Blog Posts in Category: Austria

Sulzspitze Hike&Fly

Alastair BegleyAustria, Paragliding Short Link

After a long day on the Aggenstein we were after a shorter walk the following day, which involved a lift for ascent. We decided to head up the Sulzspitze from the top of the Neunerköpfle Seilbahn, the end of a long hike&fly Becky, James and I did last November. When we were there before I had scoped out that it looked like a great peak for a hike&fly, and as such this time took my glider along for the walk up so that I could fly back down. The walk up to the summit was very scenic and very easy, certainly less difficult than in the snow/ice last time!! Once we got to the top there was absolutely no wind, other than the odd thermal cycle from the south face which resulted in a small tailwind. After analysing the situation over lunch, I decided that it was suitable to take off and enjoy the flight back down. I was really hoping to get some lift and extend my flight back down. However as I flew off I wasn‘t finding any lift, I must have been too early for the west. Read the full article…

Aggenstein Linke Südwand-Platte

Alastair BegleyAustria, Rock Climbing Short Link

Having walked up Aggenstein with James last year, I knew there was plenty of climbing on the large rocky faces, so this was an obvious choice of where to head with Rob and Win, as the walk in wasn’t too long, the climbing was easy but sustained, and was relatively well protected with bolts. We decided to climb the Linke Südwand-Platte up the south west face, which is, I think, mostly what we ended up climbing! Some of the descriptions online suggested that it was very easy to end up on the routes to the right and the left, and we certainly found that. I don’t recall spending so much time looking at a topo and feeling confused before! The walk in was fairly pleasant in the cool, shady morning air and we arrived at the start of the route in relatively good time. After quickly eating some food and gearing up I set off up the first pitch and the route finding was initially very easy, until I got to the belay. At this point I had no real idea where the second pitch went, and I didn’t find. Read the full article…

Stripsenjoch Climbing

Alastair BegleyAustria, Rock Climbing Short Link

As the risk of thunderstorms reduced we upgraded our plans for today from a walk to some short multi-pitch climbing in the Wilder Kaiser. We decided to head to the Gamswand near Stripsenjoch in the Wilder Kaiser, as it was a relatively short drive, followed by a 90min walk into a crag with lots of two pitch UIAA 4 and 5 routes. Our walk in was very warm, but we made excellent time, and were at the crag in just over 70mins, or so we thought…! Our guidebook only had a single crag in it, so when we saw climbers in about the right place we simply headed to where they were, little did we know we were on the wrong crag, 200m away from where we should be! After looking at the topo in a confused state for a while, we set off up a route as it most closely matched what we were expecting, however it certainly wasn’t the easy 3+ warm up which were were expecting, but actually was a really enjoyable UIAA 5 pitch with lots of delicate slab climbing. The second pitch was mostly easier,. Read the full article…

Mutterberger See

Alastair BegleyAustria, Walking Short Link

After paragliding in the morning we needed to find a short walk to do in the afternoon, so that we could be back before the forecasted thunderstorms in the afternoon. The obvious choice was a walk from our local lift, the Elferbahn, but as we climbed on the Elferturm a few days previously, we decided to get the bus all the way up the valley and walk up to the Mutterberger See. The start of the walk up was very hot and up a fairly uninspiring large track, but after about 60% of the ascent we finally turned off onto smaller walking paths and the views became a lot better. We enjoyed some lunch while admiring the view down the valley, before continuing onto the lake. We took the opportunity to cool down and both enjoyed a refreshing swim in the surprisingly warm mountain like at 2500m. After drying off and finishing our lunch we set off on the descent, which was lovely as it contoured around up high with wonderful views down the Stubai valley. Unfortunately the day was getting hotter and muggier which meant that we were both. Read the full article…

Paragliding over the Stubai Glaciers

Alastair BegleyAustria, Paragliding Short Link

With a perfect forecast for paragliding I set off with high expectations, my primary plan was to fly over the Stubai glaciers and get back to Neustift, however my secondary goal was a self planned 60km closed FAI triangle. This was my first real attempt at a decent length FAI triangle which actually had a reasonable chance of success, and certainly my first which wasn’t a route copied from others. This was actually my third attempt in a week to fly to the glacier, but it was the first with a good chance of success. I was really pleased to complete the triangle, as it made it my first route over 50km (64km) and my first closed FAI triangle, which combined with the views, made it a very memorable flight and certainly my most enjoyable to date. The flight can be viewed on XContest and Ayvri. On the first attempt we took off with a very low base, and at the point of the first valley crossing we knew that the probability of making the glacier was vanishingly small. However this still provided useful knowledge to help with future flights.. Read the full article…

Große Ochsenwand Klettersteig

Alastair BegleyAustria, Via Ferrata Short Link

We chose to climb the Große Ochsenwand (or Schlicker) Klettersteig today, as it was a beautiful but very hot day and we thought that getting up high would help reduce the impact of the heat, how wrong we were. It was also a route without much time for being slow, as the guidebook time was 7 hours, and there was only 7.5 hours from first lift to last lift! The day started with a frustrating loss of 200m of height as we descended towards our objective. The descent was very straight forwards, however finding the ascent was not. The guidebook said there was a well travelled path, but we certainly could not find one initially across the scree field, we eventually found some faded red paint spots and then found a more substantial path. We were very hot by the time we got to the base of the route, and for the vast majority of the route, but this did not take away from the enjoyment of a wonderful route up the huge face, with brilliant views down the valley and of the large rock faces around us. The route. Read the full article…

Elfer Nordturm Climbing

Alastair BegleyAustria, Rock Climbing Short Link

After a few days of paragliding we felt that it was time to return to one of our more normal activities and do some exercise! We decided to go climbing on the summit behind the launch we have been regularly using, and that I have flown over multiple times. Given the hot conditions at the moment, it was also very important that the route faced north, which made it ideal! The ascent to the route was very enjoyable with wonderful views of the Stubai valley. We were soon at the start of the Klettersteig, which we followed for the first few sections before making the very loose descent down to the huge face the route climbed up. After some faff finding the start of the route, amongst horrible loose rocks, the route was a joy to climb. It was really well bolted, with excellent rock (mostly) and enjoyable climbing. The first pitch was IV, and was mostly up a chimney, which took the ”traditional” option to get up. The second pitch looked outstanding from below, and didn’t disappoint, and it really did go at the stated grade of IV despite. Read the full article…

Wankspitze Klettersteig

Alastair BegleyAustria, Via Ferrata Short Link

At the start of the season trying to find klettersteigs which are interesting, involve a summit and are open is a bit challenging. After our first few thoughts being dismissed as we discovered that they were not yet open, we settled on the Wankspitze Klettersteig. It was a very easy klettersteig, but it climbed a ridge to the summit of the Wankspitze and had wonderful views towards the higher mountains in Austria. The walk up to the Lehnberghaus was fairly quick in the forrest, however it was already fairly warm in the morning so we stopped for a refreshing drink before continuing with the approach to the Klettersteig. As we climbed higher we soon left the forrest and were treated to spectacular views of big limestone faces and gullies. After doing most of the ascent towards the summit we arrived at the col between the Wankspitze the Westliche Griesspitze, which is where the klettersteig started. After eating most of our lunch we set off on the klettersteig. It started with a few interesting sections, but unfortunately the rest of the klettersteig was very straightforward, however this was more than made. Read the full article…