Falkenflue climbing

 Somehow we've never climbed at the Falkenflue... weird considering how close it is and how easy the approach is.

So: train to Duggingen, the short hike up, find the sector Amboss, and then climb.

We start with the route Pfeiler (5c). A starts, decides her head isn't in it yet, so G leads it and then A top ropes. Nice climbing

Next is Feirabendriss (5c). G leads, A does top rope. Nicely varied climbing with a somewhat scary layback section in the middle (it seems like the feet aren't very good, but they are good enough).

Since we had the top rope set up, we both tried the adjacent Nirwana (6a), which is along a cool crack, but we didn't manage to get more than about halfway up. Need to practice some techique to do this one.

General comment: the routes feel harder (significantly harder) than the grades in the SAC guide, but the rock was quite good, the crag is super close, and there are *lots* of routes. Must go back

Picnic hike

We decided to do a low-impact dayhike and picnic, so we took the train to Liestal and then walked back to Basel.

We take a route out of Liestal that we haven't done before: via Summerhalden to Nuglar and then up to the ridge. There's a bench free in the sun so we do a first food break and enjoy the views before continuing through the woods and then across the high plain above Gempen. Through Gempen, down the ridge above the Ingelstein, and then across to G's favorite bench, where we do a second food break and enjoy the views. Then down through Arlesheim to the Birs, along the river for a bit, then left and up to the Bruderholz. Here the plan was to stop at Predigerhof for coffee and cake, but they were completely mobbed with people, so we just continued on and did our last food break with views on the bench with the fountain just over the bridge. Finally the rest of the way along the Bruderholz to the tram at Dorenbach and then back towards home, stopping at a bakery at the SBB on the way so that we can have our coffee and cake when we get home.

We never ended up using the picnic blanket we'd brought with us, but this was still a very nice walk. :-)

Stats: 5:49, 25.1km, 550m up, 600m down.

Climbing around Hotel Steingletscher

To make up for leaving the Cabane d'Orny a day early, we started the weekend on Friday ;-)

Friday morning we leave early and do the train-train-bus thing to get to Hotel Steingletscher (we were here back in 2020). After dropping a bag at the hotel we walk to the sector Platten and climb the route Sylia (5a+, 4b, 5b, 5b+, 5b, 5a, 5b, 5a in Plaisir, but we ended up doing it in 7 pitches, so the breakdown was a bit different). G started. This was easy and fun climbing, less slabby than some of the routes. The abseiling was efficient and we were back at the hotel in time for G to do a couple of calls. A even found an almost new screwgate along the way, which is now part of her standard rack. 

Saturday morning we hiked up to the Pfriendler and climbed Gradufe (6a, 5c, 5c+, 6a, 5c+, 4c), A started. This was also fun climbing on great rock. We definitely noticed the increased difficulty and were slower because of it, but it wasn't a problem at all. We only saw one other group climbing. The abseiling was efficient except for the pitch where G didn't take the knot all the way out of the rope and had to climb back up to the stand to free it (for variety, he actually climbed the 5b route adjacent to the 5c pitch).

Sunday morning we hiked up to the Pfriendler again, past the crowd already there, and to the Pfriendler North. We were the first ones there (though another pair came as we were getting ready). We climbed the first three pitches of Verschneidung (5c+, 5a, 6a) then switched to the last two 4c pitches from Riss to get to the peak. G started. This was definitely harder, particularly the 6a pitch, which had its crux on a slab. G fell once leading it but eventually made it to the top (this involved a short bit on the neighboring 6b). The last two pitches were easy and alpine, but fun. The abseiling was tricky, but went ok except for the rope getting stuck in a crack on one pitch. Fortunately it was only three bolts of 5b climbing to get there, so G could go up, free the rope, and have A lower him off an old clip carabiner that we just left there. This area was way way less crowded than the Pfriendler today, but there were still three or four other groups climbing. The Pfriendler was madness (as was the klettergarten Eden, which we saw on the hike down).

We got back to the hotel with a couple of hours to kill before the bus ride, so we enjoyed a nice relaxed meal on the terrace before starting the long trip back home (first bus leg of this was on the bus doing the 4-pass tour... what a crowd).

