Training Log Archive: StijnIn the 30 days ending Jun 30, 2009:
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Tuesday Jun 30, 2009 #
Climbing 1:15:00 [2] +65m
We took a rest day in the valley and explored some of the sport climbing available. 15, 21, 15, 18, 17.
Monday Jun 29, 2009 #
Mountaineering (Aiguille de la Tsa) 11:50:13 [3] 13.0 km (1.1 kph) +577m
shoes: La Sportiva Tibet
Up at 4am for a gorgeous sunrise over the Dent Blanche, Matterhorn, etc. After a 2-hour snow plod over avalanche debris, we reached the base of the spire, where the trad climing would begin. The climbing itself was 3 pitches of about grade 12 in a wonderfully exposed setting. Climbing as a group of 4 meant that the going was slow but I was perfectly happy sitting on the belay ledges, soaking it all up :-) On the way back down we had a bit of a nightmare going down a dodgy and loose moraine slope but soon we found oursleves back on the solid path all the way to Arolla.
Sunday Jun 28, 2009 #
Mountaineering 4:58:19 [3] 9.0 km (1.8 kph) +1358m
shoes: La Sportiva Tibet
The first peak that caught our eye was the Aiguille de la Tsa (3668m), a spire which towers over the valley campsite. So on this day, we hiked up to the Cabane de Bertol at 3311m which is perched on a spire of it's own with a ridiculous set of ladders to get to it. Once again, only the Swiss!
Saturday Jun 27, 2009 #
Climbing 30:00 [3] +20m
Fran flew off to Tel Aviv and I joined the others again in the village of Arolla, South of Sion. After arriving in Arolla, Craig and I did some climbing on the Arolla boulder. 16,19.
Friday Jun 26, 2009 #
Hiking 1:53:10 [2] 9.0 km (4.8 kph) +289m
shoes: La Sportiva Tibet
Another rainy day. It cleared up in the afternoon so we went for a short stroll to the village of Isenfluh.
Thursday Jun 25, 2009 #
Hiking 10:24:14 [3] 25.0 km (2.4 kph) +2327m
shoes: La Sportiva Tibet
There's a well-known peak called Schilthorn (2970m) above Lauterbrunnen which featured in a James Bond movie and now has a revolving restaurant and all the world's tourists on top of it. You can take a cable car up for CHF90 (about R700) or you can walk. It's quite a funny thing to reach the top with your altimeter reading 2100m of ascent with just 15m of descent. So that's probably the biggest single climb I've ever done. Fran and I thought we deserved to pig out in the restaurant on top and after some bratwurst and gluhwein, we trudged all the way back down again. We reached the village of Murren as the storm broke and were happy to pay our CHF10 for the train ride down the remaining 800m of descent to Lauterbrunnen again.
Wednesday Jun 24, 2009 #
Hiking 8:18:24 [3] 24.0 km (2.9 kph) +1596m
shoes: La Sportiva Tibet
This is hands down the best hike I have ever done. Lauterbrunnen-Wengen-Mannlichen-Kleine Scheidegg-Wengen-Lauterbrunnen. A big 1500m climb straight up to Mannlichen (2354m) gives access to the high level path (and all the hordes taking the cable car) with the best views of the North faces of the Eiger, Monch & Jungfrau. I had done this route back in 2006 and just had to take Fran on it too and what a perfect day we had!
Tuesday Jun 23, 2009 #
Hiking 4:49:17 [2] 17.0 km (3.5 kph) +461m
shoes: La Sportiva Tibet
Fran and I headed off to Lauterbrunnen for 5 days and with overcast weather on our first full day there, we stuck to the valley, visted the Trummelbach Falls and walked further up to the valley for some hot chocolate at one of those quaint mountain hamlets the Swiss seem to get just right.
