Visiting Gods Over The Clouds - Sas Rigais (3025m)

02.10.2013 to 05.10.2013

Geisler Gruppo - Sas Rigais east to west

SAC Hiking lvl: T3

UIAA Climbing lvl: I
via feratta lvl: A/B

The long weekend was the perfect opportunity for a multiple day trip a bit farther than the usual day trip areas from Munich. I planned a 5 day trip to the Dolomitis in Italy which included a 2-day-tour to the Geisler Gruppo with the summit Sas Rigais and a second 2-day-tour through the Sellar Gruppo with the summit Piz Boé. We started after work on Wednesday at 5.30pm and arrived around 9pm at Wolkenstein. Just a 2-minute-walk above the car park, we found a place for our tents. It was the first time i built my new tent and the success was moderate.

my shitty built tent... (back right)

the night was clear, the stars bright and...

the atmosphere was pretty good

After a short breakfast, we went on through the puez nature park up to the stevia hut.

The landscape was just breathtaking and was beyond all of our expectations. We took some time for a break around a tree stripped of its foliage. The sun was shining brightly as we felt the warmth of its rays while a gentle breeze whistled through the landscape. The area behind the tree looked like an usual slope, but after we got closer we saw it was actually an incredible vertical cliff.

crossing a big wall 

After an exhausting 4h hike, we finally arrived at the Regensburger Hütte (2037 m). At this point, we already did an ascent of around 900 meters and descent of 500 meters with our 15 - 20 kg backpacks. So, I'd say our weißbier and yummy pasta we had for lunch were well-deserved after our trek. After a long lunch we continued hiking up to our base camp 700 meters below the summit of Sas Rigais. We eventually found a nice wind protected place to pitch our tents. 

the faces doesn't reflect our happiness about the place

The place looked cozy and the view reminded me of Pandora from Avatar. We were all pretty happy that we found such a perfect spot to build our tents. Fortunately, my tent building efforts worked out much better than my previous attempts, so I was pretty proud of the result.

Panorama with our camp

Just after we built our tents

Afterwards we explored the area around the tents. Unluckily for us, the river we saw on the map didn't have any water. Anyways... we found something much better: our first Edelweiß!!!!! It was a feeling of disbelief when one of us saw it. It took 3 years of hiking, countless summits, blood and liters of sweat until I finally saw it. First, I thought it couldn't be real and my heart was beating quickly when I realized that it was a real Edelweiß.

EDELWEIß!!!!!!!!

When we came back to the camp it was almost dark. We found some wood in the surrounding area and took it with us to start a bonfire. Hans said he would be able to start a fire even with wet wood, so we took his word for it and started chipping the wood. It took us almost 2 hours before we were able to get the fire started, and we may have failed completely if it weren't for Alex, who helped build the fire by blowing onto it! 

4 guys - one mission

The following morning, we saw an epic sunrise! hmm ok only Jacky saw it...

The rest of us were still sound asleep, but he took some nice photos for us. :)

oversleeping the sunrise...

After breakfast, we hid our backpacks in a hole and started for the summit of Sas Rigais without excessive weight to hinder us. The path went through the Wasserinnental and led to an easy via ferrata. Even though it was just 700 ascent meters from the base camp, I was very exhausted and almost felt like throwing up! Luckily I didn't! I felt a little bit better when I saw the others were also pretty exhausted :)

via ferrata to Sas Rigais

We arrived at the summit around 1pm, which was later than we expected. It was my first 3000 meter summit and the view was priceless. I felt it was where the gods must have lived as they watched over the humans in the valley. The usual business was far away and the moment was just unique. No thoughts, no problems.

Panorama at Sas Rigais (3025 m)

finally...

After some time at the summit, we went back via the west slope to the basecamp. We picked up our stuff and stopped at the Regensburger Hütte again in the late afternoon. One beer, one snack and a short shower for me in the forest later, we went on further to the car park.

checking the trail back to the carpark

Back in the valley, we bought some food for the next two days and then headed to our start point for the second tour. We arrived at the Grödner Joch in the early evening just before it got dark. We found a good place on a hill above the car park. It was not as perfect as the last spot but it was still ok. 

our camp at Grödner Joch (2136m)

The next morning started out well with a nice sunrise, and it seemed to be a quite good day, despite the weather forecast saying otherwise. During breakfast, the fog from the valley rose higher. 5 minutes later, the visibility was less than 5 meters and it started raining. So, we went back into our tents and waited for the rain to stop. Unfortunately, the rain had other plans and after 2h in the tents without any sign of better weather we sadly decided to go back to Munich.

two mountain dudes and a sunrise :)

A little disappointed about the weather, but still very happy about the awesome last 3 days, we went home. Dolomitis, we will definitely meet again!

