Page 27 - 2019 AMA Winter

was seen by everyone on the mountain that day. It really focuses the mind on the task ahead, this was also an opportunity for the leaders to hammer home safety, courage, teamwork, resilience and finally trust. The sight of a body being winched up and then flown off is very surreal for many and for some it’s not new... but at least it wasn’t a hot HLS.
The route was enjoyable except the tragedy bit, the tegelberghaus hut at the top was very entertaining, live cultural horn blowing with a bit of singing, a few lemonades later and there were a couple of different descent plans, some by foot and some by cable car. The cable car way down is 14 euro and takes 5 min... I knew instantly which one I was choosing!
The evenings were a mix of cooking and people purchasing pizza or other food items locally, the option to purchase food for self-catering option is difficult in the hostel, particularly as there are only two small fridges that cater for up to a hundred plus in the hostel. Our plan B... we choose to repack the fridges to our advantage. Arrival on a Sunday is not recommended, it’s a nightmare to get anywhere that is open or able to deliver any distance...of course McDonalds is open for those who like to eat rubbish!
DAY 4:
The second day of activities began with a programme change, looking up and seeing lightning flashes and then checks of the weather over the normal apps dictated being on the wire wasn’t advised, the safe option after considerable delib- eration and risk assessment was to go
to a local indoor climbing centre. This was the perfect wet weather solution as it gave us an opportunity to work on people’s foot and body movement for some of the harder routes we would attempt later in the week. The instructors got the group warmed up and did some simple bouldering movement to get them thinking; the group then moved onto bottom roping on easy routes and were coached throughout. It was a worthwhile day at the wall as some members had never had that level of tuition or coaching indoors.
‘I was forever shouting “straight arms, strong hands”... and as a consequence for not doing it correctly a couple found themselves on their “chin and teeth”’
DAY 5:
We crossed the border into Austria and made our way to the town of Riezlern where we took the cable car to the station at the top where the Kanzelwand faces you immediately. The group raced to the start point in anticipation to be the first on it, again broken down into the most suitable groups, we set off. The Walser- steig-Erlebnisklettersteig is the easier of the two routes on the Kanzelwand, it is a B/C with an entertaining Burma bridge in the middle of the route. It took no longer than an hour to complete as the group was fresh and full of beans.
The second challenge was to go for the 2-Lander-Sportklettersteig around the corner; this wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea but certainly an enjoyable route. This was an absolute challenge for some, this route is a pumpy route for those who haven’t learnt to trust their feet and haven’t cognitively learnt body positioning as yet. I was forever shouting “straight arms, strong hands”... and as a consequence for not doing it correctly a couple found themselves on their “chin and teeth”. The best thing about the route is when the fog closes in, you look down over the shear drops and it’s just fog, can’t see anything and for some it’s terrifying and for others it’s a distraction from seeing how far up they are, or how far the ground is away! It’s a great option as it’s highly accessible, cable car up and a short walk in to get started and a shorter walk off. Tip – Don’t do the sports Klettersteig in wet weather, its highly polished in many places and it added to it difficulty, consider that with novices...if you’re not one for advice bring a rope and know what to do with it. I found that having good knowledge of rope rescue techniques is a must and not all Klettersteig leaders have that, especially the non-rock Leaders/Instructors.
DAY 6:
After the great performance of the group over the last few days, it was time to take them on an adventure with an overnight stay in a mountain hut; the route would be the Mindelheimer-Klettersteig and a stay at the Mindelheimer hut at the end of the route. This route isn’t technically difficult mostly A/B with one B/C section, however it’s a long day on the ridge. The ridge is also the border; you start in Austria move
Mindelheimer ridge
Nearly there on the Kanzele
YMCA in the falls
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