Today our SKITRANSALP takes us past the Cevedale via the Casati hut to the Suldenspitze with a subsequent descent to Sulden. The weather is now extremely bad. The high altitude storm is so strong that we sometimes struggle to stay on our feet. On top of that, visibility is extremely poor and temperatures are again between -15° and -18°C...
STAGE 7: RIFUGIO BRANCA - SULDEN
Sunday, 22 March
...Due to the extremely poor conditions, we decided not to climb Cevedale. Instead, we went to the Casati hut on the Suldenspitze (3,376 m) and skied down from the summit over 1400 vertical meters to Sulden.
Now our SKITRANSALP has become adventurous for the first time due to bad weather, extreme cold and extreme high altitude storms.
STAGE 8: MATSCH - HOCHJOCH HOSPIZ
Monday, 23 March early in the morning: Our headlamps illuminate the first few kilometers of the trail into the long Matschertal valley. The storm increases with every meter of altitude we gain. At the very top below the Hintereisjoch at an altitude of 3,400 m, the gusts are again so strong that we can barely stay on our feet.
In a short break in the wind, we quickly cross the saddle, take off our skins and ski down the long Hintereisferner towards the Hochjoch hospice. We take our first break further down in the lee. We reach the hut in the afternoon and are the first to find out the latest weather reports, which once again do not bode well for the next few days.
Now, however, we are happy to be at the Hochjoch Hospiz, to have something warm to eat and drink, and to round off a long day in comfort.
STAGE 9: HOCHJOCH HOSPICE - VERNAGTHÜTTE
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Today a compact report from the snowstorm in front of the Vernagt Hut:
Now the bad weather has finally hit us. Today we walked from the Hochjoch-Hospiz (2413 m) over the Mittlere Guslarspitze (3128 m) to the Vernagthütte in the worst conditions (temperatures around -20°C and a gusting snowstorm with peaks of up to 100 km/h) and only minimal visibility. We'll spend the night there in the warmth.
Tomorrow, if the weather cooperates, we want to walk from the Vernagthütte via the Brochkogel Joch and the Taschachferner to the Braunschweiger Hütte and in one go through to Längenfeld in the Ötztal. The weather forecast only predicts a short window of good weather tomorrow, which could be our chance of getting through. An additional question mark, however, is the avalanche situation. At the moment it's snowing heavily and the extreme wind is also causing large amounts of snow to fall, increasing the risk of avalanches.
However, we are confident that we will be able to cross the Ötztal on this very important stage tomorrow and continue our SKITRANSALP.
STAGE 10: VERNAGTHÜTTE - LÄNGENFELD
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
An exciting day lies behind us.
Today we hiked from the Vernagthütte (2755 m above sea level) over to the Ötztal valley in a monster effort. The weather was initially very bad - driving snow and extremely poor visibility - so we set off from the hut at 6am and headed over the Vernagt Ferner to the Brochkogel Joch (3480m). During the ascent it slowly clears up and visibility improves. Otherwise it would not have been responsible to cross the pass: We had exactly one good weather window of a few hours, which was enough to manage the key passages of today's tour. At the Brochkogel Joch, the storm was blowing over the saddle at over 100 km/h and we really had to fight to make any progress at all. Despite the now blue windows in the sky, we unfortunately have to give up climbing the Wildspitze here. After the Brochkogel Joch, we descend via the Taschachferner and then climb back up to the Mittelbergjoch (3166 m altitude). We are lucky here too, despite the danger of avalanches and the large amounts of fresh snow, we find a safe route up to the Mittelbergjoch after careful selection. On the other side, we ski down the Mittelbergferner. A further ascent of another 500 - 600 m leads us up towards Linker Fernerkogel and there we climb over a ridge and a small flank up to Tiefenbach Joch (3249 m). We had to choose this variant because all other crossings into the Ötztal, especially the one we had planned via the Polleskogel and the Pollestal, were completely impossible today due to the great avalanche danger with at least half a meter of drift snow up there in the flanks. The bizarre thing about this Tiefenbach Joch is that we climbed up to the summit station of a ski area. On the other side we descend into the Ötztal valley as far as Längenfeld. It was the only safe crossing, our big chance to reach the Ötztal in these conditions.
In total, we covered 1500 m of altitude and 35 km today. Arriving in Längenfeld, we are tired but totally satisfied and happy about this exciting, bird-wild day.
STAGE 11: LÄNGENFELD - SCHWEINFURTER HÜTTE
Friday, March 27, 2009
After waiting out the bad weather day in Längenfeld in Ötztal, we set off again on Friday. Via Gries in the Sulztal valley to the Winnebachseehütte (2372 m). A few centimetres of snow down in the valley become over 30 cm on the way to the hut. Unfortunately, the weather is still very bad. From the hut we continue up to the Zwieselbachjoch (2850 m) - up there we have three quarters of a meter of fresh snow to make tracks. The avalanche risk is acceptable, we have found a good, safe route, but it is extremely strenuous and a really long, hard day. The weather has slowly improved and during the descent north towards Guben-Schweinfurter-Hütte, we see a bit of blue sky for the first time in days.
STAGE 12: SCHWEINFURTER HÜTTE - STAMS
Saturday, March 28, 2009
After a night in the Guben-Schweinfurter-Hütte, we then climb up to the Finstertaler Scharte (2953 m) in good weather and a wonderful morning atmosphere and from there we ski - finally! - down to Kühtai in really good powder snow for the first time. After a hot chocolate in Kühtai, we set off for our next summit - the Pirchkogel (2828 m). We reach it in great weather, but now it's a foehn storm again: it's cold and very windy at the top, but the sun and bright blue sky make up for it.
From the Pirchkogel, we then descend an insider tip - the Schneetal... an almost 2000-metre descent northwards into the Inntal valley. On the first 500 vertical meters we find great powder snow and can finally ski - no, powder! At the bottom, our route then takes us along forest roads and we descend the last 300 meters down to Stams in the Inn Valley with our skis and touring boots on. After crossing the Inntal valley, we spend the night on the Mieminger Plateau.
STAGE 13: MIEMING - GREINAU
Sunday, 29. March 2009
From the Mieminger Plateau on Sunday in the worst weather - first rain, then driving snow - in 12.5 hours over the Marienbergjoch to Ehrwald, then over the Thörlehütte to the Eibsee and on into the Loisachtal to Grainau, on the southern edge of the Ammergau Alps.
Today was an insane stage with a length of 42 km and over 1600 meters of ascent in a total of 12.5 hours. Last but not least, we also have to cross the Loisach - barefoot! - and with bare legs, because the last flood had torn away a crucial bridge. The whole thing really finished us off: we were soaking wet and dog-tired. We went to a guesthouse near Grainau to warm up, dry our equipment and take a hot shower...
STAGE 14: GREINAU - UNTERAMMERGAU
Monday, 30 March 2009
Monday demanded a lot from us again: We started in the Loisach Valley near Griesen and crossed the Ammergau Alps through the Rotmoos and the Lindertal to Unterammergau, another day with well over 30 kilometers of trail. Due to the fresh snow, endless track work was once again the order of the day.
STAGE 15: UNTERAMMERGAU - BAD KOHLGRUB
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
It's done! After 17 days with around 20,000 meters of altitude and over 350 kilometers run, the Skitransalp ended for us on Tuesday morning on the summit of the Hörnle above Murnau. We hugged each other in the sunshine and an icy easterly wind and took a few last photos. A thick sea of fog lies over the lowlands, with our home below.
It was an intense and enjoyable 17 days. We experienced a lot but also learned a lot.
Text & Photos: Bernd Ritschel
