Blog Posts in Category: Locations

Wyssnollen and a tour through the Bernese Oberland

Alastair BegleyAlpinism, Switzerland Short Link

With a perfect weather window, or so we thought, we decided to head into the Bernese Oberland for a 5 day tour from the Oberaar reservoir into the Finsteraarhornhütte for some peaks before heading back out. There was an unusual amount of snow in the area and the hut had advised us to bring snow shoes, something which is normally not the case at this time of year. We found a local shop to hire the snow shoes from, who were very confused when I rang up asking to hire show shoes! Oberaar to Oberaarjochhütte – 7.5km, 977hm Our first day was a relatively short day, which allowed us to faff in the morning to hire the snow shoes and drive from Täsch to the top of the Grimselpass, before swapping into one vehicle and heading up to the Oberaar reservoir. This was a very unusual road as there is only a 10 minute window for starting to drive up the pass, and another 10 minute window to drive down the pass 30 mins later. We set off in good spirts with good weather, but very heavy bags. The walk. Read the full article…

Tölzer Hütte, Hölzelstaljoch and Grasberg

Alastair BegleyAustria, Walking Short Link

After abandoning a multi day hut-to-hut hochtour in the Ötztaler Alpen due to the excessive snow and terrible weather forecast, we decided to make the most of the booked holiday by heading to the beautiful Rißtal for an overnight hike. We started by heading into the Tölzer Hütte via the most direct way as we were concerned about the rain, needless to say we could have taken the longer variation as the rain came later than forecast as to start with we somehow just missed it, but when it came, it certainly came with plenty of thunder and lightening. The walk up to the hut was hot work in the humid weather, but the walk was nonetheless enjoyable with views into the Karwendel and a nice path. After not too long we arrived at the hut and enjoyed the afternoon playing games and having a few beers in the hut. We even sent Katherine for a run up the nearby peak after we had been at the hut for a few hours and before the rain came. The next day we woke up to a glorious morning and enjoyed a. Read the full article…

Jochberg

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Walking Short Link

With a fairly uncertain forecast we decided to head to Jochberg for Rich’s last day in Munich. Given my poor nights sleep and the rain on the approach, it is safe to say that I wasn’t convinced about the idea. However by the time we had met Rich in Kochelsee and driven to the start of the walk it was looking much better. The ascent was relatively quick up through the forest, and when we emerged we were greeted with a wonderful atmospheric view over the Walchensee. The views from the ridge up to the summit were very enjoyable and we were pleased to be at the summit in 1h15mins, the sign at the bottom said 2h15. After enjoying lunch at the summit we made the day out a loop by descending via the Hütte and then continuing on down to the Walchensee. The descent was definitely quieter than the ascent, and when we arrived at the beautiful Walchensee we were regretting not packing towels. A short walk back along the lake and we were back at the car in time for a cold drink and some ice cream.

Climbing Claudia 22, Parete Pezol, Arco

Alastair BegleyArco, Rock Climbing Short Link

On our last day of climbing at Arco we headed into Parete Pezol with the rest of the group from the International Mountaineering Group section of the Munich branch of the German Alpine Club. It was a relatively recently bolted route which meant that it wasn’t very polished, but being limestone meant that it was quite likely there would be some loose rock. The walk in was really great with hardly any distance or ascent, and immediately with fantastic views over Lake Garda. We decided to climb Claudia 22 which was a 10 pitch UIAA 5+. The route was really fantastic with mostly pretty good climbing and sound enough rock, the highlight for me was the combination of the climbing with the wonderful position over the valley looking down Lake Garda. It was a shame that there was a single Italian team behind us, which did not want to give us much space on the belay and added unnecessary stress to the day. We arrived at the top shortly after the others in the group, where we enjoyed lunch before making the short descent back to the car and a. Read the full article…

Ferrata Dell’Amiczia, Lake Garda

Alastair BegleyArco, Via Ferrata Short Link

With sore toes after our previous day in the Val di Ledro we decided to head for the scenic Ferrata Dell’Amiczia above Lake Garda. The walk in was fairly interesting with an old castle near the start and then ever changing views out over Lake Garda as we climbed higher. It was fairly hot and sticky on the walk in, so we were definitely glad to be early, especially as we passed a group of about 20 people at a hut on the way up who later headed up the via ferrata. The route itself was enjoyable due to the positions and the views out over Lake Garda, but as an actual via ferrata route it was nothing to rave about as it was all either easy Ferrata or long ladders, but we did know that before we set off. Our way up the route was lovely with no one in front of us slowing us down, nor anyone behind us making us rush. As we got to the top of the route we had to briefly wait for a team in front but this was only for the last. Read the full article…

Climbing Babilonia and Plasir, Val di Ledro

Alastair BegleyArco, Rock Climbing Short Link

Having not climbed for a while we decided to head back to the wonderful Val di Ledro, having previously had a wonderful day climbing there. This time we started up Babilonia which was a lovely route which looked out over Lake Garda, had interesting climbing and was really well bolted. The climb was four pitches and went pretty quickly, so after enjoying lunch at the top we decided to head back down to climb Plasir. This route also had brilliant climbing on it, however it was definitely not well protected (despite also being S1 in our guide) and I certainly regretted my lack of cams to aid the protection. The second pitch was proper slab pitch which certainly required trust of the feet and the final pitch has some wildly runout sections, initially up a crack and then some exposed face climbing at the top. After the second climb we made our way back to the car having climbed 7 pitches in time to enjoy a cold drink and some ice cream in Arco. Both of the route were quiet with no other teams and no polish to speak of. Read the full article…

Mountain biking in Regensburg

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Mountain Biking Short Link

Having ridden my mountain bike once in the last 4 years, I was persuaded to go to a bike testival at Regensburg by a friend. This was a fairly harsh re-introduction to mountain biking as it was all technical trail riding, with the brakes the wrong way around! We did three bike tests from the test centre, two of which were with lightweight e-bikes and the third with normal bikes. The lightweight e-bikes were barely heaver than my normal mountain bike! I now certainly understand e-bikes for this type of riding, as my heart rate average was very similar for all three outings, just with the e-bikes we covered an awful lot more ground and there was much less anaerobic use of the legs, which meant less time recovering at the top before the descents. Unfortunately lightweight e-bikes are somewhat out of my price range at the moment, but the day out certainly made me want to repair my mountain bike so that I can actually use it.