New Start

Dear Friends

I have had the good fortune of being able to work with you, helping you learn to climb, further your ability and accompany you on some great climbing adventures.

I have embarked on a new and exciting endeavour. I have now begun to carry out all of my mountain sport activities through my own personal business.

I will be offering many interesting climbing events: courses, personal training, trips, etc.  We are now coming up on the start of the outdoor season and I will be focusing on events that will help you start climbing outdoors, refresh or further your knowledge and abilities with outdoor climbing or to learn or try something new.

Of course, I am also still independently active in the Salzburg Climbing Gym (Salzburg Kletterhalle) and other indoor facilities. I am also working in a cooperative partnership with the Salzburg Alpenverein Alpine Ausbildung Programm (Alpine Training & Education), the Sport Climbing School denkundstein and the Kalymnos Adventure Center.

Here’s what to look forward to:

“How-To” Climber Series: Seminar 1 - Rope Technique for Outdoor Sport & Multi-Pitch Climbs

“How-To” climber series: Seminar 2 - Retreat & Rescue, Rope Technique for Descents and Partner Rescue

“How-To” Climber Series: Seminar 3 - Self-Belayed Climbing, Rope Technique for Training Alone

Kalymnos (Greece) Spring Training Week, 27. April - 04 May, 2014

Outdoor Sport Climbing Courses, May & June (Salzburg, Berchtesgaden, Malta Valley, etc.)

Outdoor Multi-Pitch Climbing Courses, May & June

Multi-Pitch Sport Climbing Tours

Kalymnos (Greece) July, August mid-September: Personal Training for individuals or small groups, Multi-Pitch Course, Kids/Family Week

As you know, I offer a customer-oriented professional service. Through our personal contact, you know I care about you reaching and surpassing your goals with a meaningful climbing experience.

More information, schedule of events, and registration will be found at my website  www.austrianalpine.com or contact me at joefratianni@hotmail.com

Neuen Pfad

Liebe Freunde,

Ich habe das Glück mit euch arbeiten zu können, helfen beim Klettern lernen, beim Fördern eurer derzeitigen Kenntnisse und auch euch begleiten bei einigen großartigen Kletter Abenteuern.

Ich habe mich auf einen neuen und aufregenden Pfad begeben, indem ich gerade begonnen habe alle meine Berg Und Kletter Sportaktivitäten durch meine eigene selbständige Firma zu organisieren.

Ich werde viele interessante Kletterdisziplinen anbieten: Kurse, Personal Training, Reisen, usw.

Wir kommen jetzt zum Beginn der Outdoor Saison und ich werde besonderes Augenmerk auf jene Kurse legen, die euch helfen werden im Freien zu klettern, eure Kenntnisse und Fähigkeiten aufzufrischen und zu erweitern, eben besonders auf das Klettern im Freien bezogen oder wir werden versuchen etwas Neues zu lernen oder auszuprobieren.

Natürlich bin ich immer noch aktiv in der Salzburg Kletterhalle und in anderen Sporthallen, auch als Freiberufler. Auch bin ich Partner des Salzburger Alpenvereins Alpine Ausbildung Programm, der Sportkletterschule denkundstein und Kalymnos Adventure Center 

Darauf können wir uns freuen:

“How-To” Kletter Serien: Seminar 1 - Seil Technik für Outdoor Sport & Multi-Pitch Klettern

“How-To” Kletter Serien: Seminar 2 - Rückzug & Rettung Seil Technik für Abstiege und Partner Hilfe.

“How-To” Kletter Serien: Seminar 3 - Selbstgesichert Klettern, Seil Technik für Training Allein

Kalymnos (Griechenland) Frühlingstrainingswoche vom 27. April bis 4. Mai 2014.

Outdoor Sport Kletterkurse: Mai und Juni (Salzburg, Maltatal, Berchtesgaden, usw.)

Multi-Pitch Sport Klettertouren

Kalymnos (Griechenland) von Juli, August bis Mitte September: Personal Training für individuelle Personen und kleine Gruppen, Multi-Pitch Kurs, Kinder/Familienwoche

Wie ihr wisst, biete ich ein kundenfreundliches professionelles Service an. Durch unseren persönlichen Kontakt, wisst ihr, dass es mir wichtig ist, dass ihr unsere Ziele mit Hilfe von sinnvoller Klettererfahrung erreicht oder oder sogar noch übertrefft.

