Arete des Sommetres

 The forecast was for sun, but maybe too cold for climbing shoes, so we decided to do the Arete des Sommetres again.

We weren't alone (unlike last time) since another pair started just before us, but we didn't have to wait for them too much and there was no one pushing from behind.

It's a really nice scramble and it was great to be out and moving with perfect weather conditions. 

After finishing (in just under three hours, with a short snack break to let the other pair get a bit further ahead of us), we did a nice lunch break at the top and then enjoyed the walk down to Saignelegier.

Moutier trail running: Tour du Moron.

 We wanted to do some trailrunning above the fog, so we took the train to Moutier and did a loop to the Tour de Moron (last here back in 2012).

We start in the fog and follow the road out of town to Perrefitte. From here we switch to trail/forest roads and head gently up through a nice (though short) gorge before starting to climb more seriously, past Combioz and then up onto the ridge and breaking into the sun at the hut at Le Remeule. We do a nice lunch break in the sun there and then continue the last bit up to the Tour de Moron. 

The staircase has, unfortunately, partially collapsed on the tower, so we can't climb up, but the sun and the views are still very nice. We continue along the ridge gently descending, before heading more steeply down to Champoz (very nice, for G. at least, descent through the woods here), Taking a short snack break before getting to down we notice the intriguing looking Lac Vert on the map, so after hiting down we head up a bit again and follow the trail to the lake. This looks super cool, but unfortunately it's all fenced off with big "do not enter, you will be fined" signs... ah well.

After that dissapointment we continue down, down, bid the sun farewell, and enjoy the run down through the Gorges de Court to Moutier. Fortunately the sun is shining in Moutier, so we can enjoy our recovery drinks and snacks while waiting for the train in the sun. :-)

Track:

Stats: 27.7km, 1100m up and down, 4:46 total time.

Late season at the Mittagfluh

 G needed to head to a conference on Sunday, but the forecast was great for Saturday, so we decided to spend the day doing some granite multipitch climbing on the Mittagfluh. We headed to Guttanen on Friday evening, had a nice meal, and went to bed.

G got up early and did a couple hours of trail running, then we had breakfast and hiked up the crag. There were two other rope teams there in front of us, but they were both doing the Südkante, so we had Durststrecke to ourselves... nice!

We start in the shade (where it's not especially warm), but by the end of the second pitch we were in sun and everything was right with the world. A couple of hours of super fun climbing later we were up top enjoying the sun and a lunch break before abseiling back down over the route and into the shade. 

Back in town we got to enjoy an impromptu Guggemusik concert while waiting for the bus. A nice end to a really nice day of climbing.

It wa great to see that we hadn't forgotten how to efficiently do multipitch climbing and abseiling.

Climbing above Engelberg

We decide to take advantage of the good weather by spending the weekend in Engelberg and doing some climbing.

Saturday morning we take the train to Engelberg, drop an extra bag at the hotel, then take the bus, gondola, and chair lift up to the Brunnihuette. From here we hike up to the klettergarten at the Bettlerstock, where our plan is to spend the day doing sport climbing in the sun.

We start in the sector Bettlerstock West, which is unfortunately shady in the morning:

• Adler 5a
• Murmel 5b (g only, at this point we decide that it's too cold and windy for this sector)

After moving to Sector South, which was in the sun, though still a bit windy:

• Sudwand 5c (we consider doing the second pitch, but it seems to sketchy for g)
• Die da 5c+
• Janosch 6a+ (A halfway, g with one hang)
• Macbeth 7a (g was playing in toprope here and only made it part of the way up before getting completely blocked on a move)

We called it a day at that point and headed back down to Engelberg.

Sunday morning g got up eary and did a trail run before breakfast. After breakfast we headed up to the Brunnihuette again and did some of the short routes on the crag next to the hut. We climbed all of these in approach shoes:

• Barba Lala 4a
• Barba Letta 4b
• Barba Kud 5a
• Barba Bo 4b
• Mama Moll 5a
• Globi 5a

At this point we decided that the weather and views were just too good to be climbing, so we followed the panorama trail to the Rugghubelhuette (their last day open of the season), where we enjoyed cake and cool beverages in the sun while enjoying the fantastic views before heading back down to Engelberg and the train back home.

Memo to ourselves: we really need to go up some weekend, stay at the Rugghubelhuette, and do the Lauchernstock east ridge.

Track from the hike:

Stats: 13.8km, 540m up, 1400m down, 4:10

Climbing at Stockhorn

Good weather forecast day, so off we head to the Stockhorn. The train ride is a bit scary since we're still under the hochnebel, but that clears up once we turn into the Simmental. The views open up as we take the gondola up... nice!

Our first route is Chum u lueg, which we did nine years ago. We're faster now (though not as efficient today as we were last year... the missing practice shows), but it's still an enormously fun route, and the bit of coming out into the crowds at the top of the Stockhorn is definitely entertaining.

After a bit of food, we head down to one of the sport climbing sectors and did the first pitch of Märitfroueli 5a (A did this one in lead, which was her first lead since injuring her elbow), then the first pitch of Pistache 5c (A top rope) before going back to Märitfroueli and doing both pitches. After eating a bit more we moved up to the next sector and did ??? 5b. At this point G's motivation was lagging (some was the fact that we haven't been climbing outdoors much in quite a while, some was irritation at a loud group with a screaming kid), so we had another snack and then walked down to Chrindi and the gondola down.

Beautiful day and great rock. More! :-)