Sunday, November 30, 2008

AIS-Salzburg in the Climbing Gym

The climbers from the AIS-Salzburg are climbing during their winter trimester in the
Kletterhalle Salzburg. The group of eight students, accompanied by AIS-Salzburg staff member Valerie Cicero, started up last Wednesday. The group is mostly made up of beginning climbers, with two students who have taken climbing courses from me before at the USI Salzburg/Rif on the outdoor climbing tower.

On Wednesday mornings the group has the climbing gym all to themselves between 08:00 - 10:00am.

Our first day started with the basics of climbing and safety. After getting the shoes sorted out, we did some easy bouldering that focused of precise footwork.


Then we put on our harness and then learned how to tie in to the rope with a figure-8 knot.






Our goal for the morning was to climb on top rope. The students learned how to thread the belay device, attach it to their harness and do a pre-climb safety check of the climber and belayer.

We learned, and then did a dry run through, of the proper way to belay: pull the rope out through the belay device, bring the right hand down to create a 90 degree bend in the rope, left hand grips the rope just above the right hand, and then bring the right over the left hand and re-grip the rope.

The students then were ready to climb on the top ropes in the course area of the gym. The routes are designed for practicing on and are about 6 meters in length. Everyone got to do a lap or two on the short wall before we ran out of time.
Of course, the two hours went by far too quickly for the students liking. However there is always next week ...

In our second meeting, we will climb more on top rope in 3-person teams. We are going to try the longer routes in the main section of the gym.

As the students get more accustomed to belaying each other correctly and safely, we will be able to do a lot of climbing in our brief two hours on Wednesday mornings.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

OeAV-Salzburg alpine.ausbildung: Winter 2009

Meine Kurse fürs Ausbildungsprogramm der OeAV-Salzburg im Winter sind fest.

Kurse / Termine sind:

Eisklettern Beginner
Fr. - So., 16. Jänner 2009 bis 18. Jänner 2009
Kurs Begin Fr. Um 18:00 AV-Haus Nonntal, Sa. und So. Tagestouren Raum Salzburg / Berchtesgaden

Stop or Go / Notfall Lawine
Do. - So., 22. Jänner 2009 bis 25 Jänner 2009
Kurs Begin Do. und Fr. um 18:00 AV-Haus Nonntal, Sa. und So. Tagestouren Raum Salzburg / Berchtesgaden (Event. Hütten Übernachtung Sa. bis So.)

Eisklettern Fortgeschrittener
Fr. - So., 06 Februar 2009 bis 08 Februar 2009
Kurs Begin Fr. Um 17:00 Gasthaus Hubertus Maltatal (Mitfahrgelegenheit ab Salzburg, Treffpunkt um 15:00), Übernachtung Fr. Bis So.

Skihochtouren
Do. - So., 19. März 2009 bis 22 März 2009
Kurs Begin Do. um 11:00 Franz Senn Hütte, Stubaier Alpen, Tirol (Obligatorisch Treffpunkt in Salzburg um 07:00, Mitfahrgelegenheit) Übernachtung Do. bis So.

Ich würde auch ein paar Termine für Übungstouren zwischen Jänner 2009 und ende März 2009 aussuchen. Ich habe Übungstouren fürs Eisklettern, Skitechnik im Gelände, und Skibergsteigen vor.

Weitere Infos sind auf der AV-Salzburg alpine.ausbildung webpage:

http://www.alpineausbildung.at/

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Fall Rock Climbing

From mid-October until this past week, I have been able to do a number of cool rock routes with friends. This time of year is one of my favorite times to rock climb in the Salzburg area. (Honestly, my favorite time to rock climb around here is when it's not raining!) The weather is generally pretty stable and temps are cool. In addition, I have been very busy with climbing courses both in and outside of the climbing gym too.

A short overview of routes includes, amongst others, climbs on the Austrian and Bavarian side of the Untersberg and in the nearby Tennengebirge. My friend Erwin and I climbed on the "Kleine Südwand" on the Untersberg and then a few days later roped up again on "Fun in the Sun"/"Panorama" (VI/550m) on the Große Fieberhorn in the Tennengebirge. Here's the obligatory ass shot as I smear up one of the cruxes on "Panorama". The photos are from the multi-tasking Erwin.


10th rope length, "Fun in the Sun", VI

Toni and Berni climbed as a second rope team with us too. It was a great way to welcome them back after an extended trip to South America, Canada the USA and a bit in the western Alps in between. We got to the top of the Große Fieberhorn at about 3:00pm. It gave us enough time to scramble down to the fixed ropes and ladder of the Via Ferrata in daylight and finish the hike out by headlamp.


Me, Berni and Toni on top of the Große Fieberhorn.

A couple days later, my friend Gernot and I did the route "Samsara" (VII-/450m) on the Gamsalmkopf on the Bavarian side of the Untersberg. This was a great climb: a very nice two hour approach, a long route that was fairly consistent, and again a descent by headlamp.

As I write this, I think the outdoor rock climbing season is over as winter takes hold. This week has been damp and frosty with snow in the mountains. Cold temps and snow storms are forecast for the coming week. With a bit of luck, the ice climbing season will start up in a couple of weeks and will have enough snow to be confronted with choice of, "skis or ice tools?"