Sunday Jun 21, 2009 #
Hiking 9:36:11 [2] 31.0 km (3.2 kph) +2095m
shoes: La Sportiva Tibet
After a rest day in Fiesch we decided we'd go for a "little hike" and climb "that peak just over there". A 10-hour monster hike later and we had summited Breithorn (2599m) and I had made a few enemies who really just wanted to go for a short stroll :-)
Friday Jun 19, 2009 #
Mountaineering 5:54:21 [3] 14.0 km (2.4 kph) +192m
shoes: La Sportiva Tibet
The warden had arrived at Konkordia the night before with forecasts of shocking weather so we decided to change plans to a week of valley-based hiking. So down the 443 steps for the last time and a much faster hike back down the Aletsch glacier than on the way in :-)
Thursday Jun 18, 2009 #
Mountaineering (Finsteraarhorn) 8:32:36 [4] 6.0 km (0.7 kph) +1366m
shoes: La Sportiva Tibet
Up at 3:30am for a 4:30am start. The snow was in excellent condition with the frozen tracks of a german party who had climbed the peak the day before to follow. We made good progress up the first 1000m of ascent up steep snow slopes to the Hugisattel at 4050m. The views were mind-blowing with a beautifully clear day and the mountain ranges opening up below us. The final rocky ridge to the summit was 300m of mixed rock and snow with the massive exposure of a 1500m drop on both sides. An hour of fun grade 8 scrambling using belays consisting of loops of rope wrapped around rock pinnacles saw us at the summit cross at 8:30am. What a peak, what a view!
But the snow conditions were deteriorating rapidly and we had to head back as soon as possible. The cautious descent of the ridge took 2 hours and then it was a glissading descent (1000m in 30 minutes!) down the soft snow slopes to the hut.
But the snow conditions were deteriorating rapidly and we had to head back as soon as possible. The cautious descent of the ridge took 2 hours and then it was a glissading descent (1000m in 30 minutes!) down the soft snow slopes to the hut.
Mountaineering 2:20:59 [3] 6.0 km (2.6 kph) +443m
shoes: La Sportiva Tibet
After some lunch at the hut we raced the afternoon thunderstorms back to the Konkordia Hut.
Wednesday Jun 17, 2009 #
Mountaineering 3:12:59 [3] 6.0 km (1.9 kph) +638m
shoes: La Sportiva Tibet
The forecast called for 2 beautifully clear days and we decided to use these for our main objective, the highest peak in the area, Finsteraarhorn (4274m). A late start saw us following snowshoe prints in the surprisingly solid snow over the Grunhornlucke to the Finsteraarhorn Hut.
The rest of the day was spent lazing away on the huge wooden deck and playing frisbee with the lid of a large mayonnaise container we had found in the storeroom :-)
The rest of the day was spent lazing away on the huge wooden deck and playing frisbee with the lid of a large mayonnaise container we had found in the storeroom :-)
Tuesday Jun 16, 2009 #
Mountaineering (Wyssnollen) 7:45:00 [3] 11.0 km (1.4 kph) +1400m
shoes: La Sportiva Tibet
We woke up at 4am to so-so weather with the clouds hanging low and the precipitation alternating between drizzle, snow and sleet. The objective for the day was relatively low peak called Wyssnollen at 3590m so we headed out anyway. Fortunately the conditions improved but after a glacier slog up to the Grunhornlucke, we struck out onto the NW ridge in an icy wind. The ridge was pretty steep with some sections of 60 degree snow and narrow corniced sections to negotiate. A final rocky section saw Craig trying to find a way up a couloir on the W Face which turned out to be a pretty unstable and dangerous section - at least it was out of the wind. Once on the summit, we had spectacular views of the Finsteraarhorn looming over us and several other major peaks in the area.
