#alpin
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Bloody Old Men: first up this year
A long route on the Rotspitze, fully bolted but with plenty of loose rock — and a descent that wouldn't end.
A Sunday outing on the Alpspitze north face
Six pitches to round off the long day on the Tajakopf. It didn't need to be more than that.
Drachentanz: 23 pitches, 12 hours car to car
A long day on the Tajakopf with Papa. The crux comes right at the start, with cold fingers and a heavy pack.
Rittlerkante, just Hannes and me
A good route on the Bauernpredigtstuhl. The crux bit back, the rest went fine — and we rappelled the line.
Meltzergrat: almost all of it moving together
A fine ridge up the Hintere Platteinspitze, with a night at the Muttekopfhütte.
Blue Moon: second time round
Turned back on the first attempt, got through on the second. The water-groove pitch was the highlight.
Sahneschnitte: plan B on the Buchstein
We'd meant to get on something else, but there was already a slow party on it.
Hey Leonie + Fahrt ins Blaue
A good route on the Leonhardstein in fine weather. The snowy descent was less good, and then came the back spasm.
Südostgrat in trail-running shoes
Moving together over the Vordere Karlspitze. Rock shoes wouldn't have improved the day.
Alpspitz-Plaisir: hard cold start, flowing after that
Train and cable car in, perfect weather. The first two pitches were the hardest of the day.
Flora Bohra: south face in brutal heat
Nine pitches of steady grade 6 on the Leonhardstein. We ran out of water before the end.
Kleiner Trichter: 13.5 hours and various offerings to the mountain
Nominally 7+, psychologically rather more — and we never found the rappel line.
Sonnenzeit: eleven hours on the Sonnenspitz
A long route, a freezing start, wide bolt spacing — and a descent that drags.
Opa Highway: unreasonably warm for February
A fine route on the Wilder Kaiser, in weather February had no business producing.
Biancograt: 3 a.m. start, completely done by evening
An iced-up snow ridge, two ice screws and a very long day on Piz Bernina.
Stüdlgrat: caught in a snowstorm
A fine route on the Großglockner, but freezing, partly iced, and a long wait behind a club group.
Fußstein north arête: away at 3 a.m. on mountain bikes
A good route with a glacier. Passed two parties on the fourth pitch, then moved together to the summit.
Slovenian Route: the Triglav north face
A long, demanding line up the north face of Slovenia's highest peak. Without crampons we lost a lot of time on the old snow.
Kraftkamin: a short route after failing convincingly
Beaten the day before, thunderstorms forecast — the Kraftkamin was the right answer.
Gänsekragen east ridge: a wet-snow descent
Good ridge climbing, all of it free. Franzi wasn't quite on form, and the descent wasn't trivial.
Katia Monte: good classic, brutally polished
An alpine classic on the Colodri with a lot of traversing. Somewhat grassy in the middle.
Koflerturm south-west ridge: a night in the hammock
A good ridge in the Karwendel. With a pack, the 5s and 6s weren't free.
Vinatzer on the Third Sella Tower: busy, and a lot of waiting
A very good route, mostly clean protection — and two very slow Englishmen ahead of us, who turned out to be good company.
Fehrmann on the Stabelerturm: finding the belay first
After some initial hunting for the stance, very good — and we had it to ourselves.
Winklerturm: the Piaz variant instead of the Winkler crack
Second Vajolet tower of the day. The first pitch was fully bolted, after which it went back to normal.
Delagokante: the better plan B
After bailing on Punta Emma, we tacked on the airiest 4+ in the Dolomites on a whim.
Kasnapoff: easy, good, and busy accordingly
The classic north route on the Second Sella Tower. Then up to the Vajolet hut by mountain bike in the evening.
Stegerkante: into the wrong crack
An easy start to the Dolomites trip. We went right instead of left on the second pitch — and the crux is brutally polished.
Dibona route: 17 pitches moving together
Done on the second attempt. The lower section went in three hours, after which Franzi was pretty spent.
Gelbe Kante: on the route just before seven
A superb route on the Tre Cime. The first belay is a hanging one for no good reason — there's a decent stance just above it.
Dülfer on the Fleischbank east face
Second Pause route with Franzi, on the hottest day of the year. The traverses are superb.
PinzgaWurm: 45 pitches and one shoe short
Away at four, back at the car at half seven. I lost an approach shoe on the face.
Herbstzeit: hard for the grade
A good route at Neufundland. Franzi wanted to lead, but the bolt spacing turned out fairly wide.
Balisto: a dream route on the Geiselstein
Very long pitches on mostly solid rock. Bus in, then an hour uphill.
Alte Südwestkante: one pitch of 6-, easier otherwise
A clean route on the Steinplatte. Very good.
Direkte Südwestkante: not my finest day
A brutally hard 7+. I hung on almost everything and used a sling as an aider at one point.
Green Mile: a few more metres before the day ended
A short, easy afternoon route. The grass matters less than the guidebook claims.
Via Barbara: the whole Colodri east face
A great route, off-line twice low down and considerably worse protected than the Via del Bepi. The crack corner is the highlight.
Via del Bepi on the Colodri
Hard down low, lovely up high — and better protected than the guidebook makes out.
Parete Nera: alpine protection, as a three
A great route on the San Paolo. Maxi led six pitches, I led three.
Kuschelrock: one boulder move, and it means it
A good route on the Gimpel. The grade 8 is a single move, but a convincing one.
Via delle Fontane: Franzi's first alpine fall
One of the earliest routes in the Sarca valley, and alpine to match. Off route, and then into a piton and a tree.
Sonnenpfeiler: entirely alone, wet in places
A very good long route on the Wilder Kaiser, with an entertaining A0 traverse.
Vinatzer on the Piz Ciavazes: an overhanging offwidth
A good alpine route. The 6+ pitch through the overhanging shoulder crack is spectacular and very airy.
Via del Calice: 13 hours car to car
14 pitches, all on gear, and a party ahead of us. Then we got the descent wrong.
Schober: freezing, because no sun
A good alpine route on the First Sella Tower. Bolted belays, enough pitons on the harder pitches.
Grundschadner north arête: a tedious descent without old snow
A great route moving together. The descent is much nicer with snow — we had none.
Siciliano: the last pitch is superb
Approach botched, first pitch bypassed, cold, one wet grade 8 — and then a finish that makes up for all of it.
Dreierweg: moving together up top
From the Gruttenhütte. Partly loose higher up, so we kept moving.