Ascension weekend trip to the Alpstein

For the long weekend we headed to the Alpstein to do some climbing. As with our two previous trips we take the train to Wasserauen and head up from there. Wasserauen is complete madness: there are people everywhere, a long line of cars waiting to get into the very crowded parking lot, etc. So much for social distancing.

crowds...

Day 1

We start up the trail towards Seealpsee and spend the next 25 minutes weaving our way up, up, through the crowd (really) until the trail splits at p1177. Fortunately the masses are going to the Seealpsee (don't even want to think about what that looks like) and we're more or less alone as we then head up, up towards the Bogartenlücke. We do a short food break not too long after p1432 but otherwise move steadily up to the pass. There are more people here (they mostly seem to have come along the trail from Alp Sigel), so we don't hang out in the pass but start down more or less directly. Past the turn off for the route up to Marwees (plenty of snow in that route) and then down, down, to the valley floor. Another short food break and then up, up through the woods the last bit to Bollenwees. We check in, enjoy a cool beverage and snack on the terrace (nice solution to distancing there: they divide each table in half with a canvas that people can decorate), and then head up past the Hundsteinhütte (not open yet) to get in a bit of climbing at one of the crags on the Schafberg (sektor Wandfussplatten). After some very enjoyable slab and water runnel climbing we head back down to Bollenwees for dinner and the usual early night.

Bollenwees and Fählensee

Routes climbed:

1. Verscheidung  5a (g did this both with the climbing shoes and his approach shoes)
2. Schawis Buben 5b
3. Abgeschmiert 5b (g did this top rope in speed mode)
4. Maya 5c

climbing with views to the Furggelenfirst

Day 2

After a good breakfast we start out at around 8:15 and head back up past the Hundsteinhütte to the sektor Fähnligipfel to climb the multipitch route Ostkante (5b, 4b, 5b, 4b, 5b, 5a, 4b). There's only one other group ahead of us and they are doing the next route over, so we can just enjoy ourselves. The climbing is great, though the alternating difficulty of the pitches means that A gets to lead all the 5b pitches while g gets most of the 4bs. tja... After a couple of hours of fun we reach the top and do a food break while enjoying the views. A bit of waiting for the group in front of us to clear the first part of the abseil route and then we start our way down. Fun on this part as A drops her ATC, but luckily she sees where it lands and that's accessible, so after g lowers her for two lengths she's able to retrieve it and we can finish the abseiling as normal. After making it to the bottom we have another short food break and then head back to the hotel for a refreshing beverage and then a lazy late afternoon.

Crowds note: we were early enough that it was never crowded, but by the time we got to the top there were plenty of people climbing.

Day 3

The weather forecast is for rain and storms in the afternoon, so we opt to head back up to the same area again. This time it's a bit further up to sektor Neu-Neues Südplättli, where we do the route Neu-Neues Südplättli (5b, 4b, 5a, 4c, 5a). This is more super fun climbing that's over all too soon. Up top we check the weather radar again to get a sense of how quickly we need to be moving, have a food break, and then abseil down. We make good time back to Bollenwees and have time for a refreshing beverage before heading in to escape the rain and storm. The rest of the day is lazy time in the hut.

Day 4

Things are still a bit wet and g has ook on his hands/lower arms, so we opt for a scenic hike out. We start by heading up, up to the Saxerlücke and then head up more to the ridge. We follow the normal hiking path along the ridge, past a nice bivvy spot, past Stauberen (food break with a great view on the nice bench up here), continuing along the ridge seeing way more people than expected (given that the gondola isn't running) towards the Hoher Kasten. Rather than do the last bit up to the peak we head down towards Alp Rohr, down, down, again passing more people than expected, doing another food break with nice views above the Alp, then down, down, through the cool tunnels on the road, down down until we get to Sennwald, where we catch the bus that starts us on the trip back to Basel.