Blog Posts in Category: Walking

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…

Brecherspitz Ostgrat

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Walking Short Link

Having previously climbed the Brecherspitz, we decided to join the IMG group walk which went from Neuhaus train station, to the Spitzingsattel and then up the Brecherspitz Ostgrat, before descending to the lovely Obere Firstalm and back to the Spitzingsattel. The walk up to the Spitzingsattel was very pleasant and for once was a gradual warm up as the ascent was never steep and the diversion to the Josefsthaler Wasserfälle was definitely worth it. We were soon at the Spitzingsattel and at the start of the route, which headed steeply up the Brecherspitz Ostgrat in the woods. There were a few short sections of easy scrambling and eventually we emerged from the humid woods onto a sunny ridge which wonderful views in every direction. Our route was relatively quiet, so it was a bit of a shock when we got to the summit of the Brecherspitz to find the crowds who had climbed it by one of the other two normal routes. We enjoyed lunch on the summit before descending to the Obere Firstalm for a welcome Eiskaffee and a drink, before making the easy walk back out along the. Read the full article…

Roter Stein

Alastair BegleyAustria, Walking Short Link

We had planned to climb Daniel, but given the lack of wind forecast and the high temperatures, decided that a large day fully spent on a south facing slope may have been a bit unpleasant, so we diverted to climb another mountain which has been on my todo list for a while, the Roter Stein which started from Berwang. The route was a there and back route, which took us up a beautiful valley before climbing steeply up to a spur of the Roter Stein which then took us to the summit. The walk up the valley in the morning was hot, with absolutely no wind, baking sunshine and ascent. There was also surprisingly still some snow, but it was almost impossible to detect as snow as it was covered with tree debris, so it only looked like snow when you really looked at it hard and from the side. As we climbed out of the valley three things happened, firstly as we left the lush green valley the humidity dropped, secondly we were greeted by a welcome breeze and thirdly the views started to open up. The views kept. Read the full article…

Gamskogel

Alastair BegleyAustria, Walking Short Link

With a mixed weather forecast and following a lot of rain in the mountains we decided to head to the Gamskogel with the IMG, as it was relatively low, easy to access by train and shouldn’t have been too bad following the recent heavy rain. Due to the introduction of the 49 euro ticket in Germany, most of us took the train the Kufstein to start the walk, which was a nice social way to start the walk. The ascent to the Gamskogel was mostly in the forrest, but it took us up some nice scenery next to the Kienbach with glimpses out of the forest across and out of the Inntal, where there were some fairly ominous looking clouds. Thankfully we made it to the summit before it started to rain, where we had a lovely view in every direction, but unfortunately due to the forecast it certainly wasn’t a day to be hanging around. We made a quick descent down to the Weinbergerhaus for a lovely lunch, before making the descent back down to Kufstein for some ice cream and the train back to Munich.

2022 in 100 Photos

Alastair Begley100 Photos, Alpinism, Arco, Austria, Bavaria, Dolomites, General, Landscape, Paragliding, Road Cycling, Rock Climbing, Scrambling, Ski Touring, Skiing, Via Ferrata, Walking, Winter Climbing, Winter Walking Short Link

Thankfully 2022 was a more normal year than the previous two years, and our first full year with our new lifestyle living an hour from the Alps. A high point of the year was the number of visitors we were able to host, for skiing, walking, paragliding and climbing. We certainly made the most of living near the alps, with most weekends spend in the mountains one way or another. Winter Our winter was fairly dominated with piste skiing, where Becky progressed from tentatively skiing easy blue runs to confidently skiing red runs with the odd short black run as well! This was great to see and I am looking forward to her continued progression this year. Despite the focus on piste skiing we also squeezed some paragliding in and I managed to get 4 days of ski touring as well. General Through the winter we managed to squeeze in some paragliding, and on one of our final days of skiing of the year, I am managed to combine a morning skiing with my first proper cross country flight on my paraglider which was a very memorable experience, as I. Read the full article…

Thaneller Hike&Fly

Alastair BegleyAustria, Paragliding, Walking Short Link

Following a day with snow down to the valleys and a beautiful weather forecast, we headed off early to Berwang in Austria to climb Thaneller. We had decided to climb Thaneller as it is a fairly standalone mountain which has wonderful views over the Lechtaler Alpen, towards the Zugspitze, over the Plansee and towards the Tannheimer Geberge. It was also suitable for a hike and fly with the predicted wind direction. The ascent up to the peak was beautiful, with snow covered mountains, green fields in the valleys and incredibly clear air which gave us wonderful views. As we climbed higher the views just kept improving and we had a wonderful inversion as we looked towards the Karwendel. As we approached the summit we were greeted by the view north over Plansee and into Bavaria, which was very special. The wind was moderate and in the correct direction to take off, so I quickly setup before it further increased and after more failed inflations than I would care to admit, took off. Upon watching the videos the others took, it I was clearly using my hands to balance as I. Read the full article…

Blauberg Überschreitung

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Walking Short Link

With another day of beautiful sunshine and unexpectedly warm temperatures we decided to head off and do one of the long ridge walks in Bavaria which has been on my todo list for a while, the Blauberg Blauberg Überschreitung. As Becky was heading off early the next morning, we wanted to ensure that we weren’t back too late, so we got up early and arrived at the car park at 8am. We were certainly not the first people there, but the car park was still pretty deserted. The walk in was pretty cool in the shade, and for a large amount of the very flat walk in we could see the towering ascent at the end of the valley, which was as steep as it looked! We were thankful that it hadn’t rained, as the approach was along a valley floor and involved multiple crossings of the river, certainly not one to do in trainers after lots of rain! We were soon at the start of the ascent, which was fairly brutal, but at least most of the ascent was then done in one go! Eventually we emerged on the. Read the full article…