Sella Towers, Italy

We woke up to see the sky in between the clouds .. We were determined to do something whilst we had a break in the weather, especially as more rain was forecast for the next day.

Looking at us all week was the Sella towers we decided that we would go over and if the cloud dispersed more then we would do the second tower, if they coalesced then we would go for the first tower.

The sun was peaking through when we got there so we set off up the Second tower N. face in two pairs.

We followed the guide description and soon we standing on the top. It was good solid climbing and we were totally lost in the climb.

On the top we realised the clouds had returned and there was rain in the air. A quick descent down the path round the back, and we were back in the refuge as the heavens opened.

A great route snatched from a limited day.

Following our success on the towers we had reached the end of our time here, and headed back home through Austria.

Rain Day, Italy

Rain, rain and more rain ...  the clouds were all over the pass and we could not even see the towers on the other side.

A day in the refuge.

The thumb, Italy

After the success yesterday, it was no difficulty in going back today for the other main route on the same outcrop ... the thumb

This involved returning to the col where we had finished yesterday and climbing diagonally right to reach the ridge on the skyline.

The book then describes the next 150m as

"Continue up the ridge sometimes on the left, sometimes on the right"!

We made our way up the ridge as best we could, the route was technically relatively simple, and we knew we were off route when we ran out of in-situ protection.

The top was a real pinnacle and we could just about all fit on it.

The descent was "Several" abseils ...  down to the col between the thumb and the other fingers, where we joined the descent from yesterday ..

Another great day, which made the whole visit worthwhile.

Punta Delle Cinque Ditta - take 2, Italy

 Waking up early we were really pleased to see that the weather was much better. We set off as soon as we could hoping that all or gear was still in place ...

Arriving at the col, it was with great relief that everything was where we had abandoned it. The rope was still jammed fast so there was no easy way to get it back ... either solo up, or climb back up the rope hand over hand.

I volunteered to solo the climb to the ledge where it was jammed ... fueled with adrenalin and also having been up it the day before, it went without much issue.

The rope was jammed into a crack, but came out without much effort, and I brought everyone else up to the ledge. From here we would continue as if nothing had happened!

From this ledge it is a long step over to the first of the pinnacles and then diagonally across it to the next col, from here the same technique gets to the next pinnacle and around to the next col.
Next is a big crack to climb followed up on the diedre to the easier sloping rocks above, the complexities are over and we were soon all gathered on the summit basking in the sun.

The book describes the descent as a series of abseils, with a few simple short descents. over 10 abseils later we were down at the forcella, and a short walk back to the tents.

The route was everything my father had promised, and well worth the false start and return

Punta Delle Cinque Ditta, Italy

Behind the camp site was a very striking  set of rocky outcrops... the middle one was called the Punta Delle Cinque Ditta, or the Funfingerspitze. This was the main reason why I had wanted to come to the Sella Pass...  deep in the back of my memory was a conversation with my father who had been here many years before.

He had never really explained his trips to the alps and where he had been and what he had climbed, however this tweaked my interest in the mountain.

The weather was not brilliant, but we had decided that we had to make an attempt at something. as it was cloudy but not cold we went for the main Funffinger route.

Walking up the scree to the col at the left hand end of the outcrop, we started to climb the vertical rock in a couple of pitches and got to a ledge about two thirds of the way up.  As we had been climbing the clouds had got thicker, and reaching here we saw we were totally enveloped in  the clouds. As we contemplated what to do next, we heard thunder, and before we had time to gather our selves it was lightning all around us ..

Rapid retreat was the order of the day, with wet rope and metal hanging off all of us no one wanted to hang around.

We abseiled back to the pass, joining all the ropes together to make a rope long enough.

Unfortunately, the rope got jammed up when we started to pull it through, with the rain getting harder we left the rope in site and ran for the Refuge.

Possnecker Path, Italy

 The weather was still debatable again, so we chose to do another Via Ferrata, with the promise of better weather for the following day.

The massive rock outcrop rising from the other side of the valley from our campsite, and looking into the book we found a protected path that went up the cliffs and then ended on the summit. the map showed a route back.. long way but would be a good challenge.

We crossed over tot he other side and made our way to the left of the Sella towers.

The start of the climb was hidden in the back of a deep groove, reminiscent of some of the wet damp chimneys we had climbed in the last year or so,

We climbed up here behind a pillar using some pegs and ladder rungs.

Getting to the top of the chimney we worked back to the main wall and continued almost vertically up the rock wall.

Coming out of the top there was now a scree "step" which was quite a few meters to cross before we got to the next rock band.

From here we worked up the rocks to the summit plateau. the Actual top was a bit indistinct.

From here we headed south and headed back around to the road up to the pass, and back around to the camp site... A lot longer than we had thought, but we were relieved to get back to the tents.

A great day out

Sella Joch, Italy

Still at the mercy of the weather ...  it was not clearing up and the cloud was down.

Getting fed up of the urban camp site, we chose to take the opportunity to move ...  the map showed a camp site on the Sella pass, so we went up there.

What we were not aware of was that the campsite was a "rough" area where camping was allowed ...  no facilities, except a set of sinks and some water outside the refuge. This has since been banned, and it is no longer possible to do this, but it really suited us.

The toilets were inside the refuge, ad it was the first time any of us had experienced unisex toilets, and it was strange to be at ones ablutions whilst next to someone washing their things in the sink.

