Trip Reports
Climbing the Matterhorn and an Unplanned Bivy Aug 28–30, 2008
Peter and I went to Switzerland to climb in the Wallis region of the Western Alps for a week. We had spent a few days in the Saas valley and had climbed Weissmies (4023 m) via the normal route and Lagginhorn (4010 m) via the South ridge. We were throwing around ideas as to what to climb next. Possible candidates where Dom or Lenzspitze. But since neither of us had climbed the famous Matterhorn (4478 m) and since the weather forecast for the next couple of days called for sunny, stable weather we talked about it. Well, the Matterhorn is quite the mountain but it is also said to be overcrowded with people. Route finding up the Hörnli ridge is difficult and there are frequent accidents. But then again, sooner or later one has to climb it... ...more
Peru Jul 1–Aug 17, 2008
Peru (Part 1 of 4): Climbing Pisco Oeste Jul 1–13, 2008
Peru (Part 2 of 4): Climbing in the Ishinca Valley and Yanapaccha Jul 14–29, 2008
Peru (Part 3 of 4): Into the Amazon Jungle (Manu National Park) Jul 31–Aug 9, 2008
Peru (Part 4 of 4): Exploring the Sacred Valley of the Incas and Machu Picchu Aug 10–16, 2008
Annapurna-Tilicho Trekking with Chulu Far East climb Oct 19–Nov 11, 2007
Ortler via Hintergrat Jun 23–24, 2007
Claus-Dieter and I climbed Ortler (3905 m, 12811 ft), the highest peak in Southern Tyrol (Italy), via the famous Hintergrat ridge. The Hintergrat is a fairly exposed ridge that ascends the mountain from the east. It is a very scenic and popular route that is a bit more difficult than the normal route. I had been itchy to climb it since I returned to Europe and when the weather forecast looked good and the Hintergrat hut had opened for the season Claus-Dieter and I gave it a go. ...more
Jubiläumsgrat ridge traverse in winter Feb 24–25, 2007
The Jubiläumsgrat ("Jubigrat") is the ridge that connects the Zugspitze (2962 m), Germany's highest mountain, with the Alpspitze (2620 m). Being one of the famous ridges in the Eastern Alps, it is often climbed during summer and -- less frequently -- in winter. The route had been on my tick list since I moved to Munich 2 years ago.
As weather and avalanche conditions are critical, I was monitoring the mountain weather forecast during the last few weeks looking for a good weather window. That window came this past weekend with a stable forecast until Sunday afternoon and a low avalanche level.
Michael and I left Munich at 6am on Saturday morning for Garmisch-Partenkirchen. We were aiming for the 7:30 gondola from Eibsee to the top of the Zugspitze. ...more
Late October climbing in the Dolomites Oct 28–29, 2006
Michael and I wanted to do one last alpine climb for the season. For the northern Alps the weather forecast wasn't great, but for the southern Alps it was much better. So the initial idea was to climb the Campanile Basso in the Brenta group of the Italian Dolomites. But since it was already late October, gondolas had stopped running and the huts had shut down for the season leaving us worried about logistics, long approaches, and about being able to get enough drinking water. So instead Michael suggested the Langkofel group with short approaches and long and interesting alpine climbs. ...more
USA trip 2006 Aug 24–Sep 13, 2006
Barre des Ecrins Jul 13–14, 2006
After climbing in the southern Monte Rosa with the traverse of Lyskamm as the highlight, we still had a few more days before we needed to head back to Munich. A few options where discussed, among them Rochefort ridge traverse with Dent du Geant in the Mont Blanc region. However, for this a rope team of three is not ideal. So Rainer suggested to climb Barre des Ecrins in the Dauphine region in southern France instead. Barre des Ecrins (4101 m) is the southern most 4000m peak in the Alps. After some discussions we had a plan: We would climb to Refuge des Ecrins on the first day, summit and hike out on the second day, and drive back to Munich on the third day. ...more
Climbing in the Southern Monte Rosa Group Jul 8–12, 2006
Claus-Dieter, Rainer, and I spent a few days climbing in the southern Monte Rosa group in the Wallis with the ridge traverse of Lyskamm as the highlight. After that we headed further west into the Dauphine where we climbed Barre des Ecrins. ...more
Approach to the Rifugio Gnifetti Jul 8, 2006
Ludwigshöhe, Parrotspitze, etc Jul 9, 2006
Before spending a night at the Rifugio Regina Margherita (4554 m) we wanted to be properly acclimatized. Therefore the plan for this day was to ascend to the area south of Dufourspitze, to climb a bunch of the small 4000 m peaks, and to return to the Rifugio Gnifetti. There we would spend another night. ...more
Zumsteinspitze and Signalkuppe Jul 10, 2006
This was to be another not very demanding day. Our objective was to climb to the Rifugio Regina Margherita (4554 m) that sits on top of the Signalkuppe and is Europe's highest staffed hut.
We were getting used to late "alpine" starts since it must have been close to 8:30am when we climbed down the rock outcropping from the Rifugio Gnifetti to the glacier where we roped up. We trotted up the glacier passing Lysjoch and all the little 4000er peaks that we had climbed the day before and finally reached the plateau between Signalkuppe and Zumsteinspitze, called Colle Gnifetti. ...more
Lyskamm ridge traverse and Castor Jul 11, 2006
Lyskamm (or Liskamm) is an impressive double-peak in the southern Monte Rosa group on the border between Italy and Switzerland.
The traverse of Lyskamm is one of the famous ridge traverses in the Alps and was to be the highlight of our climbing trip. ...more
