Hi,

I'm planning a traverse of the Jubiläumsgrat, the ridge between Alpspitze and Zugspitze.
Our itinerary: from the german side up through the hollenthal, climb zugspitze, spend a night in the hut on the summit, do the traverse (no hurry, so bivouac in the hut on the ridge is ok) and climb down the alpspitze. All from the german side. Timeschedule: 4 days. (that's plenty i guess)

We've got two weekends as possible dates: last weekend of april, or the last weekend in may. Since we're coming all the way from holland, it would be nice if the snow in the valley would be gone by then. Snow on the ridge is ok, bring it on!

Anyone who can tell me:
- what the conditions around the zugspitze are now, in terms of snow level, and avalanche danger
- what these conditions will be in 3 weeks (our first option) or around the end of may?
- is the hollenthal klamm already open around april 30, or should we wait until may 25?

A winterlike-ascent like described on this site is no problem, so we don't mind snow on the ridge. The only thing we would like to avoid is an ascent to the zugspitze through deep snow. taking the cablecar is of course always possible, but we prefer to climb it ourselves

Thanks in advance for some useful suggestions!

Hi Pietzl,

Höllentalklamm opens around mid-may. An earlier ascent to Zugspitze via Höllentalklamm is very dangerous because of the avalanches coming out of the northern rockface of Zugspitze.
Zugspitze has actually 4 m of snow and the high rockfaces of all directions are still snowpacked with corniches of about more than 5 m high around the aretes !!

On Friday I intend to skihike onto Alpspitze, if you are interested I can give you some more detailed informations.

Yes, please! If you would like to share your experiences afterwards, that would be a big help.

Have a nice trip Friday.

Hello Pietzl,

you can see some images of Zugspitze / Höllental and some images of Jubiläumsgrat on my new "Alpspitze main ski routes" SP page, to get a first impression of the Jubiläumsgrat conditions of April, 10.

Höllental is covered in much avalanche snow so if you want to go end may check the web pages if the Höllentalklamm is open.

All the northern exposed rockwalls are still packed with snow and above 1600 m there are no avalanche activities in those rockfaces yet. So I think this will start only in may. So actually the upper parts of Höllental ascent to Zugspitze is no go zone until mid may.

On Jubiläumsgrat there were no tracks visible. Conditions on the aretes are actually very variable. Snowfree zones are alternating with corniches and several meters of snow. The snow on the south, west and east sides actually is very deep. The traverse Vollkarspitze - Grieskarscharte, the last part of Jubiläumsgrat, actually looks dangerous (avalanche danger).

I think Jubiläumsgrat is passable for good mountaineers end of may. There might be some extra snow obstacles left by then because of the extraordinaty snow amount of this winter. If the Höllental ascent can be made end of may can actually not be predicted. You should check the situation end of may.

Cheers, selinunte01

selinunte01 wrote:Hello Pietzl,

you can see some images of Zugspitze / Höllental and some images of Jubiläumsgrat on my new "Alpspitze main ski routes" SP page, to get a first impression of the Jubiläumsgrat conditions of April, 10.

Höllental is covered in much avalanche snow so if you want to go end may check the web pages if the Höllentalklamm is open.

All the northern exposed rockwalls are still packed with snow and above 1600 m there are no avalanche activities in those rockfaces yet. So I think this will start only in may. So actually the upper parts of Höllental ascent to Zugspitze is no go zone until mid may.

On Jubiläumsgrat there were no tracks visible. Conditions on the aretes are actually very variable. Snowfree zones are alternating with corniches and several meters of snow. The snow on the south, west and east sides actually is very deep. The traverse Vollkarspitze - Grieskarscharte, the last part of Jubiläumsgrat, actually looks dangerous (avalanche danger).

I think Jubiläumsgrat is passable for good mountaineers end of may. There might be some extra snow obstacles left by then because of the extraordinaty snow amount of this winter. If the Höllental ascent can be made end of may can actually not be predicted. You should check the situation end of may.

Cheers, selinunte01

comprehensive account!
Cheers

selinunte01 wrote:...
Cheers, selinunte01

Thanks!
I'll keep an eye to it the next few weeks.

If you are going through Höllental, don't. It's too dangerous. When I was there in february, there was a LOT of snow. It'll be melting and coming down right now. For that reason, I decided to try my luck on Grossglockner instead. If you feel like climbing that one, we are going up on the 22nd and 23rd of may.

We've still got the plan in mind to go up through the hollenthal, but if several people write that there can still be a lot of snow up there, and with the warm days coming up this week...
I also saw that the hollenthal klamm will open only may the 30th.
That would mean for us, taking the seilbahn from Eibsee, or otherwise go up to the hollenthalangerhutte via another route than the klamm.

Still not sure what's it gonna be, also considering the chance for thunderstorms later in the week...

Hey Mataxvision (and others)

Just returned yesterday from Wetterstein gebirge. No jubi grat for us: the warden of the munchenerhaus told us that a week before a mountainguide and 2 customers returned after a few hundred meters. Too much overhanging snow slabs, and soft snow.

We downclimbed the nordwand klettersteig instead, which is also not entirely in condition: several sections of 20-30 meters where the steel wire lays buried under snow. We roped up on some sections, and used crampons once.
Hollental itself is ok, still some little snowfields. But the klamm is not accessible, too much snow in it (it opens next weekend, but i've seen the klamm from above, and i don't think that the amounts of snow that still block the pad will be gone by then) Use the stangensteig instead if you go through the hollental

possible alternatives: brunntal grat from the knorrhutte is accessible now. maybe the second easier section of the jubi grat is OK from the junction with brunntalgrat. (up to the knorrhutte from garmisch through partnachklamm or with the train/lift)

p.s. On ascension day, we assisted in the rescue of a person, who came up the nordwand of zugspitze, and fell just below the summit. He was rescued by helicopter after we (we were just at the zugspitze summit at the time) heard him shouting. Christian, if you read this, or anyone who knows him: everything OK?