Alpine Ridge Scrambling

Just up the valley from where we are staying is the ski town of Solden, which is home to the start of teh highest tarmaced road in the EU. The 'Gletscherstrasse' can take you up to a top car park height of a whopping 2800m in about fifteen minutes. It sounded much better that walking, so we set off early to see if it was actually possible. There is a toll of 23Euros to pay, which opens at 08:30am. Up until we found the toll booth, it all seemed rather unclear if we were allowed to drive up the road. There were a few signs which we couldn't translate and the only other traffic seemed to be builders and diggers. Were were both slightly relieved to find the toll booth and an English speaking attendant, who said we were fine to proceed! Up at the top car park, we pulled in next to the only other car.

We seemed to be in the right place, despite the absence of any info boards or signs. Some 200m below us at the ski station a huge building operation was in full swing, with countless diggers, cranes, trucks and even a couple of helicopters buzzing about. It all felt rather strange. The owners of the other car were just setting of in the direction we were planning, so it seemed that we must be allowed up there! A short walk from the car got us to a steep section that was protected by chains and wires. The first section did little to inspire confidence, but was easy at least, so that fact that the bolts had pulled from the anchors didn't put us off!

It was easy scrambling terrain, so the chains helped show the way, rather than being needed to pull on.

In among the barren landscape of bare rock, there was a whole world of colourful flowers along the way. 

The section of chains quickly gained us some height and distance from the remains of the glacier (and building site), below.

At the col, where the chain section ended, there was a sign checking that we had the correct footwear on!

As we climbed up to the summit of Polleskogel we looked down a subsidiary valley where our map said the Pollesferner Glacier should be - there wasn't much left of it down there.

Only an hour for the car and we were on top of Polleskogel (3032m).

We sat back to enjoy the views...

It was amazing to be just a short distance away from a noisy ski area building site and suddenly be in utter silence, surrounded by glaciers and jagged peaks. We got out the binoculars, some sandwiches and settled into the views.

The central peak is the Wildspitze - the highest in Tirol and second highest in Austria.

Earlier in the week, we had planned to descend down this remote valley back to Langenfeld - it looked a long way!

We followed the rocky ridge, known as 'Mainzer Hohenweg', which leads over various summits and eventually to the Russelsheimer Hutte in the north. With no fixed agenda, no threatening weather and knowing that we could just retrace our steps at any point, we enjoyed the scrambling at a leisurely pace, pausing whenever we fancied to enjoy the views.

With the binoculars, we saw Ibex on a ridge and a couple of other climbing teams reaching the crosses on various summits.

We could have followed the ridge for miles, and there was an interesting orange bivi hut perched on stilts on top of a peak called Gschrappkogel (3197m). Had we know this before setting out, we might have spent a night there? Instead we called it a day just before a summit called Wurmsitkogel (3079m).

To get to the far hut looked to be a decent day out, with it marked as 8 hours away.

The way back was just as interesting, with views as good as the scrambling, which was tricky enough to need to concentrate, but not so hard as to need a rope.

Before driving off, we got a photo by the highest road sign!

Down at the ski station was a tremendous noise of trucks, diggers and helicopters. Some of the snow and glacier had also been covered with white tarpaulin to protect it from the sun and stop it melting!

The clutch and the brakes took the strain as we rolled back down to the valley floor!

We arrived back at the pad feeling pretty spent from the altitude and exertion. There was just time for a shower, before we were joined by friends, Tim and Julia, who came round for dinner. It's funny how we manage to 'bump into friends' around the world - they are travelling around Europe in a motor home and have been on the road for a whooping 11 months now, and just happened to be in Austria this week.

High Altitude Swimming

A 'short walk' that turned out to be quite a long hike! It's been tricky to plan much in advance this summer as the weather has had a habit of changing it's mind rather frequently. However, today's change was for the better, so we opted for an early start to get up to a nearby lake before the afternoon rains arrived.

The hike up to the glacial cwm of Schonrinnkar was our objective, via the small alpage of Nisslalm. It began with a steep hike up through a vibrant, lush forest from the small village of Grise. The woodland was dense and dripping with water from the overnight rains, but once above the treeline, the day started to brighten up and after being hidden in the woodland, the views opened up too.

Our legs are at least used to walking uphill by now, so we made good time up to the lake, arriving in half the advertised time.

The water was mirror calm and perfectly clear. It all looked so inviting...

There was however a bank of snow around the far edges of the lake, which may have contributed to the less than ideal water temperature. It was the coldest water I've been in in ages. Painful at first, despite the alluring appearance.

We had to get knee deep, then get back out while we alimatized to the single digit temperatures! - You can just make out Clare on the bank in this photo, to give some scale.



Eventually, Clare committed to the swim and took the plunge!

I was a little more hesitant!

But eventually, I made it in and put some ripples onto the surface. It was decided that the 'head under' rule might not be so sensible up here, so to conserve heat, we kept our hair dry and we frantically swam while trying not to hyperventilate!

Back on land, we put on all our clothes, hiked up hill further to a rocky knoll to get a better view and brewed up fresh coffee on the stove!

A great way to warm up, looking down at the lake.



We had the binoculars with us, so sat out in the sun, looking at the 360 degree views. We even saw a big Marmotte exploring the hillside. 

The walk down went over a few old snow patches, which we skied down.

In the ground below the lake, in the middle of knowhere, we came across a blue plastic barrel?!

It weighed a tonne and I could only just stand it upright. Inside, it was full of chunks of salt crystals! A mystery!?...

We took our time getting down, with plenty of rests to enjoy the views and watch the clouds come and go.

At the farm at Nissalm, we stopped for some refreshments. They only took cash, so we pooled our resources and were able to get a mighty slice of chocolate cake to share! As we sat eating it, the rains started! We sat undercover while the worst passed overhead, then continued down.

With a quick stop to enjoy a swing seat with a view!

The car was right down there... 

We needed waterproofs for the hike down, but didn't get too wet. It was a 13km day with over 1000m of height climbed and descended! There was a festival in the village, which started an hour later, but we were too tired to stick around in the rain. Hot showers and a big feed were needed!