The refuge also provided a handy bar, open until very late.

Via Della Trincee, Italy

The weather was not too good to-day, so we had a look in the scrambles book .. working on the principle that we were here to rock climb, we started at the most difficult end of the selections for this area.

The hardest route in the book just happened to be up the road from us - Bec de Mezdi. this involved a start up the chair lift to the valley and then a walk over to the rock face.

From here we followed a thin wire rope, but in general it was climbing with some built in protection. Just what we wanted.

The weather was cold and there was still snow on the ground from the precipitation over the last few days

The top gives a good view all around and shows the best of the snow capped Marmolatta range.

From here the path follows the old wartime strong points and caves along the ridge - very interesting diversions to visit the tranches and bunkers along the way.

There is a little sting in the tail which gives rise to a bunker on the top.

From here it was possible to return to the cable car, but we chose to follow on the ridge and explore the continuing trenches and bunkers before cutting down to the valley and walking back to the car.

Travel, Italy

It rained again, so we set off back down the mountain, and back to the car.

We had planned for this eventuality .. I had always wanted to go to the dolomites, and they were just over the border, there was a lot of rock climbing, and to back this up I had got a new book juts published - scrambles in the dolomites, which listed a number of via ferrata routes and we were eager to see how they went.

We headed towards Cortina, and then cut over to Canazei.  As we descended from one of the passes down to the valley we overtook a van, which was not happy, and for some reason we were chased down into town.. We gave them the slip as we jumped a light and turn into the campsite in the middle of town by the river..

keeping an eye out for the van we settled in for the night.

Rain day, Austria

The clouds came in over night and there was rain falling for most of the day.
Grossglockner was covered in cloud...

If the next day was the same we would run away.

Fuscher Karkopf, Austria

As we approached the valley on the way in from the road (around the pass) we had seen a North face glinting in the sun. As things would have it we could see this from the hut.

So we chose this as our next route.

The north face up close was a real mess (or so it seemed ...  we were too late in the year) however we did climb the ridge to get to the summit.

Hohe Riffl, Austria

A gentle start ... across the glacier to the obvious bump on the ridge line....  then if we had time up to the Johannis berg.

The sky was clear and the prospect of a good day was excellent.

 The summit when we go there was very flat with a cairn

Behind the ridge there were two lakes we could see well below us 

To remind us to be careful, looking over towards Grossglockner we could see a medical extraction happening .. no other information, but it ensured we were careful on the return. 

Oberwalderhutte, Austria

 Leaving the car at the Franz Josef haus with all the tourists we walked along the well beaten track up the glacier, before working up right past the waterfall, and onto the glacier.

Cutting back to the left the hut is on the rocky spur.

A good introductory walk-in along a well trodden path of people going to the hut for a bite and a drink before returning to their cars.

The Oberwalder hutte was very welcoming and John immediately struck up a rapport with the warden's daughter.

1984 Summer Mountaineering Tour, Austria

Another year, and a new companion for the team ...  this year we (Jim, Ken, and I)would be joined by John. We had met John at the Sandstone rocks near East Grinstead, and found he lived just around the corner from the house Ken and I shared.

We had decided to try and go further East ..  to Austria. There were very few guides available in English, but there was one for the Grossglockner region ..  so that is where we were headed. keeping North of France, we went through Belgium, Luxembourg, and into Germany ...  following the autobahns in a zigzag form to Munich, then south into Austria, working from Innsbruck south and over the col (which we were surprised to have to pay a toll for) to the valley.

Over the Hochtor pass 

Up to Grossglockner from the north

From here there is a track that leads up the valley, at the end of this track was  areal tourist trap of a hotel/ cafe/ attraction. We parked in the large car park, and enjoyed being a tourist ...  there was a large group of very fat Marmots playing for the crowd and eating everything that was thrown their way. We avoided the ice caves in the glacier, and we did not go down to the glacier walk as we would keep that for later when we planned to use it to get to the hut for grossglockner.

Trip Time Line

	|
	|	Arrive Franz Joseph Haus
Oberwalder Hut	|
	|	Hohe Riffl
Fuscher Karkopf	|
	|	Rain Day
Travel to Cortina	|
	|	Via Della Trincee
Travel to Sella Joch	|
	|	Possnecker Path
Punta Delle Cinque Ditta	|
	|	Punta Delle Cinque Ditta - 2
The Thumb	|
	|	Rain Day
Sella Towers	|
	|	Go Home

3 peaks challenge, Yorkshire

Pen-y-ghent and Whernside from Ingleborough

From pen-y-ghent

Summit of pen-y-ghent

Cloud rolling out of the valley

Yorkshire dales this trip, and a repeat visit to Horton in Ribblesdale.

As part of the preparations for the alps we wanted to do a long, fitness testing walk. So the 3 peaks challenge in yorkshire fitted the bill. Pen-y-ghent, whernside and Ingleborough, with the target to get around in under 12 hours ...

Parked up in Horton opposite the cafe where you register, and then off up Pen-y-ghent .. this is the optimistic phase of the walk, before the descent and long plod over to Whernside.

The ascent of Whernside is the lowest o=point as you struggle up the very steep path, with the elation of getting to the summit.

then the last section down and over to Ingleborough, which never seems so bad, and the descent back to Horton, and celebrations in the cafe.