Blog Posts in Category: Rock Climbing

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…

Summer Holiday 2020 Summary

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Dolomites, Landscape, Mountaineering, Rock Climbing, Via Ferrata Short Link

We have recently finished a brilliant holiday in the German Alps and the Dolomites. It was great to have a holiday with excellent conditions after the mixed year so far due to Coronavirus. This post contains a summary of the photos from the trip in 27 photos. We started the trip with a day trip into the Bavarian Alps from Munich, due to the next 2 days having pretty poor weather (and the only bad weather we had on the trip). Mittenwalder Höhenweg Klettersteig After a day in Munich we then drove down to the Brenta Dolomites to do a hut-to-hut trip through the high mountains. These via ferratas are very different to the rest of the Dolomites and can be best described as ledges and ladders in surreal positions. The two day trip through the mountains was incredible and is highly recommended. Brenta Dolomites Day 1/2: Sentiero Alfredo Benini & Sentiero Bocchette Alte Sunset, Astro and Sunrise from Rifugio Alimonta Brenta Dolomites Day 2/2: Via delle Bocchette Centrale We then had a relocation day to the central Dolomites. For the rest of the trip we based ourselves in the. Read the full article…

Saas Pordoi Via Maria Climb

Alastair BegleyDolomites, Rock Climbing Short Link

On the last day of out holiday we decided to climb the classic Via Maria up the south face of the Sass Pordoi. This is a 370m 8 pitch climb (+ 3 pitches of moving together at the top) which is graded at VI+ or about UK Hard Severe. As it was a long route we wanted to leave plenty of time, and we didn’t really want to spend the day queueing if we could avoid it we decided to have a really early start. This worked out as we were the first team on the route, however as it turns out there was actually only one other team on the route that day anyway! As it was a long route, and I have had previous issues with the Rockfax guidebook I searched around the internet for better route descriptions. I found this one which seemed much better for most of the route: https://www.multi-pitch.com/climbs/via-maria-on-sass-pordoi-south-face/ After a harsh start to the day with the steep climb out of the car park, with tired legs we were soon at the climb. Most of the climbing was brilliant with good rock and interesting. Read the full article…

Vajolet Towers – Torre Delago – Piaz Arete

Alastair BegleyDolomites, Rock Climbing Short Link

We had much better weather on our second day at the Vajolet Towers. As we were staying in the fantastic Rifugio Re Alberto we were the first to our route. We had heard lots of excellent comments about the route, and about the level of exposure experienced and the route certainly did not disappoint. We soloed up the first easy pitch to the first proper belay on the route, this was on a ledge just to the right of the arete. The next pitch was the crux, it started up the right hand side of the arete, before getting to a ledge with some gear. At this point you had to make a tricky move out onto the arete, which suddenly put you above a massive drop into the valley below. Steady climbing up the arete then continued, which started to feel more and more airy as I edged up further away from the gear. A few more moves led to a ledge and some gear, before it all started again with another step out onto the arete. By this point 8 other people had arrived to do the climb,. Read the full article…