Vacation in Sardinia Part I: Il Selvaggio Blu

Saturday, October 3,

fly from Zurich to Olbia, pizza for dinner and night in Olbia

Sunday,

wander around town for most of the day, meet Bergpunkt group at Olbia airport in the afternoon, drive together to Cala Gonone, stay in Hotel Cala Luna

Monday to Friday: Hike along the Selvaggio Blu
Day 1: Pedra Longa to Ovile Su Idileddu/Ginnirco

Day 2: Ovile Su Idileddu/Ginnirco to Portu Cuau
Day 3: Portu Cuau to Cala Goloritze
Day 4: Cala Goloritze to Cala Mudaloru
Day 5: Cala Mudaloru to Altopiano del Golgo

Saturday,

lazy rainy morning, check out pictures on balcony, walk around town, group excursion to the Sorgente Su Gologone (spring) and visit of Dorgali

Sunday,

drive up to Olbia to get rental car, and back down to Cala Gonone to continue with Vacation in Sardinia Part II

Complete track of our hike along the Selvaggio Blu

Climbing around the Mattstock

After being dodgy in the beginning of the week, we end up with a decent weather forecast, particularly for the eastern bits of Switzerland, for the weekend. So East we go!

The bus takes us to Amden, where we take the (very slow, but scenic) chairlift, with great views of the wall we'll be climbing, up to Niederschlag (hope that name isn't foreshadowing!). From there we follow the path up to Walau, take the road to p1506 and then follow the trail past the Schibenchnölli. Here we choose the leftwards set of routes (the right set are all 4s and we want to do some 5s today). We aren't alone up here: there are multiple sets of climbers visible, but it doesn't seem tooooo crowded. A bit further along the path, and then we head across the field and steeply up until getting to the foot of the wall. After a bit of scrambling we are at the base of our route: Südostwandplatte (5a, 5a, 4a, 5a, 5a). There are two other climbers above us, but they are already off the first stand by the time we're getting ready to go, so there seems to be no risk of congestion.

The climbing is on good limestone with plenty of Wasserrillen (which is really fun to climb); it's not easy, but it doesn't push either of us to the limits either. This is the first time we're climbing with the zwillingseil, and the first time Greg is doing a multi-pitch route using the ATC to belay. Though it takes a bit of getting used to, everything goes well, we don't end up with any big messes, and we very much enjoy making it to the top. Once on the ridge we find what we think is the beginning of the abseilpiste, get everything ready, and then head down. In the first stretch down, Andrea figures out that we're actually still on one of the routes, but that she can see the real abseilpiste, so she moves over (fortunately in a relatively flat area under a bunch of bush). Greg comes down to that spot directly (over/through the bush) and then we're properly oriented. We haven't done enough abseiling to be really fluid with the rope management and using the two ropes does complicate things, so the whole trip down takes longer than it should, but we do eventually make it to the bottom. We switch shoes, take off the gear, pack everything up, and then head back down to the hiking trail (better way down than what we took up) to find a spot for a late lunch with a view.

Post-lunch we walk back to the chairlift, enjoy the views on the long, slow trip down, and then head to the hotel (50m from the lift station), where we have a cool beverage before showering, a rest, and then a good meal before heading to bed.

On Sunday we wake to clouds (though no rain) and, after a good breakfast, take the chairlift back up not too long after it opens. Once back at the base of the wall (same route to get there as we took down the day before) we choose to take Gimmi (5a, 5b, 4c, 5a/b) to the top. This is another very enjoyable climb. The top is a bit adventurous (we change routes to the right to avoid an overhang), but it all goes well. Once up top we change shoes, have lunch, pack up some of the gear, and then decide to do the ridge on foot to the top of the Mattstock. Andrea has read hikr descriptions that make this sound quite feasible, the views are good, and we do enjoy our ridge hiking, so off we go. It's a very nice ridge: much of it has a clear use trail (though there is a bit of tramping through/over the evergreen scrub) and it's mostly easy to follow. We do succeed in missing the fork that heads off to the bit where you need to climb down a bit from the "Nase" (I think this is around p1906 on the map), but we figure our mistake out relatively quickly and find the proper route. Nothing too hairy (though certainly T5) and very enjoyable. We're at the peak (which we, amazingly, have to ourselves) before we know it. It's super windy, so after packing up the last of the gear we start down the red-white trail.

