Blog Posts in Category: Mountaineering

Mala Mojstrovka North Arête (Severni raz)

Alastair BegleyRock Climbing, Slovenia Short Link

The north arete on Mall Mojstrovka had been recommended to us by a number of people, so we set off back to the north face of Mala Mojstrovka, this time heading past the klettersteig and onto the start of the climb. We found the climb using the following topos, which we found online: The climb was very mixed, some some excellent pitches on great rock, but with plenty of easy but almost unprotected pitches up loose rock. It may be related to being out of practice, but I found route finding on the route pretty difficult, especially up the easy sections, however with the use of the above topos I think we just about managed to stay on route most of the time. Due to the time taken to route find we ended up taking quite a while on the climb, which was added to by the time it took us to commit to the horrendous looking exit as described in the Bergsteigen topo, as it looked so improbable from the start of it. Eventually we were at the end of the climb and made out way up to the. Read the full article…

Prisank Fensterweg Klettersteig (Kopiščarjeva & Grebenska pot)

Alastair BegleySlovenia, Via Ferrata Short Link

On the summit of Mala Mojstrovka we were talking to some other people who recommended the Prisank Fensterweg, so the next day that is what we planned to do. We were very surprised when we arrived at the top of the Vršič pass at 7am to find that the car park was already full. Thankfully there was still space just above the lower car park, which didn’t add too much time onto our day. The route was an enjoyable way of climbing the mountain, but it was very busy, with lots of people who were not used to being on steep terrain with plenty of rocks around. The majority of the route was very easy, but there was a short crux which had a very long queue which climbed up a few chimneys before squeezing through a rift. We were soon approaching the end of the first klettersteig where we had to go through a massive window in the rock, which you can see from the valley. This section was not technically difficult at all, but there was a large queue to get out at the end of the route,. Read the full article…

Mala Mojstrovka Klettersteig (Hanzover pot)

Alastair BegleySlovenia, Via Ferrata Short Link

On our first day in Slovenia we decided to climb Mala Mojstrovka via the klettersteig up the north face (Hanzover pot). This was a relatively short day given the height of the summit, as the route starts from the Vršič pass at 1611m, if you are lucky enough to be able to park on the top. After a brief ascent from the car park, we soon reached a col which gave us a wonderful view of the north face, and our route. The route was a wonderful way of climbing the mountain, as it wound its way up thorough unlikely looking terrain, with outstanding views and really enjoyable scrambling on rock. It is not a route to do if you are looking for really well protected klettersteigs or technically difficult routes, but if you want a great day out in the mountains then I would highly recommend it. All too soon we arrived at the top of the klettersteig and emerged from the shady north face into the sun. It was a shame to have finished the klettersteig, however it was a relief to emerge into the warm sunlight. From. Read the full article…

Breitebenkopf

Alastair BegleyAustria, Walking Short Link

We decided to do a there and back route up the Breitebenkopf as we could walk there from the campsite. We started with a 2.5km walk along the road into the Seidlwinkltal before starting our ascent. From the start it was clear this wasn’t a popular route as the ascent was very overgrown, and it was also very steep. The steepness combined with the brutal heat made this very hard work. On the map there was a walking path which made its way directly up the mountain and an old zig-zag forest road, which looked even more overgrown than our path, however eventually we emerged to find the overgrown forest road had turned into a newly made stone forest track. So at this point we decided to leave the official walking track and take the much longer, but much less brutal forest track up to the end of the forest. From here we left the stone path and again joined an old track and then a very unworn path up the spur towards the Weichselbachhöhe. This became increasingly steep towards the top, and we were certainly glad when the summit. Read the full article…

Krumltal/Tal der Geier

Alastair BegleyAustria, Landscape, Walking Short Link

With afternoon thunderstorms forecast and after two days of walking with more than 1300m of ascent, we decided that a rest day was in order. We decided to do a short walk up the Krumltal to the Bräualm for lunch. The valley is best known for the birds of prey, where it is common to see Griffon Vultures, Bearded Vulture and Golden Eagles. What we didn’t realise is that it was also a really beautiful valley which was full of enormous waterfalls. On our walk into the hut we enjoyed admiring the landscape and the waterfalls, and saw what we believe to be a number of Griffon Vultures. We soon arrived at the beautifully situated farm where the Bräualm was situated, where we enjoyed a lunch of their homemade bread and cheese, with meat from their animals. All of this while overlooking the valley where we were watching Bearded Vultures flying, thankfully someone at the hut let us use their binoculars to fully appreciate the birds. On the way out we saw a number of Marmots which I was particularly pleased about, and then just as we were about to. Read the full article…

Grubereck

Alastair BegleyAustria, Walking Short Link

Grubereck is the first high mountain on the eastern side of the Rauris valley which meant that despite its relatively modest height would have excellent views to the north, south and west. We didn’t start as early as we would have liked, as the first bus on the weekend was surprisingly late, which meant we had a very hot ascent up to the peak. Initially on the ascent we had fleeting views over alpine meadows looking north into the larger mountains towards the end of the Rauristal on the way up to the Bründlalm. From here the ascent became very steep and relentless, but we eventually emerged out onto the grassy summit ridge where the views really opened up and became really enjoyable. We were shocked to arrive at the summit and find a very civilised bench with a table, which made it an obvious spot for some lunch, it was just a shame about the flies due to the lack of wind. From the summit we descended to the Karalm, where I was really looking forward to a stop for a cold drink and maybe some cake, however we. Read the full article…

Rauris Ridge

Alastair BegleyAustria, Walking Short Link

I planned this walk back in spring, but for various reasons we had not got around to doing it. Given the day before a 4 day weekend in Germany was forecast to be perfect weather, we decided to extend the weekend and take the Friday off as well. There were two options for this walk, the first from the valley with more ascent, but less descent, or the second from the lift station, with less ascent but more descent. We decided to do the ascent from the valley, which was certainly hot in the morning sun. The route took us from Hundsdorf, up to the Roßkopf and then up to the Baukogel which was the start of the ridge. The ridge then took us over Hirschkopf and Reißrachkopf before finishing at Schwartzwand. The ascent up to Roßkopf was initially on a track before moving onto a not very well trodden path up through grassy meadows, which was a lovely ascent. As we climbed the views were getting better and better, and in very good time we were at Roßkopf where we quickly ate most of our lunch. From the Roßkopf. Read the full article…

Aiplspitz and Jägerkamp

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Walking Short Link

I took Friday off work due to there being a moderately ok forecast and wanting to get into the mountains. As the weather wasn’t perfect we decided to stay in the Bavarian Alps and head back to the Spitzingsee area. This time we elected to do a circuit up the scramble north ridge of the Aiplspitz and then traverse over to the Jägerkamp, before descending to the Spitzingsattel. As we left Munich we were not convinced about walking as it was raining heavily just south of Munich and in the mountains, which was not in any of the forecasts. We decided that as the only thing we were waisting was time we took the train down to Geitau anyway, with the hope that the rain would stop and the plan to head back home on the next train if it was still raining. Thankfully by the time we got to Geitau the weather had significantly improved and we set off on our planned walk. The views were brilliant from the start, with a wonderful view up the valley which we were going to walk up and a view of the. Read the full article…