A Blog Shouldn't Start Like This... - Zettenkaiser (1968 m)

22.09.2013

Zettenkaiser via north face

SAC Hiking lvl: T5

UIAA Climbing lvl: II

We started at 6am from Munich and arrived at our start point, Hintersteiner See, at 7:15.
Weather was a bit cloudy but still good. We were a group of 6 experienced hikers and, although the tour was not easy, we didn´t expect any trouble. 

Hintersteiner See

After hiking for two hours, we arrived at the Kaindlhütte. Fortunately, the clouds cleared up, it was getting warmer, and after a short break we continued our tour. The trail got steeper and after passing a "stonefield",  we started climbing to the peak. The most difficult places should have been at the beginning and we passed them without any problems. After a while, we had trouble determining the right path. Little did we know, it was just the beginning of our troubles. It was bit confusing because the path looked like it went right, but after 10 meters it disappeared, we found the right way and we continued climbing for the next half hour.

Climbing up to the Zettenkaiser

None of us could've predicted what was to follow. It happened around 100 meter below the peak, the area was not very difficult (maximum UIAA I). My friend, Robert, was the last one in our group and opted to follow a route approximately 2m beside ours. I could still see him from the corner of my eye. Suddenly, within a split second, Robert was gone. Initially, I didn't know how to react, my mind just blanked out. Then, an immeasurable sense of dread and panic surged within me when I realised Robert had slipped and fell down the side of the slope. 

At first, I thought he would be able to grab onto a boulder or an edge to stop his fall. In the most unfortunate of circumstances, the slope was too steep and he wasn't able to stop. 
He had lost consciousness after the first 3-5 meters while we helplessly looked onto his unresponsive body roll through the air before hitting the the jagged edges of the slope again and again. After falling approximately 40-50m down the slope, his body disappeared behind an edge. I couldn't believe what has just happened. There was a moment of dead silence before any of us could properly register the horrible reality of the situation. 

Immediately afterwards, Matthias tried to contact the rescue team while Nico and I carefully climbed down to look for Robert. When we first saw his leg, I held my breath, fearing the worst had happened to our friend. While we made our way towards him, I breathed a sigh of relief when we heard some noises coming from him. His body was caught in a bush just half a meter away from a ledge with a 300 meter drop. He was upside down and his legs were stuck in some branches. The area was quite steep and it was too dangerous for us to stand up vertically. There was a big pool of blood surrounding his body, with even more blood gushing from his head. Nico and I had attempted to get free his legs after we were able to grab his hands and pull him out of the bush slightly. It wasn't until our third attempt did we finally get his legs free from the tangled branches.

He was conscious again and I told him everything would be fine. When the helicopter was getting closer, Nico decided to head up a bit higher and I was left alone with Robert in my arms. I felt the wind from the rotor blowing pieces of the gravel and small stones around me. I tried my best to shield Robert with my body and my backback. 

The helicopter brought down two rescue workers but unfortunately, they weren't able to reach us due to the area being too steep for them to go without using rope and safety equipment. It took almost half an hour for them to get some rope and build the safety apparatus. I kept talking to Robert during this time, reassuring him while I tried my best to hide my panic. I told him repeatedly that it was just a laceration and he'd recover in no time, despite not believing myself at the time. However, I knew I had to keep positive during that situation. He felt cold and I asked the rescuers hovering above us for a rescue blanket. I tried to wrap the blanket around him while he was still bleeding. My hands covered with warm blood and I became numb for some time. After what felt eternity, the rescuers finally came down to get us. They handed me a rope and I hoisted myself up first. They were able to place a stretcher on the ground and together we moved Robert onto it. When he was secured in the stretcher, they pulled him up flew  him straight to the hospital in Kufstein.

rescue helicopter with Robert and rescue-team

We weren't in the best condition to climb down either, so we asked for a helicopter to bring us down as well. 5 minutes later, a police helicopter arrived to bring us down. We got a kind of harness- diaper contraption to wear to be clipped under the helicopter before the rest of us were safely carried to the base of the mountain.

Police helicopter with Nico and me

It's been a few days since the incident, and in hindsight, Robert was incredibly lucky. Despite cracking his head in eleven places, due to him not wearing a helmet, and suffering other injuries, there's a good chance that he will be able recover completely. It may take some months for this to happen but for now, we are all very happy about the news. 

Finally, a warning to fellow hikers: Never compromise your safety in the mountains! Always wear a helmet and always be careful. The mountain doesn't make any mistakes, it's always the human!

Get well soon, Robert!