Saula Klettersteig and Douglas Hut
We drove to Brandnertal in the morning and parked near the Lünerseebahn. From there we walked up to the Douglas Hütte and dropped some of our gear. We then trekked…
We drove to Brandnertal in the morning and parked near the Lünerseebahn. From there we walked up to the Douglas Hütte and dropped some of our gear. We then trekked…
We did a via ferrata with Dieter and the kiwis in the morning. It was a 700 m ascent up a cliff face near Flims. Above: On the via ferrata.…
Frauke and I headed across the border to Austria for the day to go for a mission in the hills. The plan was to do the Mindleheimer Klettersteig. We started…
In the afternoon Frauke and I headed to Oberjoch to go for a stroll and do a via ferrata route. It rained off and on as we wandered up the…
It was another meltingly hot day and we left our camp site late in order to maximise the sweating. We headed to Riva and started up a path towards the cliffs. The plan was to do a via ferrata route marked on a little tourist map we had bought. After about an hour it became apparent that we did not have nearly enough water. Luckily some cunning folks had installed a little water catchment system in the rocks before the via ferrata route starts. We replenished our water supplies and started the via ferrata proper.
Above left: Emily is happy after topping up her water bottle with Aqua. Above right: Us just after putting our harnesses on.
It was an interesting climb. There were three ladder sections attached with steel rods to the cliff. You feel very exposed half way up the cliffs attached to rusty looking bits of metal. Every now and then we would come across a badly bent rung which was not comforting. I guess occasionally there must be rock fall and even steel can be bent with enough force. Luckily my head is made of stronger stuff.
Above left: Of course we took careful note of all the signage referring often to our pocket Italian dictionary. Above right: Frauke and Emily climbing the last ladder towards the summit.
Below left: Cris on a ladder with Riva in the background below. Below right: Cris climbing.
We had lunch at the top of the climb where it was slightly cooler before heading back down a walking track into the heat.
More photos from the day below…