Wilder Kaiser, Totenkirchl, Dülfer VI+

When I moved to Munich I must confess that I did not realise quite how much top quality climbing would be on my doorstep. The “Wilde Kaiser” (wild Cesar, there is a tame one to the South) takes the crown with long routes up mostly solid limestone. The climbing is a mix between bolt clipping and trad: the belays and crux moves of popular routes are often bolt protected, you will find the odd peg and for the rest take one set of nuts, a standard set of cams and plenty of quickdraws (16-20) and slings (3-4). 

On Tuesday the 15th of August Arno and I decided to climb the Dülfer on the Totenkirchl west wall, graded UIAA VI+. The day before we drove to the Griesener Alm and walked up to the Stripsenjochhaus. Here is Arno pointing to the Totenkirchl. The climb is on the other side.  

 Here is Arno on the ascent looking up the Fleischbank. 

 Here is me at the Stripsenjochhaus with the Totenkirchl behind. The descent is on this side. 

 Here a shot in the evening. Also lots of climbing on this side, but not the 18 rope lengths of the Dülfer.

 Last light. 

 Arno and I got up at 6.30 h, had breakfast at 7 h and walked in at 7.20 h.

 Here is the west wall of the Totenkirchl, twice as high as the Dubh Loch and steeper. 

 The climb starts on the right hand side (so walk up a bit) where there is usually a snow cone and a gully above, the Winkler Schlucht. Here is Arno entering the chimney which is to the right. The West wall is above and the climb goes to the notch in-between the two highest points. 

 Scramble the gully (Diff to VDiff in places?) until you come to this chockstone in the gully. There are two shiny bolts on the left wall. This is the start of the 18 pitches of the climb proper. 

 I struggled to find the belay and traversed too far left to an old peg belay. No problem: here, the wall is not too steep and the climbing is easy. Here, Arno starts the second pitch. 

 Here is Arno higher up. 

 After several pitches of easier climbing the wall steepens. Typically for Dülfer, the route now traverses to the right on a harder UIAA 6 pitch to find easier ground to continue. The crux move of the pitch is a balancy layback to reach a good hold.  

 Here is Arno climbing up to the next line of weekess. 

 At this point the wall is steeper and the exposure is enormous both downards...

 ... and upwards. 

 The route again reaches a cul de sac and again, Dülfer chooses an exposed balancy traverse to reach another line of weekness to the left. It is the Nasenquergang, the nose traverse.

 Here am I starting the VI+ pitch and the nose is on the edge. One quite tricky move at the begining, rest at the crack above my left shoulder and then find an undercling under the nose whilst holding on to almost nothing. A tempting sling hangs down for aid. For me it was touch and go and once or twice I thought I was off but I someone managed to get an undercling and keep the balance. 

 Here, I am just below the nose, resting on a giant jug. A few steep moves on good holds to the belay. 

 chuffed.

 The route climbs up and the up, down and traverses at UIAA 6 again to line just below a giant cave. Here is Arno on the up bit. 

 It was a hot day and 18 long pitches cost energy. Here is Arno climbing rightwards to find the last line of weakness to the very top of the Totenkirchl. 

 At this time I was tired from the heat and the many long pitches so I did not capture some of the outstanding positions, nor the cave. Here is Arno on the last traverse bit to the right side of the line below the notch. 

 And here is Arno not fr from the end of the pitch on an overhanging bit with good holds. 

 We were then again baked by the sun climbing tough chimneys right to the top which we reached just before 20 h. 

 I was done. 3-4 pitches of scrambling plus 18 long pitches of climbing on a hot day is not what I got used to in Scotland. I could not bother to take pictures of the top and the views and all that. But from the top it takes 2-3 h to reach the Stripsenjochhaus (say that again) an another 1 h to get down to the car. The way down is marked by red dots and involves a 4-5 abseils. Here is Arno on the way down  just before it got dark. 

We did it with a team from Bamberg and when we reached the Stripsenjochhaus after 22 h the guys there got us some Radler (Shandy) even though they had officially stopped serving. Another 1 h down to the car. Probably the most challenging summer climb that I have ever done.

So what are the tips for UK climbers?

- Take a headtorch.

- Become familiar with Alpine Topos. Here is one for the Dülfer on the Totenkirchl west wall:

https://www.stadler-markus.de/alpinklettern/wilder-kaiser/kletterrouten/totenkirchl/routeninfos/beschreibung/duelfer-1.html

- Practice climbing fast. 18 pitches take time. One good trick is to take a gear sling so you can just give it to your partner.

- Take plenty of water, a super lightweight rain jacket but save on weight. Our rucksack was way too heavy. 

- Gear. One set of nuts, a standard set of cams and plenty of quickdraws (16-20) and slings (3-4). 

- Buy comfy climbing shoes: I have the La Sportiva Mythos and they are easy to adjust and very comfy. Painful high end shoes might help with the crux but will make you struggle later on.

HW