Aside from a bit of sprinkling that encourages us to speed up and way too many switchbacks, the route down is uneventful. The chairlift takes us back to down where we get the bus that starts us on our way back home.

All in all, a very nice weekend with a couple of very interesting and enjoyable routes.

Track:

Climbing around the Stockhorn

Our original plan was to head to the Stockhorn on Saturday, do some climbing in the Klettergarten there, spend the night at Oberstockenalp, then climb more on Sunday. The weather didn't exactly play along.

From the train from Bern to Spiez we could see that the Stockhorn itself, along with most of the top of that ridge, was completely in clouds. Andrea has the very clever idea to stop at Burgholz (a few stops before Erlenbach and the gondola up to the Stockhorn) and go climbing at Burgfluh, the old quarry there. Fortunately, the conductor in the train tells us that we need to move to the front of the train to be able to get off in Burgholz (we'd forgotten about the long-train -- short-station problem in the Simmental when boarding). We pile off the train there and head up to the quarry, it's a short walk and luckily it's not closed today for skeet shooting (apparently a thing there). The quarry has easier routes at the edges and harder ones in the middle. The right-hand side is already occupied by a large group that includes a bunch of kids, so we go left. There's another group of two there, but that's no problem. We do a number of 4s and 5s (not all in the Plaisir book) and generally enjoy the nice rock (though not the quiet: the group to the right grows as we are there and ends up being fairly loud). After a few hours the weather is looking a bit better, so we head back down to the train, go to Erlenbach, then take the gondolas up to the Stockhorn.

Climbing in the old quarry at Burgholz

We're pretty much alone up top (the weather really isn't all that great). After enjoying out the observation platform over the dramatic drop (the glass floor is cute, but we can't see much of the panoramic view due to the clouds), we head over to check out the Klettergarten. What we see is pretty tempting, so we decide to do a bit of climbing before heading down to Oberstockenalp. Andrea starts by doing part of "Flash oder Cash", and finishing with Nume für Afänger. Paul does the same thing, but while he's climbing it starts to lightly snow. This quickly turns to sleet, ick! Paul finishes the route with sleet running down the limestone, but that's definitely it for the day. We pack up, pull on the gore tex, and head down to Oberstockenalp. This is, apparently, an amazingly family friendly place, because it is packed full of kids. There are probably 15 kids, mostly young, along with a sprinkling of adults to take care of them. There's one other group of climbers, who are also looking somewhat bemused by the situation. After settling in, a good meal, and a bit of hanging around, we head off to bed. Between the snoring and one kid who spends a lot of time crying, it's not the most restful night.

snow/sleet collecting on the rope bag

We're the first ones up in the morning. The weather looks much better (yay!), so after breakfast we follow the trail to the Strüssligrat and take this very nice path along the ridge with great views to p2043. Here we break out the rope, put on the climbing gear, and follow the route Chum u Lueg along the ridge. This is very well bolted (probably more than required for us on something that maxes out at 3b) and a lot of fun to follow. When we get above the climbing area, we leave the ridge and follow the rope down to the bottom of the routes, where we meet the other climbing group from the alp. We climb Flash oder Cash (the whole thing this time), Märitfroeli, Bergdohle, and Pistache before the weather starts to look overly threatening and we decide to quit. After lunch at the restaurant up top, we take the gondola down and then make our way back home.

along the Stockhorn ridge

Wasserrillen climbing in the clouds

Very nice climbing on good limestone with pronounced Wasserrillen on a couple of routes that were a blast to climb.
Track:

Climbing the Gletscherhorn via its East ridge

After getting up at 6 and breakfast at  6:15, we're on our way by around 6:45. The first bit, up the Schwarzwändli, is the same as last time we were in this area (though this time there is no snow field to prevent us from doing the normal start) and the weather is perfect. Once up in the high bowl we head off to the right, past the power masts, sticking close to the edge, until we get to the end of the ridge that heads up to the Gletscherhorn. We see the couple who had left the hut 10-15 minutes before us following the route towards the Glarner Vorab (bonus!). The starting point from the trip description, where the light colored rock from above meets the darker rock below, is easy to find. Here we put on the climbing gear, rope up (with about 15m between us) and start climbing.

