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Chockstone Forum - Crag & Route Beta

Crag & Route Beta

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Author
"Ende Nie" Breithorn Austria
gfdonc
29-Aug-2009
8:49:26 PM
I am currently parked in one of the Austrian valleys waiting for the weather to clear with a partner primed for a shot at this route.
Will be the biggest thing I've ever taken on & will be interesting to see if we can pull it off.
Anyone know any beta? Know anyone who has done it?

If you don't know the route but are curious try and decipher the topo (in German):
http://www.bergsteigen.at/pic/pdf/536_Topo_14567375-3c8f-4cb4-86d6-f69c87a0429c_topohigh.jpg
or (easier) the main page with a link to the topo:
http://www.bergsteigen.at/de/touren.aspx?ID=536

Yep, you read it right, 38 pitches, count 'em.

IdratherbeclimbingM9
30-Aug-2009
10:59:06 AM
Sounds excellent gfdonc.
Good luck with it.

Grade 6+
~> German? UIAA?
... = equivalent 23 Ewbank?
Wendy
30-Aug-2009
11:16:40 AM
On 30/08/2009 IdratherbeclimbingM9 wrote:
>Sounds excellent gfdonc.
>Good luck with it.
>
>Grade 6+
>~> German? UIAA?
>... = equivalent 23 Ewbank?

I'd say it's just the habit mountain routes retain sometimes of saying 5+ and 6+ instead of the modern a,b,c etc. So it's probably 18-21 ish. Which is quite hard enough on such a big day!

Didn't even realise you were in europe steve, hope it's going well.
gfdonc
2-Sep-2009
8:12:48 PM
Got back. Ticked it.

German crags mostly use the UIAA system which is approx 1/3 the Aussie grades, so 6+ is about 19 (6x3+1).

Brief trip report.
Started the day at 4:30am with a bike ride to the local station and a 2 hr trip to meet my climbing partner, then a 45 minute drive to the start point after breakfast with his wife and two kids! Not exactly your classic alpine start.
1.5 hours uphill walk to the start, we tied on at 11, and apart from me getting lost on pitch 4, made good time and covered 20 pitches by 7pm where we bivvied. Weather was perfect, especially being in the shade.
Climbing was varied, often wet down low, and on sharp limestone. The route is bolted, but I think the average would be about 4 bolts per pitch, and not many options for gear placements. So you're looking at long runouts on up to grade 15 climbing on wet limestone, while carrying a pack with bivvy gear plus water and food. How does that sound?
Day 2 started with another of the 6+ pitches, and 17 more to go after that. In the end I was running out of steam (and water) but we managed to keep the pace and topped out at 4:30pm.
The last 7 pitches tackled the impressive headwall at the top, and pretty sustained. The descent took just over 4 hours, my thighs know it.


wallwombat
2-Sep-2009
8:47:52 PM
Fantastic. That would have been unreal.

Well done.
gfdonc
16-Sep-2009
3:47:31 PM
I've posted my photos up for anyone who is interested:

http://staff.data.com.au/stoal/endenie/index.html

My new memory card shat itself on the afternoon of day one, luckily I had a second card slot in the SLR. Otherwise I would have been pretty peeved with lugging a bulky and useless camera up 18 pitches on the second day.

- Steve

nmonteith
16-Sep-2009
3:54:04 PM
looks awesome! it must be pretty rare to find a 35 pitch route you can do in a shorts and a t-shirt...

ajfclark
16-Sep-2009
4:18:06 PM
On 16/09/2009 gfdonc wrote:
>My new memory card shat itself on the afternoon of day one

If there was anything important on it, I've previously used photorec to recover some stuff from fubar flash cards.

IdratherbeclimbingM9
16-Sep-2009
4:39:40 PM
Looks like it was a great adventure gfdonc.

It appears that some leading was done with the pack prior to the labled photo saying 'pack hauling'. No doubt the bivvy would have required the gear, but it would have been a bugger if you both had packs...

Was hard to envisage the route till I reverse viewed the photos again after having been through them, as this let me identify features from both angles. Some of the ridge scrambling looked like it definitely had its moments!

Thanks for sharing.
gfdonc
16-Sep-2009
5:49:25 PM
The route was hard to discern from below. Basically you could only really see one pitch ahead of you at a time, until some of the upper sections. So you climbed, not knowing what was awaiting you, which was fun.

Regarding a pack, perhaps it wasn't clear, we each had a 35l pack and the leader carried their own pack. So yes it was a bugger. Fingertips (due to sharp limestone) and shoulders were sore. I think we only sack-hauled 4 of the harder sections, never a whole pitch. Climbing overhanging grade 19 with about 10kg on your back is a different experience.
gfdonc
16-Sep-2009
5:53:26 PM
On 16/09/2009 nmonteith wrote:
>looks awesome! it must be pretty rare to find a 35 pitch route you can
>do in a shorts and a t-shirt...

I carried a fleece, never wore it - not even in the evening when the sun was setting. Perfect weather.
gfdonc
16-Sep-2009
5:54:13 PM
On 16/09/2009 ajfclark wrote:
>If there was anything important on it, I've previously used photorec to recover some stuff from fubar flash
>cards.

Thanks, I've tried lots of tools, I was aware of that one but doesn't look like I've installed it. I'll give it a go tonight.

There are 12 messages in this topic.

 

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