Kingspitze North East face, or: Christian's alpine climbing baptism by fire. After climbing the Vorderspitz, and getting fantastic views into the Kingspitz North East face, it was already clear to us that we had to climb it. So it was, that barely a week after our first visit to the Engelhörner, Luigi and I returned. This time we were accompanied by Christian. Christian is a strong climber and regular gym and crag climbing partner. Until that point he didn't have any alpine multi-pitch experience though. While the route is bolted, it still requires additional protection by placing your own gear. So we decided Luigi and I would lead the entire thing with Christian following. It would be quite a stiff introduction to alpine climbing ;-)
The Kingspitz is quite a bit longer than the Vorderspitz route we did last time, so this time around we decided to spend the night in a tent at the parking lot below the Rychenbach alp. A funny difference in perception between me, a parent, and Christian, not (yet) a parent: while he was worried about a short and rough night (sleeping on a mat, getting up at 5 am) I was looking at the same setup as finally getting a good night's sleep. And this is indeed how it turned out for me. Already at 1500 meters altitude the temperatures at night were a lot cooler and more bearable than at home in hot Zürich. And while the night was somewhat short, it was blissfully uninterrupted.
The climb starts with about 100-150 meters of scrambling and easy climbing. Some parties do this unprotected, but we decided to play it safe and rope up. I think both decisions are justifiable and mostly depend on your experience, level of comfort and whether there are other parties in the route (rockfall). I led this part in approach shoes and we got it over with fairly quickly. The primary difficulties consist of route finding and rope drag on the long traverses.
We had a great time once the actual climbing started. The pitches were challenging enough to be interesting, but never so hard as to be intimidating or at our limit. We maintained a rapid pace with Luigi and me switching leads after every one or two pitches. Christian was enjoying himself and easily kept up. Luigi and I as a regular ropeteam have established a lot of weird lingo, insider references, bullshitting, and, most of all, a tradition of swearing and insulting one another non-stop. Christian was quick to pick up on this tradition as well and before long we were all gleefully hurling insults at one another. Good times!
We were the only party on the mountain that day and made good progress, easily progressing faster than the guidebook suggested. That is, until we reached easier terrain a few pitches below the summit. It was my turn to lead and I had already switched back from tight climbing shoes to more comfortable approach shoes. I didn't study the topo carefully enough and on the easy pitches there are hardly any bolts to indicate where you ought to go. So I just kept going one way until I ran out of rope. Of course I missed the crucial "exit" and had to undo most of the pitch to climb the proper route. Luigi kept cursing about how I'm "piton blind" and "don't see bolts". Most of the time this is actually funny. I'll place a cam half a meter away from the piton because I've failed to notice it. This time it wasted us some time. C'est la vie.
We gained the summit at around half past three. The guidebook explicitly warns not to underestimate the descent and to budget a lot of time for it. So we didn't linger around for too long but started scrambling down the West ridge towards the first rappel. After we were convinced to be on the right track, the descent actually didn't seem all that bad at first. It did require some exposed downclimbing and about half a dozen rappels, but we were making good progress and generally feeling good about it. We had some minor SNAFUs with the rope getting stuck after a rappel, requiring a quick rescue mission. Or evading some rockfall accidentally kicked down by one of us. But it all seemed within normal parameters for this type of terrain.
This all changed when we crossed over the saddle back into the Ochsental valley. The descent route forks, with one route continuing down into the Rosenlaui valley while the option we took goes back towards the Engelhorn hut and thus presents the more direct route for us. What was a proper, if small, trail before, turns into steep scree fields ending in vertical drops. Terrible crumbling rock, no protection and great exposure. The type of terrain where mistakes will kill you. The words of the guidebook weren't enough of a warning to prepare us for this - it had used very similar text to describe the Vorderspitz descent and that turned out not to be so bad. I should have known though, much stronger and more experienced climbers (having climbed all the big North faces of the alps) have opted to never repeat this descent.
We eventually reached a steel cable bolted to the rock that serves as a rappel anchor and allowed us to rappel all the way back down to the scree fields of the valley. What a relief! During the scramble Christian kept remarking how this was the most dangerous thing he ever did. While this may not be entirely true for me, it was definitely right up there with the worst descents we did in the Dolomites. Anyway. We all made it back down to safety and Christian has definitely earned his alpine climbing badge! Well done!
Just come across your lovely pictures. Very nostalgic, as I soloed the route in 1986. Is there still a book to sign in a little cave about 2/3 of the way up the face? Above that I think I went too far right – the correct route was not obvious. You have reminded me of that descent back to the hut – most irksome. What a lovely area!
ReplyDeleteLovely to find your pictures. I soloed the route in 1986. Is there still a book to sign in the little cave about 2/3 of the way up the route. Above that, I think I missed the correct route and went a but further right. You have reminded me of the descent back to the hut – very irksome! Lovely area.
ReplyDeleteLovely to find your pictures. I soloed the route in 1986. Is there still a book to sign in the little cave about 2/3 of the way up the route. Above that, I think I missed the correct route and went a but further right. You have reminded me of the descent back to the hut – very irksome! Lovely area.
ReplyDeleteYes, there's still a route book in the cave. It's right where I took the "Christian trying to scale my embattlement" picture. Not sure if it's still the same one from 1986 - unfortunately I failed to take a picture of the first page and I don't remember anymore.
ReplyDeleteSoloed the route? That's an intimidating prospect. I'd not like to be alone on a route like that ;-) But then, I'm an armchair mountaineer and weekend warrior. Don't get much training these days. Kids sap up most of my time and energy.
Are you this Stephen? How did you find my blog?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Venables