Amden Climbing Weekend

Saturday: we get a somewhat later start since G wanted to do a long run in the morning. 

We drop our bags at the hotel (thr Rössli is closed! Outrageous!) and take the chairlift up. 

There are a fair number of people up at the crag, so we opt for Gimmi (5c), with A starting. The first pitch is an adjustment (slabs and wasserrillen in limestone is cetainly different), but after that things are pretty chill. The 5c last bit has a short, hairy traverse at the very beginning that G does by using the shrubbery to get to the first bolt. The steep bit is no problem, and then we are done. Some lunch and then across to the abseilpiste and down without drama. Fun route, perfect weather (t-shirt climbing in October!), yay! We eat a bit more and then walk down all the way to the hotel. A drink in the sun, a shower, a short nap, dinner (Indian buffet… not bad), and then bed.

Sunday: breakfast is at 8, so we are a bit later than we would like, but we still make it to the chair lift shortly after 9. Up, up to the crag, get set up, wait for the pair before us (climbing the route to the right of ours, but from the same start, we end up chatting with them throughout the climb), and then we get started climbing Variante. G starts today.

Getting started on the slab isn’t quite as dramatic as Saturday, but he is still very happy to clip the first bolt. A ends up leading both of the 6a pitches (I guess we knew this? It was definitely G’s turn to start), which she does without problems. It’s mostly overcast, so definitely cooler than yesterday, and we climb in our jackets, but aside from the first couple of pitches neither of us is actually cold. After the five pitches we have a quick food break before traversing to the abseilpiste. Today the rope pretends to snag a couple of times on the way down, but it’s just pretending. :-)

At the bottom we have a relaxed lunch before packing everything up and walking back down to get the bus.

Mattstock climbing is a very particular style; a style we like. And the rock is really good. Too bad that there aren’t more routes for us to try out. I think Variante, and the 5c version of Gimmi were the last 5th grade routes we hadn’t done. Ah well… repeating nice routes is also not bad. :-)

Grimsel Climbing Weekend

Perfect forecast for the whole weekend, so we decide to head up to Grimsel on Friday night. This time we stay at the hotel at Handeck (a first for us). After a really nice meal we head off to have a good night’s sleep. 

G gets up early on Saturday morning to go running (up to Grimsel Hospiz and then back… very nice), then we have breakfast and hike up to Gerstenegg. The plan for today is to do Letzter Tango (we did this last time too); after not having done so much climbing this year it seemed smarter to start somewhat easier. The climbing went really well, the conditions were just ideal (aside from having to belay from a patch of snow on one pitch), super fun. We simulclimb the 3er pitches in the middle, but belay everything else.

Up top we pack away the gear and eat something before doing the hike back down to the hotel (that first bit from the Dom to the Bächlitalhütteweg  really is nice).

Showers, a short nap, another very good meal, and then off to bed.

Sunday morning we hike back up to Gerstenegg and climb Ameisenrennen. We did the first three pitches of this a couple of years ago. G starts and it is super climbing from the beginning (the first 5c forces you to pay attention). More varied in style than the other routes we have done here, and super fun. Only one snow patch. We simulclimb the two 3er pitches and belay everything else normally. It’s over too soon, which is saying a lot for a 17 pitch route!

Up top we eat something and then do the fun hike back down to Handeck where we pick up our extra bags and then get the bus for the long trip home.

What an awesome late-season climbing weekend/mini-vacation! 33 pitches of Grimsel granite and blue skies and sunshine throughout!

Thing to remember: more busses run to/from Handeck than higher up and the approach to Gerstenegg from there isn’t super long; it’s a nice alternative.