Blog Posts in Category: Locations

Vöcklabruckerpfeiler Climb, Brunnkogel

Alastair BegleyAustria, Rock Climbing Short Link

We had planned to head to the Allgäu for the weekend, but a lack of campsite spaces and a stormy forecast meant that we headed in the opposed direction from Munich to the Attersee area of Austria, near Salzburg. We ended up deciding to go for the Vöcklabruckerpfeiler climb on the Brunnkogel, as it was in a nice area, was a good length easy route (7 pitches, UIAA 4) and had a Klettersteig nearby for the next day. We knew that there may still be afternoon storms, despite the good weather forecast as the general trend seemed to be for unstable weather in the alps. This meant that we had a very early start, however as we stayed in the car park it wasn’t too unbearable! Despite the early start the walk in was very hot, and very steep! After much longer than the guidebook time we made it to the start of the route, thankful that it appeared to be in the shade! Becky stated the route by leading us up the first pitch, which was a good warm up for the next four pitches. The next four pitches. Read the full article…

Reiderstein Sunset

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Landscape Short Link

After some very unsettled weather, summer seems to have finally returned to Bavaria. Given the warm evenings and stable forecast the International Mountaineering Group (IMG), a group within the Munich Section of the Deutscher Alpenverein. It was never planned as a long walk, but a nice social evening with a nice view over Tegernsee and the mountains for sunset. After an easy drive we arrived at the destination and set up on the short, but relatively abrupt ascent up to the chapel at Reiderstein. We arrived in plenty of time for sunset, so enjoyed the view, drank a beer and ate our dinner waiting for the sunset. The sunset was beautiful with clouds to catch the pink light, and clear skies right down to the horizon.

Fluchtkogel

Alastair BegleyAlpinism, Austria Short Link

After a few days of bad weather we were lucky that a very brief weather window coincided with the night we had booked at the Vernagthütte. As we only had a brief weather window we drove down in the car from Munich, which is just another reminder of how great a place this is to live. Walk into the Vernagthütte Last time we did a hut walk from Vent it was on the way into the Martin Busch Hütte for the Similaun and we got very, very wet! This time could not have been more different as we were treated to sun and blue skies on the walk in. We had treated ourselves to the luxury of rucksack transport using the hut’s Materialseilbahn, so we only had a short walk up the valley with our full packs. This was very pleasant with wonderful views, waterfalls and friendly horses. After dumping our bags we made the ascent up to the hut, which felt very easy without the heavy packs. After an enjoyable walk we arrived at the hut in time for a few beers and a shower before dinner. It was. Read the full article…

Similaun

Alastair BegleyAlpinism, Austria Short Link

With a short weather window in the very unsettled summer we decided to climb Similaun which sits high above Vent in the Sölden valley. I have actually climbed the Similaun before, as when I was in Sölden 20 years ago on a family holiday I climbed it with my parents and our family friends. Due to the unsettled weather we were not able to wait for a nice day for the walk in, which meant that we got very wet on the dull walk in from Vent to the Martin Busch Hütte. Thankfully the walk wasn’t too long, and we were soon in the warmth of the hut and able to enjoy some warm drinks and beer. Following Covid it was strange being back in a hut, sharing a table with strangers and not having any mask requirement. Unfortunately all the small rooms were booked, so we were in the lager room in the roof which didn’t even have a window! The next morning we woke up to clear skies and beautiful views, we had decided to climb Similaun via the Marzellklammspitze as this meant that we walked up a. Read the full article…

Kampenwand

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Walking Short Link

With another day of afternoon storms we decided to make the most of the forecast morning sun by getting up early and heading for a peak which was close to Munich, and almost out of the mountains in order to try and catch the best of the weather. We ended up deciding on the Kampenwand, as we could have a good day out with a reasonable amount of ascent, knew there would be wonderful views and that we could save our knees by getting the gondola back down. The ascent was initially up wide forest tracks, which meant that we made good progress, but in order to traverse under the impressive cliffs of the Zwölferturm we took the smaller path which ascended towards the Zwölferturm’s cliffs from the north. While the path was pretty steep up through the woods, it was certainly worth it for the initial views out towards Chiemsee over Erlbergkopf, and to see the impressive cliffs from up close. As the skies were still clear we didn’t hang around once we got up to the Steinlingalm, but instead headed straight up to the Kampenwand. This meant that. Read the full article…

Hörndlwand Climbing – Die Gnadenlosen Drei

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Rock Climbing Short Link

With a day of hot weather and a good forecast we decided to head back to where I had recently been walking on another hot day, as I knew that it meant that we would be climbing out of the sun. We headed back to the Hörndlwand in the Chiemgau for some multi pitch traditional climbing. The crag is fairly complex which lots of corners, and routes which can be linked together. However from the guide we struggled to work out what could be linked, so decided to just stick to one of the suggestions at the start of the guide. We climbed “Die Gnadenlosen Drei” a two star UIAA 5 route which was a 200m 8 pitch route. This route linked the following routes: Nordwestsockel – UIAA 4+ – 80m – 3 pitches Merklriss – UIAA 5 – 35m – 1 pitch Mittlere Nordwand – UIAA 4 – 55m – 2 pitches The walk up was very warm, but thankfully mostly in the shade, and we were very glad to confirm that the route was entirely in the shade when we arrived at the Hörndlalm. We were also pleased. Read the full article…

Piz Buin and Dreiländerspitze

Alastair BegleyAlpinism, Austria Short Link

Previously alpine mountaineering was firmly limited to the main holiday of the year, but having moved to Munich it is now possible to do it over a weekend, this was a concept that I spent a large amount of the weekend being amazed by! We stayed at the Wiesbadener Hütte for two nights, with an aim of climbing Piz Buin on the first day, and Dreiländerspitze on the second day if the weather was perfect. After weeks of wondering if the snow was ever going to go away, and then it being far too hot, we were lucky to have a perfect weekend with relatively cool temperatures and excellent weather. It was a brilliant weekend with great company, excellent mountains, sometimes challenging card games in a wonderful mountain hut environment with a friendly guardian. Walk In After finishing work slightly early, but evidently not early enough, we drove down to the Bielerhöhe in the Silvretta Alpen. This was an excellent place to start a walk in as the car park was at 2040m, which significantly reduced the ascent. Unfortunately there was a considerable amount of traffic on the drive down,. Read the full article…

Hörndlwand

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Walking Short Link

With the temperatures set to be above 30°C for at least the third day in a row we had to make the decision about hiding from the heat and not making the most of the weekend, or accepting the unrelenting heat and heading out for a hot walk. We decided to head out for a walk, but starting fairly early. We left Munich at 6:30, which we thought would be early enough to guarantee a space in the car park, but we were wrong as it seemed numerous people had the same idea, thankfully we got the last space in a location very near to the car park! Due to the heat there was some additional criteria for the route compared to normal: Not too long Not too much ascent Finishing at a lake Ascent in the shade We managed to find a route which fulfilled all of these criteria in the Chiemgau, as the ascent was either in the woods, or up the north side of the mountain, and due to the bus route down the valley we could make the walk a linear route finishing at a bathing. Read the full article…