Haukkari: Adlitzgräben

Sunday, April 26, 2015

Valtsu in Austria

Valtsu came to visit us a while ago. The weather was quite bad when he arrived but he didn't complain. After all, he was stuck at Vienna airport, as I forgot to pick him up.

Luckily there was free Internet and a McDonalds at the airport to cheer him up while I tried to figure out how to get him to Mödling. We managed in the end, so here are some photos from the trip.

After some mandatory weizenbier, I managed to convince Valtsu that scrambling in the rain would be fun.

On the top of Cimone, we slipped the rain with just a few minutes.

The top of Cimone is actually pretty exposed. This photo from last fall shows better how it is.

Next day at Adlitzgräben, it was still pretty cold.

Valtsu on King size 7a

This is a "must do"-route for everyone

Me getting spanked on Out of work 8a

"Maybe we should try something easier?"

Me getting spanked on Street fighter 7c

Valtsu on Street fighter

I think I wore a down jacket twice this winter; the other time was while climbing ice at Altenberg.

Next day at Hohe wand

Valtsu looks a bit suspicious about the day's adventure

The plan was to climb Kronjuwel 7+, a 10-pitch long route, but for some reason there was a no-no sign at the beginning.

So, without a guidebook, we decided to climb Zukunftsweiser 7+ . This I had already climbed with Sampsa so I knew the route.

Anu on the sharp end after I convinced her that the rock would get more solid.

Anu at the long reach

Valtsu enjoying the overhanging, juggy dihedral

Anu at the crux

I have to dyno the crux. Somehow, both Valtsu and Anu did it statically...

Valtsu looks pretty suspicious still

Anu at the last overhanging part of the route

The weather got even worse in Mödling, so we headed to Hochkar.

A good idea, but the wind got so strong that they closed the whole ski resort. (Five minutes after we had bought the tickets...)

No crowds at the top

Valtsu riding some virgin slush

Hochkar looks like a nice place. Too bad the lift is not on.

At least the bar was open

Later they opened one lift...

...which they closed again after a while.

It wasn't the best weather I've seen in the mountains, but probably better than a rainy day in Mödling. Or a rainy day in Helsinki.

Sunday, January 25, 2015

Weekend warrior in Austria

Sampsa is known for his weekend trips around Europe. Longer climbing trips might be hard to combine with a family life, but sometimes a long weekend is all you need to climb something big.

This is actually often the case even when you have a lot of time. I have found that if I spent two weeks in Lofoten Islands, I would usually climb only one “big” route. A long route takes seldom more than a day or two and the rest of the climbing trip I would spend climbing shorter routes or resting from the long route. But these things you can also do at home.

Anyhow, this time the plan was to climb some ice routes in Austria. A lovely idea, but as I posted last week, it’s a bit shy of ice at the moment.

The good thing about Austria is that you can always find something to do. And I’m not just talking about cheap weissbeer.

Hohewand 17.1.2015. +9 C.

We climbed Zukunftsweiser 7+ UIAA, 180 meters

Sampsa & a tricky 6+ corner

The crux was a cool overhanging dihedral

Sampsa made quite an impression to the local girls at the top. It took less than 30 seconds and the girls were more than happy to give us a lift to our car.

The next day was nice and sunny in Mödling, but for some reason we decided to drive to the base of Schneeberg, where it was not nice or sunny. Hiking in the rain is always super fun, but somehow we ended up here.