Monday, January 4, 2016

Scrambling day at Schneeberg

The weather was pretty foggy


Higher up on the approach, Oberer Herminensteig barely visible on the background


We were hoping to be able to get above the clouds, but instead we got between two layers of clouds. It was still quite pretty.


 Bürkle-Steig, a 400-meter alpine route. 


Krumme Ries on the left side of the buttress looks pretty good for skiing 


Our route of the day was Novembergrat, a 500-meter ridge. With the approach, it's about 1100 vertical meters. 


 It was just easy scrambling, but a nice way to get used to NE-side of Schneeberg. 


 Breite Ries


 More scrambling


 On Hochplateau! It's not the summit of Schneeberg, but high enough for us.


Not sure if I'm taking a selfie or peeing... probably doing both


The top was quite foggy


 A map and a compass are good to have.


 There are some marked paths, but I wouldn't count on those in the winter


 We decided to come down via Herminensteig. It's a similar arete to Novembergrat.


The good thing about aretes is that you don't get lost


 Almost like in the Dolomites


 A lot of down scrambling. It's easy and fun, but it's good to remember that there are a lot of places where you simply cannot fall. It was just a day before someone died at Schneeberg after falling 150 meters.


 The north face of the buttress. I'm pretty sure you can find some adventurous climbing here.



Between the clouds again. Time to take some more photos.


 Frozen trees


The sea of fog


Note to self: If you want to have a white Christmas, Schneeberg is a safer bet than southern Finland


Back at the car just before it got dark. No need for headlamps.