Watzmannkar Skitour

After some snow falls, the weather forecast predicted a warm Sunday with temperatures of 20 degrees in Munich. So Arno and I decided to meet at 6.30 am and drove to Berchtesgaden. For the first 300 altimeters there was no snow so we needed to carry our skis. 

But then the kleine Watzmann (2307 m) on the left and the real Watzmann (2713 m) on the right became visible and there was more and more snow. The ski tour aims for the gap in-between the two mountains.

After the big path a steep ascent through a larch forest which was turned into a Buckelpiste (moguls) by many ski tourers.

Here, Arno skins for the top of the larch forest under the big west wall of the Watzmannfrau or Kleiner Watzmann...

... and here another photo because it is that impressive.

After the forest, we entered the treeless upper kar with Berchtesgaden in the glen.

Here a view of the upper kar with one of the Watzmannkinder (children) in front and the Watzmann Ostwand on the right. A bit further on, the Ostwand turns into the biggest „Wand“ of the Eastern Alps.

Here is Arno skinning under the West face of the kleiner Watzmann. 

... and here the Ostwand above the Watzmannkar. 

Another photo of the upper kar. The bigger peak is the fourth Watzmann child and the two peaks to the left are the second and the third Watzmann child. 

Finally, we reached the end of the road at 2200 m of altitude. A few steps further mean a quick descent of one mile in altitude down to the Königssee...

... seen in this photo to the right. No surprise we kept the distance from the cornice.

To the West was the giant, more than 2000 m tall Ostwand of the Watzmann. It is not too steep so if it is all perfect Neve then a winter ascent is possible. 

Finally skins off and down the hill. Here is Arno...

... and here is one of the many good Bavarian skiers...

... and here is Arno again. 

The snow was not too heavy despite the intense, Alpine sun so the skiing was not too difficult. Here is Arno entering the area of the larches again.

Wow, what a day. The Watzmannkar is one of the top ten mountain outings.

Easter action: Benewand, Neuschwanstein & Rotwand Reibn

Around Easter 2021 it snowed again in Munich and in the Bavarian Alps and so a good reason to visit the hills. One of the mixed climbing venues in the Bavarian Alps is the Benediktenwand, short Benewand (1801 m). The walk-in is long and starts at the Alpenbad in Gschwendt. A mountain bike helps to ascend the forest tracks at the beginning and it really helps on the way down...

Initially, there was little snow but from the level of the Tutzinger Hütte it became heavy, deep snow for about 100-200 altimeters before turning into frozen neve for the rest up to 1800 m

On the Benewand ridge the conditions were Scottish with wind and rime.

I even saw some heather in bloom...

... and from near the summit I could see the Tutzinger Hütte 300 metres below...

... ah and yes, here is the rime.

In Bavaria, the summits have crosses so here is the Benewand one and below is a wooden shelter that was open.

I went in to be out of the wind and cooked some Korean noodles.

I followed the ridge eastwards and then made my way back to the Tutzinger Hütte. By then the mist had cleared and the 300 m tall Benewand was in front of me. Here two views: The first is the middle bit with an easy Scottish II-III line going up...

... and here are the upper and lower band on the left, Eastern side of the wand which are probably grade IV-V mixed climbs.

Here is the Tutzinger Hütte in a winter-COVID-19 hibernation with the benewand behind. 

It was built in 1908.

Overall a wild day that brought back memories of Scottish winter. 

The next day was Easter Monday and Ana and I decided to visit what is a top 10 German tourist destination: Neuschwanstein. It is near Füssen with the Allgäu mountains as a backdrop. 

Here is a first view of the castle which was built by Bavarian King Ludwig II motivated by the „Burgenromantik“ (German version of new Gothic) in the second half of the 19th century.

Location, location, location. Unfortunately, the Marienbrücke, which has the classic view, was closed officially because of building works but almost surely because of COVID-19. However, the view from below was also nae bad. 

The view over the flatter bits of the Allgäu with the Füssen lakes is equally nae bad. Not as wild as Scotland but clear and spring started to turn things green.

We then decided to walk around the Alpsee which is nearby. Temperatures were below 10 degrees but it was warm in the sun and out of the wind.

A view back to Neuschwanstein...

... , spring forests and ...

... another view back to the castle...

... and finally two swans. Everything is „Schwan“ here which means "swan" in English.

For a mainstream tourist attraction, Neuschwanstein is well worth visiting and not just ice cream shops. Probably all much busier in summer and without COVID-19 though.

It snowed even more in the week after Easter and I originally planned to take the week off before the start of the semester. However, there was just too much work, the weather was bad and so I worked for most of the week. But then the weather settled down and I saw a chance to do the Rotwand Reibn, a classic Munich ski tour. It starts at the Spitzingsee which is just 50 km away from our front door. I had a Zoom online meeting in the morning until noon, jumped in the car and started ascending from just after 13 h when most folk already returned from their tours. Here is the often steep Taubenstein piste and the Spitzingsee behind...

... and here is the piste higher up. 

Here is the Taubenstein, a limestone with some climbing routes on it. Winter route potential?

Great views towards the main Alpine ridge and to the other ascent from the Spitzingsee which does not follow the piste. Austria is just a few miles away.

The tracks go up and down but I left the skins on to avoid a constant change. Here is the last ascent to the Rotwand (1884 m) which was the main mountain of this tour and the highest in this area. 

From the summit, I could see the Ruchenköpfe where Arno and I had climbed the Westgrat a few weeks earlier. 

I carried on Eastwards. Here another view of the Ruchenköpfe Westgrat from close by.

After that skins off to ski down the hill. As it was late in the day and as the temperatures were above zero, the snow was heavy Sulz which is very difficult to ski. After that another ascent to a bealach.

Btw here are my skis. Black Crows Orb Freebirds as recommended by Ross Hewitt and as now recommended by myself. 

After that more ascending to get to the Taubenstein Hütte...

... with a view back to the Rotwand.

Great to have finally done the Rotwand Reibn. The round was 13.27 km long, had 1289 altimetres and took 4 h 23 min and my average heart rate was as you could expect given that the snow was heavy. The tour would be even better if you do not ascend the piste but follow the shores of the Spitzingsee and start at the Southern end. There are many variants and many other hills to explore so this wasn't the last time!