Schöngänge and ski

Just had an eventful climb and ski up to the Bernedein Kopf next to the Alpspitze yesterday in possibly the worst conditions ever but hey, I got through it!

Schöngänge in summer

I started up the Alpspitze bahn on either the first or the second bahn, I couldn't tell which one as I was  concentrating on riding my bike up the icy road with my skis strapped to my pack. When I got on the tram there was a guide from the guiding service in town who was also heading up the Schongange so I guessed it would be in shape if there was a guide also headed on the same route. When I reached the place to put skins on a large sluff came of the ledges to our right and gave me slight pause. The route was in good condition and none of the funnels were above the route so I carried on and was soon making switchbacks up the increasingly icy slope. The sun from a few days earlier had made the base on this slope very hard and with 4 inches of sugar on top of that skinning was not easy and planting edges in was necessary to carry on upwards.

Looking back down from the top

After 20 minutes I had reached the start of the kletterstieg, strapped my skis on my pack, and was off around 50 meters behind the guide I had met on the tram. The crux of the whole route is 20 meters after putting skis on the pack and involves a little bit of ice right next to the kletterstieg. I didn't need to put crampons on due to easy rock to stem on but if it were filled in crampons would be nice. After moving through this tight section it is easy moving as you hug the rock to your right and enjoy the abundance of air on your left. Around 40 meters after making it through the ice I looked back to see a larger size sluff go right through that section making me think more about hauling as in the wide open parts and hugging the rock close when I could. The rest of the route was uneventful and soon enough I stumbled to the top not even thinking about following the guide who had almost disappeared into the whiteout heading to the Alpspitze. I decided to head the opposite direction down to the normal skin track and then skin to the Stuiben Hutte to sit and drink a beer before heading back out to the resort.
It was a day...whether it was good or bad I don't know.
-Owen