Solo 40-ger (V+)

Published on 2023-10-13 by Michael Stanton

Timo had a day to climb, and me too! The only climbing I did this year, before the CDT hike, was on the Kopfkraxen in the Wilder Kaiser. Wanting to revisit an old friend, I suggested the Lamsenspitze Nord-ost Kante. Timo saw another route there, called "Solo 40-ger," rated V+. That shouldn't be too hard. Though I was completely out of shape for rock climbing. Multi-month hikes are good for the legs, but terrible for the upper body!

The gorgeous mountain from the Hütte...

Nonetheless, we met in the city and drove out to the Gramaialm in his van. It had been a long time since I'd been in this beautiful valley. Years before, I'd climbed a big route on the Sonnjoch with Georg. I'd had a happy day with Danno on the Lamsenspitze. Also wandered through that country and slept overnight at the Lamsenjochhütte with my boys on the Karwendel Traverse.

We hiked up talking of the usual things. Timo spoke with a worker at the Hütte, which was undergoing repairs for next season. It was closed, so we couldn't get a beer afterwards. From here we hiked down a bit then steeply up to the base of the climb. Another party was starting on the Northeast Kante.

Me at the base of the route.

Timo got the first pitch, 45 meters of grade 4. We were ready for anything with double 60 meter ropes. I then led up easy ground to an interesting pillar attacked directly. I was happy for the piton and the bolt...my first time on the sharp end in a long time!

Near the belay a rock came zooming down, making that unpleasant "wuff-wuff-wuff!" noise you hear when it's too close. I didn't like that. There must be a third party very high on the Northeast Kante who knocked that off. I decided to move the belay to the right directly under a short vertical buttress in the hopes that future rocks would go sailing further out.

Timo would get the crux pitch (5+), which began here on easy ground, then went up to a striking crack. He led this easily, then traversed easier ground left to a belay. The pitch was a bit longer than 50 meters. I followed and gosh, I had a tough time in the crux! I grunted and strained, making a lot of noise about the whole thing. I was glad he led it. It's easy to forget that rock climbing is hard!

Finishing the crux pitch.

Interesting traverse...

The next pitch, at 45 meters, was my favorite, even though it was kind of odd. Downsloping rock in a shallow gully, with unsettling cracks in the rock that made me imagine it breaking apart. I was glad for each bolt along the way, as it never felt really secure (5-). Timo then led up a 4/4+ pitch of similar length, where the gullies seemed to break up into parallel similar-looking slots. He made the right choices to keep the line, though he had to belay at an awkward spot. My job was to climb in a narrow, loose chimney for a few moves, then escape the gully system for a Wandstufen (wall, with steps) on the left (4/4+). I think I avoided the crux move by chosing an easier line on the left of a wall-step. I belayed on a slab with great views all around.

Timo then continued in a wide gully, loose but easy (grade 2). The challenge here was keeping the line over 40 meters with only 2 bolts to use for routefinding! But he succeeded and reached the belay.

I didn't do so well...pitch 8 was a full 50 meters of similar terrain, where I reached the ridge crest about halfway. There was nowhere to protect in here. I actually ended up using the whole 60 meter rope and was still pawing around looking for anything. I should have left the ridge on the left side for a traverse, but having missed that, I settled for a "body belay" right on the crest where I crouched down on the opposite side.

Timo came up and easily found the next pitch, now that there were few options! I had accidentally climbed part of the 9th pitch. He found the piton marked on our topo and continued up to the anchor on grade 3 terrain. I led out on pitch 10, grade 3- in loose, easy terrain to the top of a false summit.

Here, Timo descended on the ridge for the grade 3- pitch 11, about 50 meters. After this, we switched to normal shoes and put the ropes away for the hike over to the true summit. Whew!

Timo on top.

Timo on the east side, with the "scree-skiing" section.

I had to admit, I was tired and sore and my feet hurt. But gosh, it was an amazing scene, and I was happy we did this climb. The way down seemed to go on forever for this tired dude. Timo stayed on the summit to take many pictures, so I went ahead down the Klettersteig which is the normal way to the summit. We met several people here going up in the late afternoon.

We crossed over to the east side of the mountain and while Timo went to get our stashed pack at the base of the route, I "scree-skied" down to trail near the Hütte. He caught me and we continued down. I think I slipped at one point on the switchbacks going down, but I'm writing this a month later and happily the bruises are forgotten.

Rearranging our gear...

At the Gramai Alm I thought a celebratory beer might be good but Timo needed to get home right away, so we hopped in the van and drove away.

Thanks for the great climb, Timo. Thanks to God for good weather and safety.

Into the Gramai Valley, with the Sonnjoch on the left.