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<title>Cambridge Underground 1985: Trisselwand</title>
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<center><font size=-1>Cambridge Underground 1985 pp 10-12</font>
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<h2>An ascent of the Trisselwand</h2>
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<p>by Andy Waddington</center>
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<p>The Trisselwand is an imposing two thousand foot limestone face, which
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dominates the view across Altausseer See, next to which Cambridge caving
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expeditions have camped for several years. The sight of this apparently sheer
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face over the lake has been a challenge for some time - a challenge which
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Wiggy and myself finally took up during this year's expedition. The weather
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was generally poor, restricting caving activities, but allowing a reccy to
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the bottom of the crag during a break in the rain. The guidebook gives our
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chosen route a III+ grade (around Hard V. Diff.), but describes 500m of
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climbing in one short paragraph in German, so route finding looked like being
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the major problem. The advance inspection showed the crag to be more complex,
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but less vertical, than first thought, and we decided on an early start on
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the first clear day.
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<p>A few days later the sun came out, and our 'early' start got us on the
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rock at 11am. The first couple of pitches were easy scrambling, though poorly
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protected, and we set out confident that the guidebook time of four hours was
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reasonable. More easy climbing ( but no more runners ) led to a big ledge
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which took us into the 'Hauptschlucht' or main gully. From a distance this
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had looked like a steep corner, but once inside, it proved to be a fine
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clean-washed gully with - sheer luxury - both shady stances and reliable
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belays. Wiggy led a pitch of excellent bridging to a belay below a huge
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chockstone - a welcome relief from the now blistering heat. We had managed to
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pick the hottest day of the entire trip to climb the dazzling white,
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South-facing rock. The next pitch went out onto the face to the right,
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becoming suddenly very exposed, and having avoided the direct line with a
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fixed peg, I became a trifle concerned with the large quantity of unattached
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rope dragging behind me. I reached for a piton. Since we had forgotten the
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peg-hammer ( too heavy anyway ), I pulled off a convenient handhold with
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which to bash in a peg. Any peg. Any crack. Please ! After what seemed an
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age, one very tinny and insecure piton boosted my confidence enough to step
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up on small, vaguely portable-looking holds to a better traverse line above.
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Another peg went in, ostensibly to protect Wiggy as he climbed up to the
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traverse, but quite good for my confidence too. The next pitch was easy
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angled - a good job in view of its general mobility, but much looser rock
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would follow.
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<p>The guidebook says to go left for three ropelengths over 'Plättige
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Schrofen', at which stage my dictionary gave up. We assumed it was some sort
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of ledge system, but hadn't quite appreciated the amount of loose rock that
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can accumulate on a five hundred foot long ledge ! I led ten feet up rock,
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and the rest of the ropelength on scree to a dubious boulder. No other belay
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for at least a hundred feet, so the boulder it had to be. Wiggy arrived,
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found somewhere safish for the sack, and led another ropelength across scree
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to an even more imaginary belay.
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<p>At this stage the guide says 'don't go too high !', but there was real
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rock up there, so up we went. That this was an error became apparent when I
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reached a steep headwall and had to reverse 140' down a runnerless slab to
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Wiggy, who was attached to one of the more esoteric pieces of modern climbing
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hardware - a Friend - in an even more esoteric 'crack'. Suffice it to say
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that we wasted about two hours getting across the ensuing slabs. The fact
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that it got cooler as the sun went behind the rock didn't ease the nagging
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feeling that it was later than it should be at this stage.
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<p>Somewhere on the traverse we must have joined the right route again - I
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found some litter by a belay in a crack with the peculiar feature of a strong
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outward draught. A bit tight for a dig perhaps, but intriguing nonetheless.
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Off to our left the world seemed to end, while above was impossibly steep. We
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knew that round the corner was a steep ramp that would lead us to the summit
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ridge, but where to go to reach it ? Wiggy thought I should drop down to a
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notch in the corner, but I could see that this led to thin air, so I tied
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myself to a rock and directed him upwards. A steep crack provided Wiggy with
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perhaps the hardest lead on the route, but also with more protection than we
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had had thus far. At the top were two fixed pegs, and a downward view to
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infinity, or perhaps a little beyond. I found Wiggy seated comfortably on the
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stance, and grinning as he pointed out an obvious line out over the drop. To
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gain the ramp required either a long traverse out to the left, or the ascent
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of an equally exposed steep little wall. I found a runner placement below the
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wall which made my mind up. Above the step was easier ground and more fixed
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pegs.
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<p>Route finding on the ramp was a lot easier than below, and fixed pegs made
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the exposure less unnerving. On the other hand, the pretty pink tinge in the
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sky suggested that speed would be an asset. Three pitches up the ramp led to
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a steep looking little headwall, but at the top was the summit ridge. The
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headwall proved easy, but the ridge was a shock - the wall must only be a few
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feet thick ! With three thousand feet of space each side, we were glad that
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the four rope lengths of summit ridge were only a scramble. The final step
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across to the summit overhangs our route lower down, and makes an impressive
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finale. We hurriedly signed the summit book as the last rays of sunlight left
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the sky.
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<p>Having taken almost nine hours to climb the route, on the hottest day of
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the trip, with just two litres of orange juice between us, we now felt
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suitably knackered. The evening was hot and close, and the steep walk down
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from the summit soon turned into an epic, with one light failed, and the
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other absorbed by the inky blackness of the forest lower down. Seldom has a
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litre of grapefruit juice vanished so fast as when we reached the campsite -
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and it didn't spoil our appetite for beer !
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<p>Summary: -------- Phil Wigglesworth and Andy Waddington climbed
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"Stügerweg", a 500m grade III+ route on the Trisselwand, a
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limestone face some 50 miles East of Salzburg in Austria. The route was
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technically no more than Severe but exposed and lacking in protection, and
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with loose rock in parts. The ascent took almost nine hours - more than twice
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the guidebook time, but this was mainly due to routefinding problems. The
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upper part of the route is very fine, with impressive situations. Especially
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at night. God, it was hell up there.
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<hr />
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<!-- LINKS -->
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<ul id="links">
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<li>Cambridge Underground 1985,
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<a href="../../../jnl/1985/index.htm">Table of Contents</a></li>
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<li>1984 Expedition info:
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<ul>
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<li><a href="log.htm">Logbook</a></li>
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<li><a href="stopp.htm">Stop Press report</a>, CU 1984</li>
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<li>Main Expo report, Cambridge Underground 1985:
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<ul>
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<li><a href="report.htm">Austria 1984 Exposée</a></li>
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<li><a href="cavegd.htm">Wolfhöhle</a> - A Guidebook Description</li>
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</ul></li>
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<li><a href="bcracc.htm">BCRA Caves & Caving Report</a></li>
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</ul></li>
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<li><a href="../../pubs.htm#pubs1984">Index</a> to all publications</li>
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<li><a href="../../index.htm">Back to Expeditions intro page</a></li>
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<li><a href="../../../index.htm">CUCC Home Page</a></li>
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</ul>
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