Haiminger Klettergarten Alhambra (6/6+)

Published on 2011-3-15 by Michael Stanton

Haiminger Klettergarten

March, 2011

Adrian and I climbed the route "Alhambra" (7-) at the big south-facing wall above Haiming. I didn't know this place existed until Adrian mentioned it. There are several multipitch routes on the wall. The first pitch was great (6+), pretty solid for the grade, and I had to rest on the rope while trying to figure out how to overcome a roof. Very nice, clean climbing. The next pitches were only so-so. First, a long pitch with simul-climbing (80 meters) of about grade 5, on often very loose terrain. Adrian belayed from a bolt somewhere, as a belay couldn't be found. I continued for about 10 meters of nice climbing (5/5+), then a series of dirt ledges. A couple above me said that my route was far to the right. Dutifully, I wandered over there through grass, trees and dirt, but saw no sign of a route. Finally, I brought Adrian up to a tree belay. We went over to the line where the couple had been. In fact, they were wrong, and this was our route. Ha! The next pitch had a few climbing moves, mixed in with some dirt. I just kept walking up some dirt ledges to reach a belay at the base of the upper wall. Here was a good pitch (6 or 6+), leading up and left along ledges and then going straight up through vertical rock. Very nice. Above this point Adrian combined two grade 5+ pitches into one. He went up clean rock, traversed to an intersection with another route, then continued up and around the corner.

The last real pitch looked excellent, and it was. But no way was it 7-. I rated it 6. Very nice, with the crux at an overhang at the end. From here, Adrian led out a rope length through loose rock and dirt. Then we unroped and followed some spray paint to the summit. The hike down was nice, through a kind of magical forest.

In the end we decided we liked the climb, thanks to the memories of the first pitch and the final wall. Adrian's ankle was still injured from a few weeks before, so we called it a day early. I think the Martinswand or Burschlwand offer much more quality climbing, but this is worth checking out if you are in the area.