equipment

When you end up on the wrong peak because you spotted a shortcut.

madeziius1 Comment

2017-03-04 12.15.54

You stand on the feet of the mountains and you spot an awesome peak. You are sure that this is the one you have planned to hike. After all, it matches with the descriptions or at least you make it match, because it looks so awesome and it is in the right direction 😀 Happy and ignorant you set of to the peak. It gets even better, you spot a shortcut! So you see the peak, you see a possible shortcut and you want to beat the guy in jeans in front of you to the peak! Off course you are going to take the steeper but faster shortcut!

I guess you by now have figured out where this story ends up. So the guy in jeans was actually very clever in following the path, because then he saw that the peak we were heading to was not the right one.

Ending up on a wrong peak, not too bad you say. Well, the problem was not actually that it was the wrong peak, but that the shortcut that we had taken did not let us climb the peak:(  To our defense, it would have been possible during summer. There was even a path to the peak, the problem was the snow. Because you see, what we did not know was that the path we had chosen had too much now on it for safe winter hiking. Now you are thinking how stupid is it possible to be right? Hiking on paths that are not suitable for winter hiking, during winter… No we are not that stupid, it is allays safety first so we turned around when we saw that the path was not safe. Cause  you know it is never to late to turn around.. But this makes this the third hike in a row where I do not make it to the peak!!! Be it the right one or the wrong one 😛 .

Had we followed that guy who hikes in jeans during winter (?!), we had seen the next sign that would have made it clear that we were heading to the wrong peak. We would perhaps also had seen the “normal” path to the (wrong) peak and who knows, perhaps we could have made it to the peak following that path, since that one did not cross a ridge.

There are several morals to this story:

  1. If somethings seems to be too good to be true, it probably is.
  2. Do not underestimate people who hike in jeans.
  3. Do not get too carried away and forget to check you path with a map, even when you think you are heading in the right direction and you think you see your peak.

Nevertheless, I still consider this as a fun hiking experience and it was really exploring. Belive it or not, it can also be fun getting of the paths and playing around in the snow in the mountains 🙂 Would I do it again?.. no, because I like to make it to the peak!

PS. So the peak we wanted to do was called Lacherspitze (1 724 m)This would have been an easy winter hike of ca. 1000m high meters. The peak we almost did is called Kesselwand (1721m) I would go back for this one, since it did look awesome. Also there seemed to be good ski touring possibilities for beginners in that area so maybe I will go back and try out that too.

Some moments from our exploring:

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True exploring, can you see the excitement in Elias’s face?
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At the end of our shortcut there was a hole in the mountain
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I told you the shortcut was steep 😀

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Btw this weekend was the dav’s alpinflohmarkt and this was what I came back with. No crampons and no ice axe as you can see, but I got something for both summer and winter hiking 🙂

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I will go hiking again tomorrow, and try out some of the stuff I got 🙂

2017-03-04 10.47.57
Already looking for the next peak..

Winter hiking and why I need to buy crampons.

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2017-02-26-10-32-31

March as been very busy for me and there has been almost no time for hiking, except for couple of weeks back when we went for a small winter hike. The only requirement this time was to find a hike with an open hut. Kampenwand 1669m was perfect.

Ascent: 1100 hm

Time: ca. 3h up and ca. 2:00h down.

Getting there: Meridian to Prien am Chiemsee (direction Kufstein), then change to RB to Aschau. NB! There are trains only every two hours.

Equipment: You definitely need the following equipment for a successful winter hike:

  • good cloves, water resistant.
  • walking poles
  • thermos
  • sitting pad
  • buff
  • gaiters
  • good waterproof hiking boots and warm clothes.

And now I need to add crampons on the list, because this was the first time I had to turn around because I did not have crampons:( That sucked so much! I was like 100hm from the peak. I could see it, but it got so icy that I did not consider it responsible to even try. It is always safety first! Turning around is not an easy decision to make, not when you really want to get to the peak, but there is brave and there is stupid. Going on without crampons would have been stupid. So we were a group of 5 and 2 of us ( the ones who had crampons) made it to the top. Nevertheless, it was a nice hike. It is always nice to be in the mountains, even when you do not make it to the peak and this experience just made me realize that I need to buy crampons. Perhaps I find some used ones from the upcoming alpin Flohmarkt or just order some online. recommendations are welcome 😉

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As you can see, turning around made sense, when having no crampons.
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This was more or less the place where we decided to turn around.

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I hope to get to do couple of more winter adventures before the spring comes to Bavaria, but let’s see. This weekend I will be off to Barcelona, so no hiking but a lot of tapas 🙂

What to get a hiker for Christmas?

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Today it is exactly 24 days to Christmas!! I guess many of you out there are like me and have yet to get most of the christmas presents. Here are some of my tips for what to get for an outdoors enthusiast 😀 PS. many of these items are on my wish list as well 😉

PS: I am not sponsored by any of these brands so I am just voluntary providing you my ideas.

hiker_gifts

 

 

  1. Tracking poles – Previously I did not use tracking poles, but I just bought myself a par couple of weeks back. I could not wait until Christmas 😛  Why tracking poles?  The reason is simple, while doing 1600 m or more descents you need the support. For short hikes I would say they are not needed (unless you have trouble with knees).
  2. Headlight – For winter and autumn hikes a good headlight is a must. I seldom use my headlight because I calculate the hikes so I don’t have to hike in the dark, but I normally have it in my backpack just in case I miscalculate and need a headlight.
  3. Fiber towel – For a multi-day hiker a fiber towel is a must, but this also comes in handy for a frequent traveler or backpacker.
  4. Seat pad  – I love these, I use it during summer and winter.
  5. Thermos – Every hiker should own a small thermos. There is nothing better than enjoying a cup of warm chocolate or tea on the top of the mounting in autumn/winter time.
  6. Reusable warm packs – This you can get to a person who is constantly cold, hiker or not.
  7. Power bank – These days we are so dependent on technology. You hardly see people with maps anymore. This is a perfect gift for a hiker or a Pokemon go player 😀
  8.  A night in a hut – Every hiker would love a voucher for a night in a hut!!
  9. GoPro – This is very expensive but will make every serious hiker/skier very happy.
  10. First aid Kit – This is something every hiker should have in their backpack but many do not.

So here you go, there are differently gifts in different price ranges in this list. You should find something for everybody, even for somebody who has everything 😉

Peaceful Christmas shopping to you all – lets hope the snow comes soon!