We elected to take the longer but safer snow plod down and luckily picked up one of Kevin's crampons which was lying in one of his footprints in the snow :-)
We elected to take the longer but safer snow plod down and luckily picked up one of Kevin's crampons which was lying in one of his footprints in the snow :-)
Monday Jun 15, 2009 #
Climbing 1:15:00 [2] +125m
Today was definitely going to be a rest day after the previous day's walk-in so we did some easy granite sport climing on the cliffs behind the hut. First up was a single pitch 16 and then a 4-pitch 12 which got us up nice and high with great views of the snowy peaks and glaciers all around us. It's pretty difficult to get away from any sign of civilisation in Switzerland but the heart of the Bernese Oberland is certainly one of those places! It feels more like you're in Antartica or the Himalayas... awesome stuff!
Sunday Jun 14, 2009 #
Mountaineering 8:45:21 [3] 14.0 km (1.6 kph) +845m
shoes: La Sportiva Tibet
So we arrived in Switzerland to 90kg of food which had to be carted up the Aletsch Glacier (the largest in Europe). Add to this a few injured members of the party and you're left with 5 packhorses carrying 30kg+ each, me being one of them.
This made the decision of dispatching the first 1200m of ascent by using the cable car very easy indeed :-) 5km along well constructed pathways and via a 1km tunnel for hikers (only the Swiss) and we arrived at the glaciers edge. It was close to noon, the snow was very slushy and we could see Konkordia Hut in the distance for every single cm of the 8km trudge up that famous river of ice. Those 8km took us 7 hours and it was with much relief that we finally reached the ladders heading up to the hut. 433 steps later and we could dump the heavy loads in the winter room.
Konkordia Hut (2850m) was to be our base in the Bernese Oberland for the next 12 days (or so we thought) and there were plenty of towering peaks around us to play on :-)
This made the decision of dispatching the first 1200m of ascent by using the cable car very easy indeed :-) 5km along well constructed pathways and via a 1km tunnel for hikers (only the Swiss) and we arrived at the glaciers edge. It was close to noon, the snow was very slushy and we could see Konkordia Hut in the distance for every single cm of the 8km trudge up that famous river of ice. Those 8km took us 7 hours and it was with much relief that we finally reached the ladders heading up to the hut. 433 steps later and we could dump the heavy loads in the winter room.
Konkordia Hut (2850m) was to be our base in the Bernese Oberland for the next 12 days (or so we thought) and there were plenty of towering peaks around us to play on :-)
Friday Jun 12, 2009 #
Note
Off to Switzerland tonight - will log all the "training" when I get back ;-)
Sunday Jun 7, 2009 #
Hiking 4:09:55 [2] 14.0 km (3.4 kph) +469m
shoes: La Sportiva Tibet
Fran has been having problems with her knee so we took it out for a test-drive before our upcoming trip to Switzerland. Did a chilled loop at Suikerbosrand and all seems ok :-)
Saturday Jun 6, 2009 #
Mountain Biking race (UGE Blitz Series #1) 2:39:54 [4] 44.97 km (16.9 kph) +862m
shoes: Scott Yecora
The first of the UGE Events MTB races at Pelindaba. The turnout was pretty poor with only about 30 entrants for the 70km route. Some very technical and rocky riding with a long stretch of fast gravel in between. The long route had to be shortened at the last minute, making it only 49km apparently (my bike computer tends to under-read... need to fix that) but 70km of Hennops rock tracks may have killed me so I'm not complaining :-) Max 53, Avg 16.8, Cad 82.
Thursday Jun 4, 2009 #
Mountain Biking 55:04 [3] 18.2 km (19.8 kph) +167m
shoes: Scott Yecora
Ditto Tuesday's ride. Max 37, Avg 19.8, Cad 80.
Tuesday Jun 2, 2009 #
Mountain Biking 59:11 [3] 18.26 km (18.5 kph) +173m
shoes: Scott Yecora
Evening ride with Rhyan along the Braamfontein Spruit from Emmies to Conrad and back with a loop through Delta Park. The legs were still feeling heavy from Saturday's ride so we took it easyish. Max 33, Avg 18.5, Cad 75.