Blog Posts in Category: Germany

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…

Brünstelskopf to Vorderer Felderkopf Ridge

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Winter Walking Short Link

The weather forecast for Saturday had been fairly mixed all week, but it had remained sure that there would be very strong winds. With this in mind we had elected to do an alternative variant of this route to minimise the time we spent on the ridge. However, due to me following the wrong route we ended up doing the entire ridge, which as it turned out was a fortunate mistake as there was no wind, clear air and wall to wall sunshine. The ascent to the start of the ridge was fairly painless, and we gained a surprising amount of height fairly quickly. As we emerged from the forrest onto the ridge just below Brünstelskopf it became clear there was plenty of snow along the entire ridge and that we would need to put our crampons on. The ridge was just spectacular, with inspiring views in every direction, clear air, lots of sun, and more importantly no wind. We must have been on the ridge for quite some time as it is a reasonable distance, but it really didn’t feel like it took very long as it was so. Read the full article…

Dürrnbergjoch

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Winter Walking Short Link

Today was a day where the weather forecast couldn’t decide between not great and brilliant, and it seemed the actual weather was a bit indesisive as well, but it certainly wasn’t the day which the forecast predicted at 6:30 am that morning. We had decided to head up to the Sylvensteinspeicher and walk up the ride towards the Demeljoch, with no particular objective in mind, just seeing how far we could get with the snowy conditions. We were expecting a clear day, the but actual weather had other ideas in mind as it was snowing as we left the car park. As we drove across the dam I was very surprised to find the dam frozen, a bit of a different scene to when I was last here in the Autumn! After a typically Bavarian ascent in the forrest, with a few fleeting views out over the frozen reservoir, we soon arrived at the start of the ridge, which meant we had wonderful views to one side. We could see plenty of bad weather, but didn’t appear to be catching much ourselves which was great. We made good time up. Read the full article…

Schönberg & Seekarkreuz

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Winter Walking Short Link

Having returned to Munich it has been strangely warm, however winter seems to have suddenly returned. After an evening of snow, Adam and I headed out to do a circuit above Lenggries including the Schönberg and the Seekarkreuz. The morning was beautiful, with a cloudless sky, snow down to the valley and cold air. We enjoyed a gentle walk up a snowy forrest, which was much more interesting with the fresh snow. We soon got to a stunning opening, which also marked the start of the proper ascent. This was fairly straightforwards, other than the small part where we went off the path due to following tracks in front of us… We soon were at the summit, and enjoying fleeting views of the mountains, as unfortunately the cloud had come in. After some well earnt brunch we descended as the weather improved and had brilliant views towards the Hochplatte and Roßstein. There was one small section of scrambling which we were the first party along, which was fairly interesting, especially due to my route finding error. Once we approached the end of the scrambling, the views were absolutely fantastic. We. Read the full article…

Brauneck Ski Touring

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Ski Touring Short Link

With the temperatures having been really high since the day I drove over, I had mostly given up on the concept of using my new ski touring skis this year. Thankfully some of the Bavarian ski areas are still hanging onto their snow, even low down. To make the most the snow before it finishes melting, Rob, Helen and I headed to Brauneck for a day of ski touring on closed pistes. The skin up was tiring, especially for my unfit legs, but straightforward with no need for any kick turns, and surprisingly grippy snow. Once we got out of the initial woods the views were really spectacular. We headed straight up to Brauneck and were treated to a massive cloud inversion to the north west, and fantastic views of the mountains towards Austria with wonderfully clear air. We then headed over to the Stin-Alm where we had a quick drink before heading up the Idealhang lift track. The descent back down from where was lovely, OK snow, great views, what more could you want… We then made the hot return to Brauneck, before starting the frankly unpleasant descent back. Read the full article…

Staffel, Jachenau

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Walking Short Link

After what has seemed like two weeks of glorious weather since I arrived back in Germany, the first bad weather day was of course on a Saturday. James and I were nonetheless keen to do something, as we both felt the need to improve our fitness. We had planned to do a walk which had brilliant views, but given the conditions elected to do a mountain which is otherwise less inspiring. Unusually, and mostly due to the weather, we didn’t leave Munich until after 10 which made for a nice lie in. The weather was pretty much as forecast, grey but not precipitating. The walk up was mostly up good tracks, until the last bit were we headed straight up the ridge, rather than circumnavigating the hill and doing a “there and back” to the top. We made excellent time and were at the top only 1h40 after leaving the car, after a short lunch break where we admired what the view was supposed to look like, we descended down the other side. The descent was very enjoyable down through the forrest, and with the snow covering was very easy. Read the full article…

Baumgartenschneid, Tegernsee

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Walking Short Link

Having returned to Munich and finished my quarantine I was keen to get back out into the mountains. Unfortunately the cold conditions from the previous weekend had not lasted, but the weather forecast was glorious. We decided to head out for a loop above Tegernsee, which climbed up to the Gindelalmschneid and then around to the Baumgartenschneid, before descending back to Tegernsee. Not knowing how much snow had melted during the warm weather of the previous week, we optimistically carried snow shoes, needless to say we did not require them! The walk was really enjoyable, with paths up through the woods, rounded ridges, beautiful views, and generally good going underfoot. There were some sections in the woods which were very icy, and some spikes would have been useful, especially for the descent.