Via Ferrata Aletsch Glacier, Switzerland

The Alps have been in the midst of some unsettled weather.  What else is new?  So after "almost" seeing the top of the Matterhorn between clouds, and with the forecast calling for lots of rain, we turned tail and ran for Venice.   Ah, sunshine.  But before we rolled the car onto a train for a tunnel to Italy, we managed to squeeze in a short Via Ferrata in Switzerland.

The Aletsch Glacier is the biggest glacier in the Alps (don't quote me on that, though!).   It's more famous at the top end for having the highest train stop above the Eiger and the town of Grindelwald.  But at the tail end of the glacier, in a whole other valley system, a small lake has been damned up, called the Gibidum-Stausee.  There it is possible to climb all the way around the steep cliffs on the wires and pegs of a recently created Via Ferrata.  It's a short route...I raced around it to beat the weather and it took me 1:40.  Most people would be happy to do it in 3 hours.   Probably without sweating, too.



The route is good for beginners...it starts easy and stays easy for a while.  The tricky bit, if you could  call it so, could be the longest suspension bridge in the Alps!  It bounces a little over a raging river, even though there is a solid walkway rather than a single braided wire like some routes have.  Don't look down, newbies.

The return side of the route is a little bit more interesting and challenging, and maybe even lives up to the rating of 3-4.   I think the whole thing is more like a 2, with an occasional adrenaline filled traverse.  Fun but after doing the Kandersteg route a few days ago, it felt too easy!  There is a short zipline, too, but you'll have to bring your own pulley if you want to do it.  Overall, a fun little route above the town of Blatten near Brig in Switzerland.

Via Ferrata Kandersteg, Switzerland

A trip to the Alps isn’t complete without experiencing climbing on a Via Ferrata, also known as Klettersteig in German. They were sort of invented during the world wars to get soldiers up and over high passes, using pegs and cables to go straight up the side of cliffs. These routes have now morphed into a sport all of their own, with new routes springing up all over. It isn’t really mountain climbing, as there are no ropes and complicated gear involved, just a harness and a via ferrata kit.

This would be my third time up this particular Via Ferrata above the town of Kandersteg, Switzerland. It starts out climbing steeply up a cliff near a waterfall, and continues to climb steeply up several ladders and across a cable bridge over a stream. Rated a 4 on a 5 scale, this particular route isn’t for the faint of heart.

There are places to stop along the way, but it’s pretty consistently exposed and vertical. I particularly like the twisting ladder to get from under a cliff and back onto the wall!  

There are even a couple of zip lines on the route, one of which has the gear already in place if you don’t bring your own. Not to mention a second long, high cable bridge! The route is very solid with good protection, although it is quite exposed....you’ll love the views even as it is hard to look down at the open air under your body.

Although this might not have been the best route to take a beginner(!), this was Jim's first Klettersteig.  He was a trooper and even cracked a smile at times, although we both felt a little exposed.  I think we secretly envied the paragliders we saw floating above us as we sweated our way up the cliff.  (Luckily, that's our plan for tomorrow!)

Overall this is a great Via Ferrata...easy to access from the valley onto the shoulder of the Almenalp, and an simple way back on the cable car within minutes of finishing the route...just make sure you are there by 5 p.m for the last ride down! 

Grindelwald to Kleine Scheidegg Hike, Switzerland

Whew, I’m in Switzerland! It’s been a couple of years since I’ve been here, and it’s as beautiful as ever. As expensive, too. I’ll just ignore that for the moment. First stop, Grindelwald to see the Eiger and some really big mountains. Unfortunately, it’s raining, but that doesn’t last for long. Our goal the next morning is to climb up to Kleine Scheidegg for the views looking up to the Top Of Europe. The hike starts climbing steeply right from the cog rail station near the river (and luckily near our campground!), and continues in the sunshine past quintessential swiss scenery. Lovely chalets, spring flowers, well-maintained trails, hiking trail signs to everywhere, and snow-capped peaks towering above it all. Not to mention cows wearing bells bigger than my head, ringing so loudly we couldn’t hear ourselves talk.  Oh, and we even got to practice blowing a swiss horn, and milking a cow.  Yeah, it was fun, even if it was only a plastic udder.  And I'm not going to try out for a tuba player anytime soon.

We climbed for a couple of hours in such surrounding to get up to Kleine Scheidegg, which is a mini city inself at the top of the mountain, with a large hotel and a big rail station. It’s the point where many tourists continue on the cog railway up to Jungfraujoch, or the highest glacier in the Alps (at least, where you can take a train to anyway). It was also chilly and almost raining when we arrived, so we felt justified in not having paid an outrageous CHF 177 to go up to a glacier only to be socked into the fog. Anyway, we were feeling spry and decided to continue walking up to the Männlichen cable car stop. We were rewarded with a few minutes of views down into Lauterbrunnen before the fog closed us in. We could have continued down that side of the ridge and taken the bus back to Grindelwald, but it sounded like more fun to walk all the way back down to our campground. Which we did in another couple of hours, for a 7 hour day of walking and about 1000 meters of elevation change. 

Oh, and totally off subject, but we didn't have enough luggage space for camping gear when flying over here, so we purchased stuff when we arrived in Germany. (And already saved enough in hotel bills to pay for the tent, sleeping bags and mattress!?!)  So we got this totally cool tent which unfolds itself in 2 seconds.   Oddly enough, the tent is called the 2 Seconds tent…   It doesn't exactly pack up in that amount of time. but we did manage to wrestle it back into the large circle it originally came in.  In the rain, undo a couple of clips, and voila, the tent flips open and you crawl in.  Now if it only weighed less than a small cow….

