The next day we walked up to the hut to start very early on Tuesday morning to walk to the bivouac. We were quite slow, I did not feel very well (altitude??). If you are on top of the Schalihorn, you are half way. Just below the summit the snow conditions on the 40 degree slope got really bad. It was blowing very hard and some clouds started to come in. We did not expect so much wind and the next day they predicted more wind. We thought that this is not a real good combination and decided to return. The trip itself to the Schalihorn was really cool, no people, we felt really alone in one of the most busiest climbing areas of the Alpes, so we had a good day.

the Weisshorn on the right, the Schali ridge is the line that comes from the left, we went up to the Schalihorn which is the top to the left of the Weisshorn.

Zinalrothorn, 4221m

The next day we climbed the Zinalrothorn, 4221m. This is a great peak for good rock climbing on high altitude. Usually the rock is very loose in the Valais, but at some peaks the climbing is nice. It took us 4 hours for the ascent. We stood on top at 8.30 in the morning, great views, especially to the north face of the Matterhorn,…. This was Peters first 4000m peak, great job.

Peter close to the gabel

close to the summit

desending the rocky coloir at the start of the route

After a fast descent, we had some great cake and a coffee on the hut. We went down to Zermatt to take a restday. A long day with 1000m ascent and 2600m descent to the tourist hell of Zermatt. Funny thing was that you can’t see the top of the Zinalrothorn during the approach to the hut. So Peter was wondering how the mountain he climbed would look like… so we went down to the campground in Taesch and from there we got a first good view on our mountain…

Zinalrothorn seen from the campground

Facts: AD, 1000m from the hut, 4-6 hours climbing, rock up to 3a, good climbing left of the couloir to get into the notch. a 50m rope, some slings a very small set of friends are good. There are a lot of bolts on the short 3a section (not really necessary because that section would be easy to protect with nuts and friends, anyway). More than 10 years ago I climbed the north ridge from the Mountet hut, this is a great ascent line as well!

Weissmies, 4017m.

We went up to the Hohsaas hut by cable car, no walking with heavy back packs, yeah… early next morning we walked to the Lagginjoch where the north ridge of the Weissmies starts. 

beautiful sunrise on Taeschhorn and Dom...

Last year I walked on my own into that notch for soloing the south ridge of the Lagginhorn. The north ridge of the Weissmies is a bit longer and more difficult. There are some towers on that ridge, some of them you climb directly and others you sneak around to avoid the difficulties. 

t
the lower part of the ridge

enjoying the mountains

the upper part of the ridge

the last meters...

The rock is usually good but you have to be careful in the more fragile parts of the ridge… we climbed all the ridge on a running belay technique. Just the 4a section we belayed in the classical way. There are some bolts and the crack is easy to protect with a few friends up to 0.75. After that crux pitch the ridge continues, continues, continues….. it is quite long. After the rocky section you got a last part of snow and ice to get to the summit. A really nice route! After 4,5 hours on the ridge we topped out! Peters second 4000m peak. We descended on the north west slopes.

Facts: AD+, long ridge of rock, snow and ice, take a small rack of friends and a few slings with you and enjoy this easy accessible route .