Video of Berchtesgaden Alps scrambles

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 Mark123 03 Sep 2016
Here'a a link to my 4 mins video of last week's scrambles on Watzmann and then Hochkalter in the Berchtesgaden Alps. It's a rather tame video, featuring my easy scrambles up these low peaks. Video also probably has too much clips of birds, bees, flowers, mountain goats and even cows for most folk's liking. But I enjoy seeing that stuff in the hills!

youtube.com/watch?v=I-_kriEE7y4&

It's a good region to visit if you're short on time (access is easy, many facilities), you don't want glacier approaches, and you just want to solo scramble or use the via ferrata (on Watzmann). It was a 4 day round trip from Salzburg. The Watzmann also has some very impressive climbing routes on it's east face.
 Rob 03 Sep 2016
In reply to Mark123:

Great video, I love the Berchtesgaden region but have never managed to track down any rock climbs in the area. Any suggestions?
OP Mark123 03 Sep 2016
In reply to Rob:

Thanks!
There’s a few rock climbing route descriptions on the web in English, but most is in German as is (I think) the only rock climbing guidebooks to the area – e.g. AV-Führer Berchtesgadener Alpen, Bergverlag Rudolf Rother, 1994. ISBN: 3763311270

I was just myself so I couldn’t try out any of the rock climbs – but they looked good, particularly the very long routes. The easy classic on the Watzmann’s enormous E-face is the Berchtesgadener Weg (UIAA III). This E-face is one of the highest rock walls in the Alps and it has other harder routes (e.g. Salzburger Weg, Muenchner Weg and Frankfurter Weg). There's also climbs in the E-face of Hocheck, and also the long S-ridge (Schoenfeldschneid) at IV (with all gendarmes). There will undoubtedly be lots more........
 cragtyke 03 Sep 2016
In reply to Mark123:

Drove through the area on the 178 road on the way to Salzburg a couple of weeks ago, after going through Lofer and just before going into a tunnel at Unken(?), there was a huge crag on the right, any idea which this was?
 sbc_10 03 Sep 2016
In reply to Mark123:

Great video Mark. I know the feeling ofsolo exploring. Glaciers and technical stuff all out due to lack of a rope buddy.
So, when you say "scrambles"....... are they scrambles as we know and love in the UK.(Grade 1 - 3 etc)....or is it the case of an Alpine misnomer...and they start at V.Diff and then get worse !!!

Cheers. SBC
 Rob 03 Sep 2016
In reply to Mark123:

Hi Mark, many thanks. As for being on your own, if I find myself travelling anywhere where a climb might be possible I take a long static rope and a shunt - I climbed that way in the Ukraine a few years ago.
OP Mark123 03 Sep 2016
In reply to sbc_10:

Thanks! Yes, all 2 routes in the video (N-S traverse of the 3 Watzmann Peaks and the Hochkalter traverse) seemed about UK scrambling grade 3. The long Watzmann route was very exposed in parts, and had some cables for clipping into if required. The Hochkalter route was mainly Grade 1 but there was two very steep sections - first one about diff, the next no more than vdiff. Both of these crux sections were short (<10m?), neither had cables, but the rock route was marked with red paint. Good holds- and was fine to solo these steeper short sections.
(Thankfully we don't have cables and paint on our UK scrambles!)
cheers,
Mark
OP Mark123 03 Sep 2016
In reply to cragtyke:

I think I also spotted that enormous crag too but I don't know this part of the Alps at all. Think I'll return sometime - though with a rope buddy and hopefully some route info!
 cragtyke 03 Sep 2016
In reply to Mark123:
I think it may be the Alpawand : http://www.bergsteigen.com/klettern/salzburg/berchtesgadener-alpen/wassersy... it's also logged on ukc, this route looks like a steady day out.
Post edited at 20:41

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