Weitere Informationen, Termine, sowie Kontakt und Anmeldungen für die verschiedenen Kurse findet ihr auf meiner Website: www.austrianalpine.com oder joefratianni@hotmail.com

Imagine

When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life.  When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up.  I wrote down ‘happy’.  They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.
– John Lennon

Get this: Happiness breeds success > Success comes after you are happy. You do not first become successful and therefore develop happiness.

If you are not happy climbing at the exact moment you are climbing you will not be successful. The feeling of dissatisfaction due to lack of success will eventually eat away at you to the point in which the activity of climbing will become mundane, frustrating and disappointing.

The art is how to create happiness in your climbing over the long term. Do this with me:

• What 3-5 things are you grateful for in your climbing?
• What do you want to accomplish in your climbing today? In this session?
• What kind of climber do you want to be?
• Write down 3-5 positive, inspiring, empowering affirmations about your climbing

Do this in your climbing/training journal. You do have a journal, don't you? Do this for the next three to four weeks or so of your climbing life. That's just 21 to 31 days. See what happens. Get back to me.

oh, don't forget to put the check in the mail.

Kandersteg

It was snowing when I got to Kandersteg, it was snowing upon departure. In between my two guests and I could do two great ski tours and three days of ice climbing.

The weather pattern for our stay, 26.02.2014 through 03.03.2014, was like clockwork. Snow daily with accumulations from 10-20cm followed by three to four hours of clearing and sun (with accompanying warm temperatures) before the next small weather disturbance would move in. Ice conditions were sub-par, but there was always something to climb.

We only had one semi-clear night in which the ice could build up. Luckily the temperatures would always hover around zero Celsius which somewhat combated the negative effects of the damp air masses that would bring in the snow showers.

I was again housed at the apartments of Adams Alpine Eden (http://www.adamsalpineeden.com) in the center of the village. It is great to be able to access climbing and skiing right from the accommodations front door. Cooking for ourselves and sharing the four-person space makes a climbing trip to Switzerland relatively affordable.

The highlight of the trip was the great skiing. By far the best powder of the season. The avalanches level was always at "3" so we skied appropriate terrain and were very defensive. There is a lot of snow! and due to the frequent föhn winds up high, many slopes were fully loaded with wind-blown snow.

It is just so nice to get out of the northeast Alps around Salzburg and get to a location that has snow, ice and real winter-like conditions.

Birds

from the last belay on "stella"

The large jet-black raven sat on the thin post just being. The tiny finch fluttered in the dwarf pine with its needles glistening with snow melt in the warm winter sun. "Look at my little friend!", my relaxed and happy wife said. She had found the perfect spot in the sun for a break to rest, read and have a snack while I did another lap on the Untersberg.

Skiing powder through the trees must approximate what a bird feels as they swoop and cut through the air picking their line between the tall evergreens.  What about the startling, "Swoosh" as a bird zooms by your hanging belay in a mist enshrouded rock wall?

Of course birds, and particularly ravens, can be quite mischievous. Like any lively character, they can be rascals but they never mean any harm.  But they know what's inside that Powerbar wrapper.

The French say that the black birds circling the peaks represent the souls of all the mountaineers, skiers, climbers, etc., that have not returned. This could be. I like to think of the birds differently.

"Hey, Dad! What do you want for your birthday?" us kids would ask. "I want a bird I can walk on a leash", he'd always reply. His joke meant that he was telling us he didn't really need or want anything. He had his wife and his healthy kids. What more do you really need anyway?

My Dad has now moved on and is not with us. It's been a few years now.  When I am in the mountains and see a bird, I seem to always think of him.

The one female starling I watched feeding her young from the last belay of "Stella Artice" in Cogne. A perfect climb, in perfect weather, in the perfect location. The bird that flew overhead as I made the approach to solo something on Mont Blanc du Tacul. A good omen. The little bird that is entertaining the love of my life as she sits contently in the sun. The bird dancing on the thermals, darting in and out of the swirling mist as my partner and I hope the weather holds for the next three pitches above. It will.

I think of birds as embodying the spirit of my father, He is smiling down, watching out for me and saying, " I don't need a leash now!".

Cogne Ice Trip, Days 5 & 6

Our fifth day in Cogne was a pre-planned rest day. The weather forecast was for heavy snow and we didn't want to be standing under an ice climb as the build up of new snow would eventually come pouring down as the inevitable avalanche would release.

