Glacier Tour in May

As written in my last post I didn't enjoy the mediterranean spring but for some days the left-overs from winter in Austria. Fun!
It were only some days but I came back with so many impressions, which I hopefully might find the time to write them down.

We didn't make it to the very top of the gorgeous Großglockner, that sits exactly at the end of the beautiful Ködnitzvalley near the little village of Kals.
But we did have a great tour on "top of the world" to the minor peak Teufelskamp with 3.500 m hight.
Coming down I found this quote of my favorite mountain writer Reinhard Karl: "It doesn't matter which mountain you climb, from the top you will always see further." How right he is and how matching to find this piece of poetry in this moment.

After one hot afternoon getting us and the gear adjusted we started through mountain spring flowers and a lovely, but not yet green wood of larches.

Yes, the backpack was heavy.
No, I don't like to carry it.
Lucky, lazy me I found a possibility to send it up to hut later on by the supply cable car of the hut where we would spend the night. Yeah!

We stayed in the Stüdlhütte, a very comfortable mountain "hut". The word "hut" doesn't fit too well anymore. It used to be a small refuge but has been completly rebuilt. From the pictures I saw before I didn't imagined how good it fits onto this ridge.
The people running it are very friendly, the food was excellent. Only my body let me down, because it doesn't adjust to altitude easy. I would have needed one or two more days for acclimatization, but the hut was going to close for season's end.

The next morning saw us quite early. I don't have a chance very often to do "real" mountaineering. It's so exciting and on the other hand quite strenuous to body and soul. "What am I doing here" at the breakfast table, still half asleep, still sore from the foreday. "Wow, great, I love the world" as soon as I left the hut.

Soon we found out we wouldn't follow the rather difficult track, so we returned and started our Tour de Glacier. The conditions were perfect: Stable weather (very important for safety), clear sky for the view, snow hard enough not to sink in going up, enough snow on the glacier so no risk of falling into a crevasse.

It was pure bliss now. No hurry necessary, no steepness for a long time.
In the middle background rises my new goal: the Groß-Venediger on ski. Some year to come, yes.

Great weather, great well-being.


I love this vastness so I have to put in another picture. Skiing down later on was like in a dream. Firn! The snow froze overnight and melted due to the sun. If you hit the right moment it is like cruising in fresh butter. I had the right moment!

On the top I was all by myself, so this is my "Gipfelphoto" (peak photo).