Arne and I gambled on the weather forecast on Sunday. It was all wet, rainy and gray in Zürich. Webcams for our destination, Melchsee Frutt, weren't very encouraging either. We still decided to go and got rewarded with a great day of climbing!
We got a late start because it is very much out of season for the Stöckalp and there were no public transport connections. So I shuttled Anita and her gear to work before we could finally set off in our car. The hike on the approach took us about forty minutes so we were all set and ready to climb well past noon. This didn't leave a lot of time for the seven pitches of the "Meteorit".
We got super lucky with the weather. The rock was dry and surprisingly warm - no gloves required, even at 1500 meters altitude in late November! The climbing was a joy. Great quality rock with very varied and well protected pitches. No particularly hard moves, but sustained and challenging enough to be interesting. We made for a good team and efficiently alternated leads. Almost too soon we topped out just below the giant roofs. They looked like they might be a formidable challenge even for the likes of Adam Ondra. Definitely the end of the route for us (and also the official end of the route).
Rappelling back over the route we descended into the fog that had crept up the valley in the meantime. It started getting dark just as we reached the base of the wall. Perfect timing ;-) A quick hike back to the car and we could enjoy the satisfaction of having bagged a beautiful route despite an initially grim weather outlook. Sweet!
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