Blog Posts in Category: Walking

Bleispitze Hike and Fly

Alastair BegleyAustria, Paragliding, Walking Short Link

I thought that when I returned from India and then the UK the mountains would have their winter coat, unfortunately they do not yet, so I decided to make the most of the sunny still conditions and headed to climb the Bleispitze above Bichlbach and fly back down. As I could travel there for free using the Deutschland ticket, I elected to take the train despite it taking significantly longer than driving. I was surprised at the amount of snow in the valley at Bichlbach and as I headed up the valley towards Berwang, but these valleys hardly get any sun at this time of year so it hadn’t melted despite the sun over the past few days. I had planned on heading up via a much less well trodden path which involved heading steeply up to join a ridge which runs up to the summit. I could find no trace of a path as I walked past the turn off, and when I used gps to work out where it should be, it appeared to traverse across steep grassy slopes which were covered in wet snow. Due to this. Read the full article…

Hochmiesing and Rotwand Nordgrat (Kriegersteig)

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Walking Short Link

With a morning weather window before a lot of rain was forecast, we decided to stay local and head to the Spitzingsee area as it was an easy train ride from Munich. Given the short weather window, we decided to take the Taubensteinbahn up and down to keep the day short, and make the most of the clearer weather in the morning. This time we decided to head to a peak which we hadn’t previously climbed, Hochmiesing which is just north of the Rotwand, is much less climbed but has a really spectacular view. It was great to be away from the hustle and bustle of some of the busier Bavarian peaks and we managed to get to the top before too much high cloud came in. Unfortunately the view south was very hazy so it was hard to make the peaks out, one to come back to on another day. We decided to head up the north ridge of the Rotwand (otherwise known as the Kriegersteig) after descending from Hochmiesing. After going slightly wrong at the start, the rest of the route was very straightforward, just fairly steep with. Read the full article…

Hochiss

Alastair BegleyAustria, Walking Short Link

With Martin visiting it was time to head back to do our usual visitor circuit from the Rofanbahn, as it is such a spectacular walk without being too long. While I have now seen these views quite a few times, they never get old as they are so beautiful looking over the Achensee into the Karwendel. We made good time to the summit which meant that we were back down at the lift station for a lovely lunch and beer at the Erfurter Hütte, before we headed back to Munich for a lovely dinner.

Tölzer Hütte, Hölzelstaljoch and Grasberg

Alastair BegleyAustria, Walking Short Link

After abandoning a multi day hut-to-hut hochtour in the Ötztaler Alpen due to the excessive snow and terrible weather forecast, we decided to make the most of the booked holiday by heading to the beautiful Rißtal for an overnight hike. We started by heading into the Tölzer Hütte via the most direct way as we were concerned about the rain, needless to say we could have taken the longer variation as the rain came later than forecast as to start with we somehow just missed it, but when it came, it certainly came with plenty of thunder and lightening. The walk up to the hut was hot work in the humid weather, but the walk was nonetheless enjoyable with views into the Karwendel and a nice path. After not too long we arrived at the hut and enjoyed the afternoon playing games and having a few beers in the hut. We even sent Katherine for a run up the nearby peak after we had been at the hut for a few hours and before the rain came. The next day we woke up to a glorious morning and enjoyed a. Read the full article…

Jochberg

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Walking Short Link

With a fairly uncertain forecast we decided to head to Jochberg for Rich’s last day in Munich. Given my poor nights sleep and the rain on the approach, it is safe to say that I wasn’t convinced about the idea. However by the time we had met Rich in Kochelsee and driven to the start of the walk it was looking much better. The ascent was relatively quick up through the forest, and when we emerged we were greeted with a wonderful atmospheric view over the Walchensee. The views from the ridge up to the summit were very enjoyable and we were pleased to be at the summit in 1h15mins, the sign at the bottom said 2h15. After enjoying lunch at the summit we made the day out a loop by descending via the Hütte and then continuing on down to the Walchensee. The descent was definitely quieter than the ascent, and when we arrived at the beautiful Walchensee we were regretting not packing towels. A short walk back along the lake and we were back at the car in time for a cold drink and some ice cream.

2023 in 100 Photos

Alastair Begley100 Photos, Austria, Bavaria, Dolomites, General, Germany, Italy, Landscape, Mountaineering, Paragliding, Rock Climbing, Scrambling, Ski Touring, Skiing, Slovenia, Via Ferrata, Walking, Winter Walking Short Link

All to quickly it was once again the end of another year and time to reflect on the year. This year we really started to settle into our routine of living an hour from the Alps, with travel being much easier and having settled into Munich life, both professionally and socially. Unfortunately at the start of the year Becky had an accident and badly broke her wrist which was also misdiagnosed which delayed her recovery. This significantly impacted our year as we were unable to climb, klettersteig or ride our bikes for most of the year. The highlights of the year for me have to be Becky’s continued progression at skiing with her initial foray into ski touring, my ski mountaineering adventure on the Ruderhofspitze, my continued paragliding progression with my first flight over 100km, our wonderful holiday together to Slovenia and a beautiful walk near munich with a combination of snow&autumn colours. Winter Winter continued with lots of weekends away skiing with family, friends from the UK and friends from Munich, it seemed like we had a constant stream of visitors which as wonderful. Becky’s progression continued and she. Read the full article…

Schellschlicht

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Walking Short Link

We had planned on doing the Gartnerwand traverse, but due to wind gusts in excess of 100km/h on the Gartnerwand while we were heading there on the train, we decided to abort to a plan b (or was it c) to head up the Schellschlicht, hoping that the larger mountains to the south would protect us from the strong southerly wind. The walk up was mostly in the forrest, which was surprisingly still full of beautiful autumnal colours, and when we were treated to glimpses out of the forrest the views were wonderful. As we ascended we eventually climbed out of the forest and were able to appreciate a view uninterrupted by trees, which just became better and better as we climbed up. The summit provided us with an excellent panorama, where we enjoyed (a quick) lunch while everyone appreciated the view. The reason for the quick lunch is that despite the wind being significantly weaker than to the south, it was still fairly strong and was very cold. The descent was down a relatively gentle ridge, which provided us with a lovely backdrop looking south to the larger Austrian. Read the full article…

Brecherspitz – Neuhaus to Spitzingsattel

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Walking Short Link

We headed back to the classic circuit of the Brecherspitz with some friends who were visiting Munich as it is very easy todo with public transport and is also an enjoyable route with an nice ridge, wonderful summit views, an excellent Alm on the descent and a bus to save the knees from Spitzingsattel. We made quick time up to the Ankel Alm, which was unfortunately shut in the week due to it being the end of the season, although this did mean that we could eat our lunch by the alm. It was here that we started to see some lovely autumnal colours appearing on the deciduous trees. Once we joined the ridge the views were wonderful, and just kept improving as we climbed higher. The north ridge was fairly quiet which was pleasant, although this did give us a shock when we arrived at the very busy summit. After admiring the views and a few photos we started the descent down to the Obere Firstalm for a well earned beer and Kaiserschmarrn, before the easy descent down the road to the Spitzingsattel.