Blog Posts in Category: Austria

Mayrhofen Klettersteig

Alastair BegleyAustria, Via Ferrata Short Link

Having spent a week and a long weekend in Zell am Ziller, it was inevitable that we would end up doing a number of the klettersteigs above Mayrhofen. The topo is like nothing I have ever seen, with 5 klettersteigs on a single topo, four of which start from the valley and finish near an alm, and the other climb the cliff above the alm. On the first day we ended up wanting a relaxing day off paragliding, so didn’t head into the mountains. This did have the unfortunate effect that it was very, very hot! We started on one of the easier routes, the Huterlaner Klettersteig, which had the added advantage that it topped out at the alm. The route itself was nothing to shout about, but given that it was straight out of the valley, and a 5min walk from the train station it was pretty good. On the route we had wonderful views down the valley, the smallest wire bridge that I have ever seen and plenty of sun. When we got to the top we were not sure if we wanted to continue up the higher. Read the full article…

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…

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…

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…

Kohlbergspitze

Alastair BegleyAustria, Walking Short Link

With a good forecast for the day Rob and I headed back to Austria to enjoy our access to the bigger mountains. While we wanted to enjoy the bigger mountains, we had to be careful not to head too high due to the amount of snow. We elected to do the Kohlbergspitze which is between Bichlbach and the Plansee. This was the weekend where I have switched from my winter boots to trainers, and I really hope I don’t need to go back, it was so much more enjoyable being out in soft, light trainers! The route we decided to do was a round tour, which went up a scramble which we hoped would be ok with the snow. As it was south facing and it looked OK from the valley, we decided to go for it. The ascent out of the valley was brutal, between leaving the main valley path and getting to the summit there was 1150m of ascent in 4km! We made good time up the path in the woods and soon separated from the main track. As we walked along and ascended above the treeline the. Read the full article…

Vorderunnütz

Alastair BegleyAustria, Walking Short Link

Poor weather dominated most of the bank holiday weekend in Bavaria, however thankfully there was a brief abatement to the rain in the mountains from Sunday evening to Monday late morning. After enjoying sunset at Ammersee last night, Rob and I made the most of the easing of restrictions and headed over the Austrian border to the Achensee. Our peak was the Vorderunnütz, which turned out to be a lovely walk with excellent views of the local Austrian peaks. Given the rain which was forecast from 11, we met relatively early at 7:30 expecting to get fairly wet on the descent, but hoping to get to the summit before the rain. Despite a number of photo stops, we made excellent time on the ascent over 1100m in just over 2 hours, which certainly got the blood flowing! Despite the lack of sunlight, the views were excellent as the air was clear, and it was great to be out in another new area. We could see the weather closing in as we started the descent, but due to a quick descent we were almost back before the rain really set in.. Read the full article…

Seehorn Nordwestgrat

Alastair BegleyAustria, Rock Climbing Short Link

Despite it looking very unlikely earlier in the week, on Saturday George and I headed down to Sankt Ulrich am Pillersee in Austria to climb the north west ridge of the Seehorn (Nordwestgrat/Astenriedlgrat). I started my day with a very early train journey from Munich to Kufstein. It was a beautiful morning with a brilliant sunrise, just a shame the only chance I had to photograph it was at a train station! After meeting George in Kufstein a short drive took us to the start of the route, which looked a long way above us! During the first 3.2km we ascended over 1000m, thankfully most of the ascent was in the woods so we were out of the morning sun. When we emerged from the woods we were treated to brilliant views over the Austrian mountains, there is certainly a lot to do here! The traverse around to the start of the route was fairly awkward and poorly marked, but with only a few wrong turns we were soon at the start of the climb. Unfortunately at this point the cloud rolled in and we lost our views, which as. Read the full article…