Xmas 2001 - Trip Diary

X-Mas 2001 - Trip Report

This is the short summary of my 2001 X-Mas Ice-climbing trip. I visited several places:

Switzerland: Basler Jura (Ice-Climbing)

France: Chamonix (Winter-Hiking instead of ice-climbing)

Italy: Aosta-Valley, Cogne (Ice-Climbing)

Switzerland: Kandersteg (Getting wet in the rain)

Below the reports, you can find the Picture Galleries, and at the very end there are 2 small Tips for safer climbing.

Switzerland: Basler Jura

Snow Chaos and 'Ice-Bouldering'

I left Stuttgart at 4am in the biggest snow-chaos that hit Germany in years. In the radio they interviewed people that were stuck on the Autobahn for over 12 hours. 'Luckily' my car was well equipped with summer tires, so I slid and skidded across the Autobahn towards Offenburg to pick up David Bruder.
Our plan to head straight to Kandersteg was given up in a big traffic jam near Basel in favor of a climbing area nearby: The "Basler Jura". The Ice-Falls in this area rarely form, because it is at a relatively low altitude (~900m) but this winter it was cold enough, so we found a large number of nice falls in 'Reigoldswil'. Many people had the same idea, so it was quite busy, and even Robert Jasper showed up to climb there. The falls are small (max 40m) but many of them are free-standing columns on overhanging parts of the wall which makes them interesting as a training ground.We did several climbs in the WI 4-5 range and had some scary situations, so we were quite exausted after 2 days there.
Logistics: You can park at the Wasserfallen Lift-Station and Walk up the Jaegerpfad 35-45min until you see the falls. Topos of the falls can be found in a Rock-Climbing book called the 'Fluebibel' not in the standard ice-climbing guides

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(22-23.Dec)

France:
Chamonix

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Relaxing and Enjoying

Not much thrilling to tell about this part: I simply had a wonderful time in the Chalet with Guenter and Sonja. Thank you very much again for that pleasant fest !

(24-25.Dec)

Italy:
Cogne

Not much snow, less ice ...

I guess we were simply a bit too early for Ice-Climbing in Cogne, one of the side-valleys of the Aosta-Valley. After my visit there in February of 2001, I had a memory of a snowy valley and lots of cascades. This time, there was nearly no snow at all, which also meant that no water melted and therefore no Ice-Falls could form, except in the few places that are fed directly by glaciers. The Valeille-valley was practically ice-free and in the Valnontey, only a few lines at the end had formed, but those were OK. You can see the conditions in the pictures in the Gallery.

Logistics:

Cogne
There are some smaller shops for food etc. but no ice-climbing gear can be purchased, so don't forget anything.
The main info spot for ice-climbers is the Bar Licone which is near the Tourist Information Office in the center where the road splits to Valnontey: The local Guide who runs the bar keeps the new Route Book for the area and another book where all the climbers write the info on the tours they did that day.
Valeille
You can park at the camping ground (closed) and then walk in (to the end it takes ~45 min)
Valnontey
You can park at the end of the town Valnontey near the creek and then walk in (to the end it takes ~1.30h)

Herbetet-Trip
To relax our beaten fingers and to get some change and adventure we planned a tour to the higher mountains at the end of the valnontey-valley. The Gran-Paradiso made an attractive target, so we went up on the Bivacco Leonessa hoping we might get a change to reach the summit the next day. Unfortunately the combination of

no snow in the valley and half way up (so we took no skis)

knee deep snow in the boulder-fields near the hut (which cost much energy)

lots of barely covered crevasses on the glacier and

a fierce storm at -10慢

gave us the idea it might be good to look for a more reasonable target, which we found in nearby 'Herbetet' (3778m) an icy north face and some rock-climbing at the top gave us enough to do for that day and a beautiful view to Mt.Blanc, Gd. Combin all the way to the Matterhorn and Monte Rosa.

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(26-28.Dec)

Switzerland: Kandersteg

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Rain, Rain, Rain ...
The idea to climb some of the big falls in Kandersteg was not one of out best, because the storm that we felt on Herbetet brought lots of rain to Switzerland. So we were able too take a look at the amazing falls there but felt not much temptation in climbing them in the pouring wetness.
So we returned after making some pictures of these falls and some on the way out which probably rarely form in other years.

(29.Dec)

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Overview

Valnontey

Valley Overview	Valley looking out	End of the valley	End, left side

Mur de Patry	Left	Left detail	Right

Mur de_ Repetance	Repetance Super	Monday Money	Flash Estivo

Valleile	(much too dry - nearly nothing climbable)



Herbetet


Panorama from Herbetet, the Gran Paradiso is just left of the big Rockpile

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	Kandersteg Oeschinenwald Panorama	Details

Kandersteg, Almenalpfall	Big falls on the way to Kandersteg (The town is called Blausee. I guess they rarely form that nice!)

Tips

Take of the adze off your tool !
One thing I definitely learned on this trip is: If you climb hard and near your limit, make sure the back end of your tool is safe in case the it suddenly pops. As long as you climb simple falls, you will hold the tools safely overhead, but in situations like the top of the fall, where you have to pull your self over the edge of the cliff, your tools can easily hit your face an leave an ugly mark, when they pop out ... :-(

Safety while placing Gear:
Another safety tip, which could save your life: If you have bad ice-conditions (brittle) where you can't trust your tools 100% and you climb near your limit, you can attach the unused tool with a piece of cord of appropriate length before the climb. This prevents a fall if your other tool comes loose for any reason. Make sure it does not limit your reach when you want to place it high up, and train the slightly different handling in an easy climb before.
Uncomfortable ? Thats what I though, too, but then on a hard fall I tried to place the first possible screw in 12m height after sinking my left tool safely. After turning the screw the first time, the whole left half of the candle broke off leaving my tool in mid air. I was damn lucky I could grab my other tool while falling backward with the other hand ... This would have been *really* uncomfortable ...

X-Mas 2001 - Trip Report

Pictures: Switzerland: Basler Jura

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Pictures: France: Chamonix

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Pictures: Italy: Aosta-Valley: Cogne

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Pictures: Switzerland: Kandersteg

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Tips