[TR] Laliderspitze, Karwendel Range, Austria - Her

[mvs]

Trip: Laliderspitze, Karwendel Range, Austria - Herzogkante (5.7, ~20 pitches)

 

Date: 8/31/2008

 

Trip Report:

I likes to tell yall about some places you don't usually hear

about. On the Germany-Austria border there is a place called

the Ahornboden ("acorn valley floor" I guess). It's got cows,

plenty of fresh milk, a beer garden and little cabins. It's also

surrounded by 800 meter high walls with the easiest route to the

top being the Herzogkante. It's a ridge, going at 5.7 plus lots

of grungy alpine terrain. But there are also long trad and sport

routes in the 5.10 to 5.12 range.

 

Me and another American named Dan hiked in Saturday morning at

5:30 am, and made the long approach (yeah, 2-3 hours is "long"

here). The last 30 minutes was finger-freezing step-cutting up a

sun-cupped snowfield to the base of the route. One rock in each

soon-frozen hand.

 

Another party was already there, occasionally reminding us of

their presence with that disturbing low fluttering sound you get

when rocks fall by. When the climbing was harder, the rock was

solid. When it was easy, there was a bloodbath of rock fall.

 

Caption: The Laliderspitze at dawn. We climbed the ridge.

 

Pitches 2,8,10 and 16 were amazing: steep, solid, exposed, good

protection with nuts or fixed pins. Pitch 12 might have been

great but was marred for me by painful stomach problems that

ended sorrowfully.

 

Europe has bolt wars too! Somebody installed a belay bolt at most

belay stances. Then another guy came and smashed it over. It was

sad to come up and see Dan belaying from three equalized dubious

micro-nuts next to a mangled bolt.

 

It took 8 hours to reach the top. On the hike down there was a

bivy shelter nicer than the house my mom and I lived in in the

3rd grade. It hat 8 bunks, blankets, a skylight and a little

kitchen.

 

But getting down the wall on the north was scrappy. 8-10 rappels

and lots of 4th class downclimbing, touching down right at full

dark. Then 3 hours of hiking, ending prematurely at the

biergarten. We stretched our sore muscles, reflecting that the

climb was first done 97 years ago.

 

Some pics:

 

Dan rounding a corner for 30 meters of unprotectable 5.5:

 

A great 5.7 pitch with huge exposure below.

 

Looking down the ridge:

 

From the summit, looking east. See the luxury bivouac hut?

 

 

 

Gear Notes:

Medium rack of nuts and cams.

[el jefe]

nice TR! thanks for posting. looks like a splendid outing!

[moronbros]

danke!

[Le Piston]

Sweet Pictures and nice climbing! You have done it...with style. Don't knock those climbing huts...they often have bars, dry beds, hot meals, and women. Beats some of the wet camps I've had in the Northwest. Your TR makes me want to go back to the Alps!

[zoroastr]

Ausgezeichnet! Kaum zu glauben! Vielen Dank.

[mvs]

Thanks for the kudos everyone. There is a lot of great climbing out here, even outside of the massively popular french alps. And the austria snowy mountains are indeed gentle in comparison, but the rock cliffs are steep and long!

[marek]

Mich auch Michael!

Ausgezeichnet! Kaum zu glauben! Vielen Dank