As I am sitting here at home, still sick from a flu that basically destroyed all my new years plans, I look back at the recent weeks of the exhausting search for snow . Not just logistically. Motivation also took its toll. Sure Canada has lots of pow but here in the alps it is rather scarce. Regardless of the situation, two weeks ago, I had a good excuse to visit Innsbruck again and check the conditions myself.
It was a Friday. My car had been filled with Aljošas stuff for weeks as I had hoped for the one dump that would kick of my annual Tirol powder migrations at the beginning of December. It just did not happen. With Gabi heading to Canada in need of a my trusted Ski-travelbag and Aljos stuff clobbering my car I found it a good excuse to travel back to Innsbruck at least once before the new year started. A good excuse to leave Ljubljana for a few days.
As I arrived my plans were actually simple. There was no plan. That meant that it began with a unplanned attendance of the new Pirates snowboarding movie premier and Glühwein at the very much inhospitable Fischerhäusl where we were literally thrown out whit the Glühwein in Hand. But being there and hanging at random with a lot of my friends was not the only goal. I had something else in mind. Ascent training with all my standard gear.
Lets make one thing clear here. There was no snow under 2000 meters in Tirol at that time. As everyone was somewhat hung over after the premiere or just not in the mood I thought to myself that my training tour plan would be just the thing needed to get me out of the blues, that had been making my December a pain in the ass. Would it work out?
The Gear
I would take my standard setup:
- Salomon Rocker2 108 with Guardian 16 binding – 7.6 kg
- Salomon Quest 90 – 7.8 kg
- G3 Alpinist skins L – 0.9 kg
- ABS Airbag with Evoc 28l adapter – 3 kg
- 2x Petzl Quark 1.1 kg
- Grivel G12 Crampons 0.8 kg
Some water and food, some clothing etc. the standard fare. It was interesting to count all the gear weight together. Compared to the two other mountaineers I meet on my way to the top with ultralight “Mezzalama style” material I was putting quite the all-gear-test-run into this one. Call it the “worst weight scenario”. Not on the light side. After a long week of two acrobatics training’s and a really exhausting climbing training session, would I still find the energy reserve to do this ? Thou my setup is great for any kind of powder day, even crusty crap days, for longer tours it is just not exactly what you would want. But that is what we get for this kind of money and uncompromising downhill performance is what makes it all worthwhile.
The way up
I set off quite early and I had two somewhat standard Stubai tours in my head. Depending on the snow situation I would either head up the Daunjoch do the Daunkopf or if there was not enough snow at that altitude I would head from the back of the funpark over the glacier towards the Zuckerhütli.
I took the cable car to the Gamsgarten and checked the Daunkopf face. It was looking ok for what I had in mind. As for the way down. That would have to be seen upon further inspection. I skined up and started my way up. First under the newer cable car and then up to the Daunscharte. The snow was pressed. The temperatures were way to high. And my somewhat fatter skis were slipping on the sideways crosses. I had to go directisima. The heat made me sweat like a bear and the exhaustion from the week was not helping. Still stuborn as I am I pressed on. I arrived at the Daunscharte. On the way up I was passed by two ultralight Tourers. A elder madame and some dude that actually does the ski touring races. They. were happy with getting to the Scharte. The way up the side to the top of the Daunjoch was windpressed snow/ice. Beeing exhausted I looked at the time. Only about 1.5 hours had passed. Despite all the extra gear and exhaustion I did better then I had planed.
Determined to get to the top I strapped the skis to my backpack. Took out my Ice axes and started a gradual direct ascent on the southwestern side of the Daunkopf. About 2/3 up I was starting to feel my legs. The Quest boots are nice and comfy, but for this king of mountaineering way to heavy. Of course the good side of all this weight is the power I had to make steps into the Ice crud. Thou at this point I was supporting most of myself with my hands. Climbing training does pay of I thought to myself. Another 20 mintues later I was finally at the top.
The way down
First I just took in the view. The panorama here is amazing. You can see the mostly untouched Glacier to the west in a all senses encompassing view. Like all the Glaciers I had been to this year this one also looked way worse then I had remembered from the beginning of 2015. Still I enjoyed the serenity. I checked the time and it had been a good 2.5 hours for the whole endevour. I was happy. My original estimate put me at 3.5 hours counting in that this was the first “proper” tour of the season and I was really tired from the week before. Beating that by one hour made me feel good :).
But now it was time to go back down. Question here was of a different caliber. Would I just return on the way I came or take one of the two chutes I spotted on the way up. Both were looking doable from the bottom. Caution or not was basically what it came down to. I decided to try it. I would not exactly charge it because of the apparent shark danger but I would take it nice and slow on the upper part. Still which one to take? One looked almost to good to be true. The second… ok.
Since I had my fare share of reality in the mountains and especially at the Daunscharte, where I had to evac my friend Steffi after she basically blew up her elbow on an ice plate for new year day just two year prior I took Nr. 2. The Daunkogel hat given me a nice day but I knew it had the potential to be a harsh mistress. Being on my own it was time to be smart. It took me just a few minutes to get down the more manageable chute and at the end I even had a few nice turns with 5 cm of something resembling powder.
On that day I returned to Innsbruck exhausted and happy.