Notkarspitze Circuit

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Winter Walking Short Link

We were expecting a fairly full on day out on the Notkarspize, as despite the wall to wall sun in the forecast, a 60km/h wind was also forecast on the summits. As we set off from the car park it all seemed quite calm, and a quick look at the Zugspitze weather station suggested that the wind had not materialised. We decided to head up the ridge past the Ochsensitz and the Ziegelspitz up to the summit of the Nortkarspitze and then descend into the north west corrie and then back down to Ettal. It was great to have a wonderful view of previously completed walks nearby, which include: Sonnengrat Kristenkar – Bischof – Wankbahn Kramerspitz Brünstelskopf to Vorderer Felderkopf Ridge Hinteres Hörnle Ski Tour The ascent up through the woods was over fairly quickly, although it was fairly frustrating with lots of icy snow patches, interspersed with dry path. Which meant that we couldn’t wear crampons, but had to move slowly to avoid slipping over. As we emerged from the trees we were greeted with a stunning view, as it seemed that the haze which had been present over. Read the full article…

Großer und Kleiner Traithen

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Winter Walking Short Link

After a day with poor weather and colder temperatures we had another day with an excellent forecast, just quite a bit colder than the previous few days. This reduction in temperatures lead to some wonderful winter walking conditions, as all of the old snow had re-frozen which made the conditions underfoot considerably easier than the previous few days. Rob, Becky and I headed to an area which wasn’t familiar to any of us, some mountains above Bayrischzell. We started fairly high from the car park at the Rosengasse ski center, which meant that we were above the snow line for the vast majority of the day. We followed the ski tracks up which took us up a slightly different, but almost certainly nicer route to join the ridge. With the refrozen snow we made great progress up the steep ascent. The views from the ridge were wonderful, and it was just great to be out walking along a ridge in such good conditions. There were a number of skiers out, but at no point during the day did I wish I had my skis, as the snow was very icy,. Read the full article…

Brecherspitz

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Walking Short Link

After missing a day of excellent weather due to needing to complete Brexit admin in Munich, we were disappointed to see the weather forecast on Friday was not very good. But wanting to make the most of Becky being here, we decided to head out anyway, and it was certainly a good decision as we had sunshine all day. We headed down to Neuhaus, where we did a circuit which went up the obvious ridge up to the Brecherspitz, before traversing across to the Brecherspitz Vorgipfel and then heading back down to Neuhaus. On the drive past Schliersee we could clearly see the Brecherspitz and our ascent ridge, which looked fantastic. The walk up through the woods was very pleasant as it was a good path and a nice gradient, we soon emerged at the Ankl-Alm and headed up to the ridge. The views over Schliersee were great, albeit very hazy. The walk up the ridge was very enjoyable with changing views, and a gentle breeze. As we approached the top the wind became stronger, but we were greeted by more excellent views at the summit. After getting to the. Read the full article…

Herzogstand and Heimgarten

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Winter Walking Short Link

After a few weeks of excellent skiing, the weather seemed to turn very abruptly to spring with warm weather and clear skies. After months of not being able to join me in Munich due to Covid travel restrictions, Becky was finally able to come out for a few weeks. Thankfully the weather once she had finished her quarantine was still beautiful, so we headed out to do the classic circuit of Herzogstand and Heimgarten. The weather was beautiful all day, and we certainly felt too warm in trousers and a t-shirt! The ascent up to the Herzogstand was fairly quick and we were greeted with exceptional views, the difference between the view to the north towards Starnbergersee and Munich and south towards the alps was amazing, and it was great to look down over Kochelsee and Walchensee. The ridge between the two looked brilliant with the last of the snow still covering the ridge, we had to put spikes on to get down to the start of the ridge as the descent was not in the sun, but otherwise the snow was all soft. The ridge was enjoyable, with some. Read the full article…

Riedberger Horn – Spring ski touring

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Ski Touring Short Link

After an excellent weekend ski touring in powder snow, I was keen to get out at least once more before the winter ends in Bavaria. With good weather forecast midweek and the weather rapidly warming up, we decide to take a day of annual leave and headed to the Allgäu where we could start relatively high and do some skiing which didn’t involve starting or finishing in a forrest. We elected to do the so called Riedberger Horn Dopplewopper, the route started up the Riederberger horn ski area for the first 300hm, and then we left the deserted ski area and headed up to the summit. The ascent was fairly uneventful, other than a few times where our skins suddenly lost grip causing us to fall over. It is safe to say that the conditions were now definitely spring, rather than the powder from the weekend before. The ascent in the sun was very warm, but with the views was pretty enjoyable. As we approached the summit, the view were getting better and better, and from the top it was just outstanding. We then headed down a ridge, winded through. Read the full article…

Another powder day on Schildenstein

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Ski Touring Short Link

After how busy it was yesterday, it was another early start for me. Adam and I were at the car park at 7am again, to find it significantly quieter than the car park from the previous day, but at least the weather was better in the morning. After a straightforward skin up a track we were soon above the main forrest line where we were, and we were greeted with a spectacular descent, less than 30degrees, untracked and deep with powder. Something to look forward to on the descent. After a quick pause at the Königsalm for some water we continued heading up. This involved crossing a narrow bridge, which felt exposed with skins on, it seemed even narrower on the way back with some speed! The ascent then took us up a ridge line in the trees, this was fairly uneventful but there were a few tricky corners due to being fairly steep in places. We soon emerged at the plateau below the summit, but it was clear that without crampons it would not have been safe to go to the actual summit. So we made do with our. Read the full article…

Powder day on Schönberg

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Ski Touring Short Link

After multiple days of heavy snow combined with it being a weekend we knew that we were going to need to start early, after rejecting Rob’s idea of a 5am start, we agreed to meet at 7. It was lucky as 10mins after we arrived the car park was full! We skinned from the cars, and headed up into the woods. The conditions in the morning were better than I was anticipating, and the ascent was actually warm without any wind. The path we took basically went straight up, but despite this it was fairly pleasant and more interesting than skinning up the route we took back down. As we approached the col below Schönberg, the cloud came in and the snow started. We assumed that it was set in for the day, however as we approached the summit we could see the sun through the clouds, and just before we set off on the descent the cloud cleared. The descent started down a steep break between the trees, which gave no time for a warm up. But thankfully due to the excellent powder this was no trouble, and was. Read the full article…

Hinteres Hörnle Ski Tour

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Ski Touring Short Link

After multiple days of snow in the mountains I was very keen to get out, and am lucky enough to be able to work flexibly. So after a “half day” of working from home I drove down to Bad Kohlgrub to meet Helen for a lunchtime ski tour. There was snow down to the car park, and the weather was much better than I had anticipated so it was great to be out. We made good time up to the top of the ski resort, and were enjoying that it was a lot quieter than we were expecting, and as we left the ski resort it got even quieter! Helen had been commenting that the summit of Hinteres Hörnle was often in the cloud when she was there, and today was no exception as we chose the only time there was cloud on the summit to reach the top. As it wasn’t very warm we did not hang about and set off on the descent. The lack of photos from the descent is a good indication of it being good! The snow was fantastic, although I did find a rock. Read the full article…