getting ready and roped up

After a short steep bit (the whole route is bolted in critical sections) we hit p2458, the top of the outcropping at the end of the ridge. From here there's a bit of up and down (which isn't as bad as expected; having bolts available really helps) and we end up lengthening the rope between us to closer to 20m, before we hit the long, sharp ridge. This we do with a mixture of belaying and moving simultaneously, taking advantage of the occasional bolt, but mainly using rock jags. The rock is great, the weather is perfect, the views are fantastic, we have the route to ourselves, we have a blast.

along the ridge

along the ridge

The sharp ridge ends and broadens out as it steepens to head up to the peak. Here we start in a chimney, then some more steep (route finding is now important... didn't need to worry about that on the spine), before ending up on a small platform in front of the tower in front of the last wall. We take a short food break here, enjoy the views, and gather ourselves for the last push. We head around the tower to the right, across some not-so-nice scree, and then head up through a couple of chimneys until we reach the top, stopping to sign the "wall book" along the way. Now it's walking, with a bit of scrambling, along the broad ridge until we get to the peak of the Gletscherhorn itself. Another break, a bit of food, some view enjoying (though not the views of the Glarner- and Bundner- Vorabs... those are pretty ugly) that includes both the Säntis and the Bernina Massif, and then we pack away most of the gear and start down.

views

The goal is to follow the normal route to the Vorab back down, so we head a bit back down the ridge we came up, then contour more or less along the 2600m line, following the edge of the steep drop, past the ridge that comes in from p2605, until we see the sign post and markings for that path. The way down is straightforward and well marked. On the way down we pass a couple who's been doing some climbing (the second other group we've seen today on this side of the Schwarzwändli); knowing that they are behind us give us a bit of push to do the descent of the Schwarzwändli quickly (don't want to have stuff kicked down on our heads!). This turns out to be a lot of fun. :-)

looking back along the east ridge we just climbed

Back at the hut we rest for a bit and have some cake and cool beverages before starting on the path down. We make our usual decent descent time down to Nideren and the lift, where we discover a long line for the small gondola. Rather than waiting we opt to just walk down the last bit. It's only 400-500m of descent, the sign says 1:15, we know it's a nice path, why not just do it? It takes us less than an hour to get down to the valley bottom (it's hot down here!). The last bit to Elm Station along the road we've done before; we make it to the bus stop about 3 minutes before the bus does. Excellent timing!


Track:

Martinsmadhütte via the Mittetaghorn

We tried this tour last year, but ended up not doing the peak because the weather was crap. This time the weather is pretty much perfect. After the train, train, train, bus trip we do the same beginning as last time, but instead of turning off to Nideren at around 1620m, we continue on along the very nice, shady path. At Firstboden we come out from the trees and continue with great views under the sun. We do a short food break and rest on a quiet (we're not alone in the mountains today!) step above Firstboden and then continue on our way. Now we're on the ridge and it's getting steeper. The blue-white path is well used, easy to follow, and not particularly blue-white as it takes us up, up, up along the ridge and over a couple steps. After another couple of hundred meters of climbing we reach the top, which we have to ourselves, and enjoy another break. Ah! the views!

looking ahead to the Mittetaghorn

great views from the top

After the break and plenty of views, we walk a bit further along the ridge and then follow the path down the other side towards the Martinsmadhütte. This path is at first pretty steep, but there's no real scrambling, and it softens out pretty quickly. A bit more walking later and we're at the Martinsmadhütte. We have some cool beverages, enjoy some cake, and generally laze around enjoying the weather for the few hours until it's dinner time. The food is, once again, quite good. Too bad this is the hut warden's last year! Unsurprisingly on a great-weather weekend, the hut is full, but with a capacity of only 40, things are still not insane. We hang out for a bit after a post-dinner stroll and then head off to bed for an early(ish) start the next day.

Track: