Ari and I had another go at our Salzkammergut Holiday that had ended in a COVID disaster a few years ago. Ari flew to Zurich and rented a car there and picked me up in Lindau. We drove to the Salzkammergut in Austria the following day arriving in the heat of a late summer’s day. Ari had a cold but… better than COVID…
Saturday
We didn’t start climbing until about 4 pm and opted for something easy, picking Äskulap. It was probably good that we started so late given the temperature and direction of the cliffs.
We took head lamps which turned out to be a good idea. The polish guys climbing on the route next to us had left them at the base of the climb and bailed, abseiling back down the climb as twilight arrived. I led the last easy pitch and we packed up the rope. The lights were on in St Gilgen below us and we switched our headlamps on for the descent back to the car.
Sunday
It was another hot late summer’s day. We headed back to Plombergstein from our apartment, a 15 minutes drive from the Wolfgangsee. We tackled Flipperl, another one that I’ve done a couple of times before. It was roasting on the rock and Ari was suffering in the sun as I led the crux moves up the face, a nice 5+. The next pitch had an anchor under a tree and Ari cooled down there while I climbed up to meet her.
We walked down to the Wolfgangsee after climbing and ate Kaiserschmann at a small cafe beside the lake.
Monday
It was a grey day and colder than it had been over the last couple of days. We were slow to get moving but when we did we headed to the back side of the Plombergstein rocks. I’d meant to try climbing there for years but had never succeeded. There are many climbs on this side also but we always end up at the side closest to the lake.
We’d found a climb named Rentnerweg, which I thought sounded like us. Ari didn’t like the name though and once we got near the start of the climb I decided I liked the look of Irma la Douche better. We’d ruled it out earlier because it looked like it was easy but badly protected on the 2nd and 3rd pitch. We decided to give it a go anyway.
Ari lead the first pitch. It was an easy but interesting well bolted pitch. I lead the following very easy 2 which was not well bolted but had enough places to thread slings including a spot for a cam. I put a sling around the base of a very small tree that was growing on a bit of dirt along the rocky face. The whole climb felt a bit like hiking but it was enjoyable.
We continued up the climb and sat at the top of the 8 pitches on a bench attached to the rock and looked out at the grey day. A technical little track took us back down to the main track and we headed back to the car.
Tuesday
It was already time to head back to Lindau. The temperature had dropped and the grey was out in force. We packed up and headed to Plombergstein where we did a couple of climbs at the Klettergarten. It was then already midday and we started driving back to Lindau.
