Kostěj - Apr 26, 2022 3:57 am Date Climbed: Apr 20, 2019
Pitztaler Eisexpress
Beautiful day in the mountains ..
rgg - Jul 16, 2012 11:54 am Date Climbed: Jul 8, 2012
A great climb!
Back in 2004, the Wildspitze was my first glacier climb, then by the normal route from the Vernagthütte and back.
This time we started and ended the day at the Breslauerhütte. On our approach to the North Face, it was a little bit windy, but apart from that, the weather was fine. We started at the hut just around dawn, and by the time we reached the glacier the sun was shining, with a few clouds here and there. By the time we reached the bottom of the face, it was still mostly sunny. The bergschrund didn't present a big problem, and I understood that that's pretty normal for early summer.
We climbed the north face in two pairs, and not being very experienced on steep ice, we were not particularly fast. During the climb, the clouds dropped, and eventually I couldn't see my climbing partner anymore at the other end of the rope. We even got a bit of snow. The face itself wasn't bare to begin with, it was covered by a thin layer old frozen snow. The amount of fresh snow was very small, and didn't matter.
After reaching the northern summit, which, unfortunately, was in the clouds, we had to wait a long time for the other pair. At least I had ample time to eat all the food I had in my pack, something that I don't always find time for when I'm climbing.
Just below the southern summit, the clouds finally lifted, and we could see the mountain properly.
I also learned that the old normal route from 2004 is no longer followed; nowadays, the southeast ridge to the south summit is an easy scramble, back then it was covered in snow and ice and the normal way to the summit was over the north summit, even when coming from the south.
Kostěj - Apr 26, 2022 3:57 am Date Climbed: Apr 20, 2019
Pitztaler EisexpressBeautiful day in the mountains ..
rgg - Jul 16, 2012 11:54 am Date Climbed: Jul 8, 2012
A great climb!Back in 2004, the Wildspitze was my first glacier climb, then by the normal route from the Vernagthütte and back.
This time we started and ended the day at the Breslauerhütte. On our approach to the North Face, it was a little bit windy, but apart from that, the weather was fine. We started at the hut just around dawn, and by the time we reached the glacier the sun was shining, with a few clouds here and there. By the time we reached the bottom of the face, it was still mostly sunny. The bergschrund didn't present a big problem, and I understood that that's pretty normal for early summer.
We climbed the north face in two pairs, and not being very experienced on steep ice, we were not particularly fast. During the climb, the clouds dropped, and eventually I couldn't see my climbing partner anymore at the other end of the rope. We even got a bit of snow. The face itself wasn't bare to begin with, it was covered by a thin layer old frozen snow. The amount of fresh snow was very small, and didn't matter.
After reaching the northern summit, which, unfortunately, was in the clouds, we had to wait a long time for the other pair. At least I had ample time to eat all the food I had in my pack, something that I don't always find time for when I'm climbing.
Just below the southern summit, the clouds finally lifted, and we could see the mountain properly.
I also learned that the old normal route from 2004 is no longer followed; nowadays, the southeast ridge to the south summit is an easy scramble, back then it was covered in snow and ice and the normal way to the summit was over the north summit, even when coming from the south.