General comment: at this point it looks like we are reasonably sure to be able to climb 6a multi-pitch routes. They are definitely more mentally taxing than easier routes, but certainly doable. Yay!

Gear note: this was Gs first trip in his new La Sportiva TX4 Guide approach shoes. They worked very well.

Climbing around the Cabane d'Orny

We had planned a four day mini-vacation at the Cabane d'Orny to enjoy some alpine climbing on granite (and do some more tours from Dani's new book).

Saturday: long train ride down to Orsieres and a hotel night

Sunday

First bus up to Champex, the lift to La Breya, and then the hike up, up, up to the hut. It's a beautiful sunny day, but it's really warm and the packs are heavy, so we don't enjoy this nearly as much as we should. After dropping extra stuff at the hut (loads of people around!) we head up to the klettergarten to do our first tour: the Aiguilles d'Arpette south ridge. 

Rather than hiking through the klettergarten, we opt to start with a pitch of actual climbing. After some looking around to find the route we choose XXX, which is 5a according to Plaisir West (the topo in the hut says 5b). Since the rest of the ridge is scrambling/very easy climbing, we decide to challenge ourselves and do this in the mountaineering boots. The route has a step in it which is, at least at the moment, quite burly to do, but G makes it over in lead and A follows. Aside from that step it's easy climbing on good rock. At the top we shorten the rope, find the use trail which we start us on the rest of ridgem, and then start to head up the ridge. G pretty quickly ends up feeling lightheaded (probably the heat+altitude), so we bail and head back to the hut. After checking in, we rest/nap for an hour or so and then head back up to the klettergarten to do a bit of climbing (with rock shoes this time) before dinner.

There are ~10 of us in the hut, so dinner (pretty good) is nice and quiet. After dinner it's off to bed for an early(ish) start the next day.

Monday

Breakfast at 6, on our way by 7. The plan today is to climb the Aiguilles d'Orny (a lovely and prominent rock spire, labelled Aiguilles Tourelle on the map) via the "Classique Sud" (along the SW ridge). We follow the trail towards the Cabane de Trient for a while and then follow a clear(ish) use trail up towards the foot of the Aiguilles d'Orny. The German couple we had dinner with are ahead of us (they left before us), taking a slightly path up and are doing a different route. The start of the route is easy to find since we have a picture and there are some faint markers. 

We put on the gear and then start our way up. The pitches, according to Dani, are 3c, 4c, 3c, 4b, 3c, 3c, 4b, 4b/5a. A starts. The climbing is really nice. Mostly good rock, a decent number of bolts and/or places to self-protect, and relatively easy route finding. Also excellent views which get steadily better as we make our way up. We do a quick food break between the 5th and 6th pitch. The climbing in boots at these grades on this rock is no problem and we are pretty efficient with everything. Since everything is going well, we opt for the 5a variant of the last pitch (the only difference is the beginning, with a couple of moves up a chimmney and then around the corner to join the 4b version... this goes without a problem) and are on the peak all too soon. G has the peak to himself for about a minute before the lead of the French team who we had seen arrive a bit later arrive along the route La Mosquette (the last pitch of this ends at the abseil stand). While A is on her way up, the lead German arrives on the other peak, so there are eventually 6 of us up there enjoying the views. Total climbing time for us was 3:10, including the break (Dani says 3). We do another quick food break while getting ready to abseil and then follow the French team down. 

The descent is along an easy-to-follow use trail with some cairns through the rocky bits and it leads us down, down, down to the trail between the two huts. Another break to eat something and pack away the last of the gear and then we head back to the hut.

After a nice break we still have a few hours before dinner, so we decide to go back up and finish the Aiguilles d'Arpette. This time we take the hiking/scrambling route through the klettergarten, and follow the use trail up into the scrambling bit. We do the scrambling with the rope on (~12m between us), but don't end up pitching anything other than the steep (but easy) bit up to the "Kanzel". A actually goes up the couple of meters to the Vorgipfel, but G skips that. Now some downclimbing, between the two towers, over the next bit, and then down to the saddle below the wall to the peak. We have some time pressure and A isn't feeling super motivated, so we skip the last three pitches of climbing and opt to leave the gear in the saddle and take the walking/scrambing route to the peak. A bit of view enjoyment here then back to the saddle. There we pack up the gear and head down through the loose couloir and then follow a use trail/cairn markings back past the side of the klettergarten and onto the trail back to the hut.

