Climbing
Djuke Veldhuis
In preparation for climbing Trisselwant at some point (YIKES) the
four of us set off on a slightly cloudy and humid July morning. Via an
absolute fluke we got to the carpark we were aiming for: right
underneath the Burgstall (874m; take first right after avalanche tunnel)
just by Purg. So there we were, 4 numpties in sandals ... and then it
went wrong when we turned left half way up a via ferrata and then tried
right over an extremely shoddy path which was nicely exposed. Anyway we
got to a face about 5m wide with a "path" running across the front on
which you could fit 1 sandal at a time which made belaying really
fun;-)!
Whilst Nial set off on something with Dave L, Stuart climbed up a 4+
at a corner. well the climbing bit was fine until he took a lead fall,
his first. Climbers seem to talk things up, but after trying to also get
up this thing and failing, I too was convinced it must've been harder,
or at least more shiny than when it was first ascended. Stuart's lead
fall was interesting for me as well as I flew into some briers and
Stuart landed in a tree shortly followed by his ankle hitting the ground
at a dodgy angle which led to consistent "au"'s whilst walking.
So after the rubbish section that made us feel weak and feeble and
getting me more and more lethargic in hot, sticky, lethargic weather
myself and Stuart eventually toddled back down the dodgy "path" and
after aimlessly wandering for 1/2 hour or so we found 2 backpacks and 2
pairs of sandals underneath some staples. Nial and Dave were nowhere in
sight. It seemed sensible to have lunch and follow the staples up as we
didn't have the guide book and were sorely hoping they had chosen a
route we could actually climb rather than the tat we had seen
earlier.
As they say, up is the only way ... sure was as we soon realised we
were doing a superb multi-pitch route. Stuart started and soon we were
in a fairly smooth rhythm of alternating leading and seconding. Well,
"smooth" except for when we would realise (whilst leading) we were on
the middle of a slab of rock with no belay opportunities and no quick
draws left :-(. Loose boulders, wasps nests, falling rocks, crossing via
ferrataists and 2 very thirsty climbers we got to the top where Dave was
sitting, grinning, rock boots off having previously done mainly indoor
climbing.
We were exceptionally happy when it absolutely started rodding it
down ... not so much because it was raining but more so because it was
raining whilst we were NOT on the climbing route. Nial and Dave
had the highly intelligent idea of taking their rock boots off whilst
walking back to the car/bags which was fine until they go to the gravel
path down past a railway station (!). Crossing the railway tracks we
didn't have a dry piece of clothing left on our bodies ... indeed the
Austrian climbers sheltering under an overhang looked most bemused at
our antics. We decided to spare Tony R's car a bath and pretty much
stripped off before getting in (Dave L in his underpants, me driving
with a bra on, shirt off, etc). Despite our repeated offerings Dave L
rudely refused to let us drive straight to the station in Bad Aussee to
pick up his girlfriend who was arriving that same night.