Snowy main street in Cogne

We slept in on our fifth day, took our time at breakfast and did equipment maintenance. Crampons and tools were brought back to a useable state and optimal performance. I did a extended movement & mobility workout: knees, lower back, hips, and other problem areas needed attention after an extensive amount of skiing in the previous months and the past few days of ice climbing and carrying a heavy pack.

crux pitch of "tutto relativo" WI4/5 (nice free-standing column on the right),180m

On Day six we went into the Lillaz valley looking for a steep line that wasn't threatened by avalanches. I described the conditions in a previous post. Simply, the snow had settled quite quickly and the avalanche danger was surprising low.

After walking around looking for a steep line that was free, we ended up snow hiking for around two hours being frustrated that our first, second and third choices were already full of climbers. The hanging ice on steeper lines was warm and relatively soft - easy to climb but also dangerous to stand/climb under.

We settled on the climb "Tutto Relativo" and climbed the 3-4 pitches without event, just enjoying our last climb for this trip.

We ate our "farewell" dinner at the fantastic French bistro in the center of the village. After dinner we got back to the pension and shared what was left of the whiskey and reminisced about the climbing and our trip to a part of Europe that was actually in Winter conditions with plenty of snow and solid ice conditions.

Cogne Ice Trip, Days 3 & 4

Day 3 in Cogne saw us making the longer approach in the Valnontey to the "Patri" sector ice falls. These climbs are well frequented and deservedly so. The bottom of the climb has a 45 meter bulge at around WI3+ before moving up a long snow coulior with an ice step. This brings you to the upper snow bowl which has two steep ice branches of two pitches each at WI4 and WI4+.

upper part, "patri de gauche" wi4/250m & "patri de droite" wi4+/220m

We had heard that over the previous weekend there were 40(!) climbers in the area. We were there on a Tuesday and there were around 5-6 rope teams. On the left hand side at the start of the main flow, an impressive 30 meter pillar had formed at around WI4+/5.

first pitch of "patri" on the right

After making the 90 minute and 300+ meters of elevation gain in the Valnontey, we waited our turn behind a French couple to start up the main fall. The weather was clear and cold after she following day's storm. The ice was somewhat brittle and crusty. It took a bit of care to insure good placements.

on one of the upper branches of "patri"

There were some bottle-necks and rope-crossing/standing under falling ice from other climbers, etc., that comes when inexperienced people are climbing a mid-grade waterfall. I tried to pick the steepest, most well-shelters line possible and time my climbing not to be under any other climbers and reach the belays when the team above was just ready to set off.

"Stella Artice" WI5 was on the program for day 4. This is the much-loved harder classic route in the Lillaz valley.

first two pitches of "stella article"

It was one of those absolutely perfect days on the ice: blue skies, high-pressure, cold temps. The ice was perfect and there were only 3 climbing teams dispersed throughout the 180 meter climb.

french climber ahead of us seconding the column on the crux pitch

The second pitch is the crux of the climb. A column forms for the first part of the pitch. There is a belay possibility just above the column after the ice eases back to the left on a tree with in-siutu cord and slings. You can also continue to the fixed stance further up, using almost all of a 60-meter rope, to get to the piton and sling belay/rappel on the left in the rock. Regardless, the first 12 meters of the pitch are 90 degrees with little overhanging curtains and steps. Very pumpy and demanding of the skill to read the ice line and use the structure of the ice to your advantage.

wolfgang coming up the first pitch 

There is a snow gully that leads to the last two ice pitches at the top of the climb. We got to enjoy a rarity while ice climbing - climbing in warm sun shine!

beginning of the third ice pitch, moving into the sun!

The rocks to the left and above the ice were glistening with droplets of water. The new snow from yesterday that had clung to the rocks was periodically sliding off. I watched a bird continually go into a crack between rocks feeding its newly born young. Only the second week of February and already winter was transforming into spring. At the final anchor, belaying Wolfgang up, I thought of what a perfect climb it had been and how fortunate I was to have been able to do it.

last rappel, capochinos?

We rappelled off, packed up, and leisurely walked out to the parking lot. It had been Wolfgang's first WI5 route. He had climbed the crux pitch well and led the third ice pitch. Clearly a bit of an ice milestone for him. Another thing to add to the experience of a great climbing day.