Blog Posts in Category: Germany

Brauneck paragliding in the snow

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Paragliding Short Link

Unfortunately as autumn progresses, most of the cable cars shut down for a quiet period before the winter season. This meant my options for where to go for some more paragliding were more limited. Thankfully close to Munich we do have a few good options, and I had planned to head to Brauneck for a few flights before heading up the road to the Blomberg for some shorter/cheaper flights to practice landings. When I got out of the lift at Brauneck two things struck me, firstly it was windier than I was expecting, and secondly there were a lot of paragliders. I guess in hindsight this was unsurprising as one of the only areas open near Munich! The launch area was chaotic, with loads of people, wind, failed launches, people being hit by gliders etc. I had a good take off after my first one failing due to the snow, and then had a surprising flight. Firstly there was enough wind for ridge lift, and secondly there was very mellow thermals which meant that I had my first experience of flying above take off. Due to the amount of pilots. Read the full article…

Blomberg & Zwiesel

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Walking Short Link

We were keen to get out for a walk prior to Becky making the long drive back to the UK in order to get the van home for a winter break and a new coat of paint. However, as Becky had the long drive we didn’t want the day to be too long so that there was no additional fatigue to add into the mix. We decided to head up the Blomberg and Zwiesel, which we actually climbed from the other side on my pre assignment trip back in July 2020. However this time we went up from the other side, which turned out to be a really lovely circuit with plenty of time on the ridge and out of the forrest. It really is amazing that this is only an hour from our door, certainly better than a stroll in the mendips! There was a strong föhn wind forecast, which meant that we prepared for a windy day out. However where we were there was hardly any wind, which meant we were definitely overdressed and certainly had too many layers in our packs. However there was certainly wind about. Read the full article…

Tegelbergsteig Klettersteig

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Via Ferrata Short Link

With a sunny Saturday forecast we headed down to Fügen to climb the classic klettersteig up the Tegelberg. As we arrived in Fügen it was very cloudy, but as we made our way up the steep ascent to the start of the klettersteig we emerged through to find a missive inversion. The climb itself faced north, which meant we had a beautiful view but fairly challenging conditions photographically. The route started easily before getting to a branch point with a ladder which was followed by the crux. This resulted in many people down climbing the ladder and a big queue. Thankfully once this cleared we didn’t need to queue much as the slower groups let us past at convenient points. The rest of the climb was good fun, despite the damp and greasy rock. Once we were at the top, we made the short climb up to the lift station where we enjoyed lunch at the restaurant before taking the lazy way down in the lift.

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.

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…

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…

Hochplatte (Ammergauer Alpen)

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Walking Short Link

With the weather looking better in the afternoon, Rob and I decided to stay a bit more local and head to the Hochplatte in the Ammergauer Alpen. We left the car park at 2pm, having taken the spaces from people who had presumably already finished for the day. This late start had the advantage that we were out in the better weather, and also that when we were on the summit we had the mountain to ourselves, however it had the distinct disadvantage that we were walking up the very steep ascent in the worst of the afternoon heat. The after a relatively gentle warm up for the first 10 minutes we came across an interesting “bridge” over the river. This involved balancing on logs, and then over a dodgy looking ladder. Thankfully neither of us got wet, but we did both clock the deep pools for a post walk cool off. The rest of the ascent was fairly straightforwards, if very hot in the sun. Very hot we soon arrived at the Weitalpjoch where the view over the Ammergauer Alpen really opened up, and it was certainly a fantastic. Read the full article…