2022-07-16

Hanibalturm via "Conquest of Paradise", 6a, 170m

Luigi was organizing a big group to go up to Furka pass and climb for two days. I only had energy and family leave for one day, so I only joined for the warmup Saturday (and spent Sunday swimming in the lake with the kids, not the worst substitute program ;-P). Mark, Luigi, Samuel, Aleksandr, Lauren, Tobias and me. Too large a group for a single route, let alone a single rope team. So we split into three groups and headed for the Hanibalturm. The "tourist" climb in the magnificient granite arena of the Furka pass. The Hanibalturm was already crawling with climbers when we arrived, but there are sufficiently many routes that this didn't matter. Mark, Samuel and me teamed up to climb the classic "Conquest of Paradise" while the others went for some of the neighboring harder routes. Lauren was particularly impressive. She teamed up with Aleksandr and said she was keen on leading. I interpreted that as her wanting to lead the crux pitch or alternate leads. Nope, she ended up leading the entire route of "Kassensturz", 6c. Chapeau! Anyway, we all made it to the top in good style, enjoyed a break on the park bench (!) installed there and hiked back to the cars. The others would stay the night and continue the adventure on the Gross Bielenhorn the next day. I was a bit sad to leave the party, but driving back home with Samuel led to some great conversation in the car, so it wasn't all bad.

Approach.
Nicely marked start of the route.
Hanibalturm towering above us, crawling with people.
Mark and Samuel coming up.
Lauren on one of the easier initial pitches.
Halfway? Note the rope behind us, indicating how steep the wall gets.
Final belay.
Family photo on "bus stop" on the summit.