There are a few more people in the hut tonight (thanks to a big group of newbies there with a guide), but it's still <20 and reasonably quiet.

Tuesday

Breakfast at 6, on our way by 7. The forecast is questionable, so we want to be efficient and flexible. The plan is to do the SW ridge and then S face of the Aiguille de la Cabane (the route name is Voie bon Accueil), because we can break that one off in the middle if the weather changes. We'd seen the line on the hike up to the hut and it is really appealing. The approach is easy, along a path with plenty of stone men, and takes about 20 minutes to get to the bottom of the route. There we put on the gear (including the climbing shoes this time... the first pitch is 5b). The pitches are, according to Dani, 5b, 4c, 4a, 4a, 4b, 4b. The first one, which A starts, has a couple of trickier bits (the 5b parts) on the face to get us up to the SW ridge, which we then follow for the next three pitches. A short walk past the saddle which we will later return to and which leads to the descent route (steep, ugly looking couloir) and then along the descent route from the Aiguille du Glacier Rond takes us to the foot of the S face. Here two really nice pitches lead us up to a stand just below the peak, with an abseil point just around the corner. Total climbing time 2:30. The weather is starting to look dodgy, so we quickly rig the abseil and drop down the 15m to the beginning of the descent route. We do a quick food break while packing away most of the gear and changing our shoes and then start following the cairns for the descent as it starts to sprinkle. The cairns lead us back the saddle and from there we follow the obvious trail down the couloir. As always: it's not nearly as bad as it looked from above. Not too long afterwards we're back at the start of the route where we pack away the last of the gear and then head back to the hut. The gentle rain stops along the way, but since the forecast for the evening isn't good and for Wednesday it's even worse, we decide to head back down. After a nice lunch of soup and wienerli we say goodbye to the hut warden and then make our way back down, down, down to the lift. Of course the sun comes out along the way. :-)

There's definitely tons more fun stuff to do around the Cabane d'Orny, so it would be at all bad to head back again.

Tracks from the whole thing:

Climbing above Engelberg

 It was a good weather weekend, so we headed off for a weekend of climbing.

Saturday we took the train to Engelberg, then the bus up the valley, then the gondola up to Fürenalp. From there we follow the blue-white path up, up to the Wissberg and the crags there.

The routes, grades from Plaisir Ost:

Sector B:

• Anouk (5b)
• Enja (5c)
• Tintin (5b)
• Cumulus (5c)
• Morgenröte (6a, we both cheated at the start on lead, but then managed it in toprop after figuring out the beta)

Sector C:

• Tante Ju (6a, A in toprope)
• Schnupfdösli (5c, A only)
• Wasserrinne (6a, G in toprope)

This was fun climbing on really nice limestone. Pretty varied, but with plenty of slab. Not at all crowded on a lovely Saturday: we see <10 other climbers all day.

After the climb we walked back down to the gondola and then took the bus back to Engelberg for the night.

Sunday we went back to Fürenalp, started on the Grotzliweg around the corner and then went cross-country, often on cow trails, climbing up, up towards the alp at Gummi. From here steeper up, up on gravel and steep grass until we hit the rock. Then some scrambling around to find the starts of the routes The description/photos in the Tourenportal aren't super helpful (and it's definitely not T2 like they say), but we do eventually find the start of our planned route: Last Minute.

The route is only three long pitches (5b, 5c, 5b), but it was loads of fun and great climbing. The second pitch had a scary bit at the bottom with moving across some steep water runnels that were actually wet compounded by a missing bolt in the middle and then compounded further because the bolt above that was super loose (G tightened it with his fingers). Then super fun climbing the rest of the way. The third pitch also had some missing bolts (unfortunately two in a row, fortunately that was in an easy section). We guess the missing bolts was due to nuts coming loose and falling off.

The abseiling was efficient.

G was initially worried about it being crowded, but there was no one else around all day.

Given the approach and the missing bolts, this one ended up bineg a bit of an adventure. :-)

The walk back was more or less the same way, then we grabbed the gondola (there was a line this time), the bus, and then the very crowded trains back home.