Lone Peak Hike'n'Fly

Ok, finally getting my lightweight paragliding hike'n'fly kit together.  It's just been helped along by the addition of a Gin Yeti reversal harness with airbag.   The Gin Yeti is about the only light harness that has any sort of back protection, so it was a no brainer for me.   I think my whole kit now weighs about 10 kg, or about 22 pounds.  I can and will get that number lower but for now it feels pretty light compared to my regular kit, and it's pretty compact too.   As long as I squish the packing to get the zippers to close on the backpack!  

No time like the present to try out everything, so on a sunny day I set out from my house to walk to the mountains and find a place to launch.  We live about 3 miles from the base of Lone Peak, and I was even able to use some biking trails so it was a nice walk even in the city.  

I've been eyeing this trail up the mountain all winter up the main shoulder of Lone Peak, and wanted to try it out.  With the snow on it the trail was clear, so I figured it would be easy to follow.   After I crossed the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, a faint cut in the hillside marks the Draper Ridge trail, no longer maintained but still a viable way up onto the hillside.  The marks I had seen in the snow were in fact large cuts in the hill, with flat surfaces large enough to camp on.  Big cuts.  I wonder why anyone thought they were necessary?  

With short grasses, the way up was steep but open and easy to navigate.   As I climbed higher, the wind speed increased and got a little cross on the hill.  Uh oh.   It was late afternoon so I decided to wait a little and see how it went.  I dropped my wing and did a little hiking around while I waited, but never got high enough for a good view of Lone Peak itself.  

By 6 pm there were a lot of people flying at north side already but it was still gusty and cross where I was sitting.  I decided I might wait forever for the wind to drop, so I got my gear out and waited for a small break in the wind.  When it came I got off the hill safely to find much sink and more cross winds.  I couldn't make it over to North Side for any lift, so within minutes I was landing in the valley.  A very nice lady came out of her house and practically begged me to let her give me a ride home!   It was a very nice offer but I wanted to get there and back under my own steam and set off hiking the few miles back home.  

So not much flying but I did have an ADVENTURE (with capital letters).   Plus I got to try out my gear so now I can tweak it a little for better performance.  I definitely carried too much water...all that extra weight, uggh!  

Timpanogos Trail Marathon - 24 May 2014

The Timpanogos Trail Marathon warns that it is a difficult, hilly course and should not be taken lightly!  That sounded right up my alley as flat routes through cities aren't really my style.   Thankfully, though, the course didn't actually go up and over Mount Timpanogos...this time of year that would still take crampons and an ice axe, I suppose.

The course starts from Timpanogos Park on the southwest shoulder of the mountain.  And what a charming, hidden set of trails!   I've passed by this area of the Wasatch front many times and never realized that there were such great single track, backpacking and camping spots so close to civilization.

Jim and I had both planned on doing the race, but we had some work being done on the house that he had to be around for.  Bummer.  Instead, he started the run with me and went out a ways, then back to the finish to do a half marathon, and still get home in time.  Perhaps missing the worst part of the climb was a blessing after experiencing the rest of the course!

With almost 6,000 feet of climbing, the miles on this race ticked off slowly.  Even the Bonneville Shoreline Trail for the first 10 miles was very undulating to say the least.  I have my doubts the trail was actually on the ancient "shoreline"...shouldn't a waterline be flat?!    But the worst of the race came at about mile twelve up Grove Creek.   The trail started up steeply and continued that way for about an hour and a half.   But the views alongside the cliff trail were outstanding, and the creek far below was rushing with water.


Luckily the weather was really good for the race.  Dry trail conditions, cool, with an occasional light rain shower.   Even so, I was happy to see the aid station at the top of the climb, which was stocked with goodies that a bunch of volunteers had carried up that steep trail.  The rain had just soaked them and they were good sports just to be up there taking care of us.  Perhaps I was the lucky one after all to be only carrying up an empty camelback?   But the climb wasn't over, but kept going up and up, through some pine forests, open meadows, and scrub oak.  It was beautiful.  I vowed to come back up here and do some camping soon.











Or maybe I was just trying to get my mind off my painful leg muscles.  I knew there was a long downhill coming and knew I would have to push my legs to the finish.  My time was creeping past 6 hours I wound down the single track following the race markers to the finish.  I had been trying to catch up to as many people as I could on the course.  With less than a mile to go, I saw three guys below me and gave it my best shot.  It was downhill all the way and I blew by them like they were standing still.  It was fun.   Anyway.  Then I finished and had to gasp for air for a couple of minutes.  Totally worth it.

At the Start

Grove Creek waterfall

Bell Canyon Hike

The weather has finally turned nice and warm, the snow line is receding, so a hike up into Bell Canyon is possible now.  Of course the hike to lower Bell Reservoir is open most of the year, as it's only a couple hundred feet above the valley.   And it's a nice destination in and of itself, if you want a small hike to a nice place for a picnic or some fishing.   It's maybe 20 minutes from the parking lot to the reservoir so just about anyone can get there via a steep sandy trail.

But we didn't stop there, continuing onward and upward into Bell Canyon.  The trail follows a nice rushing stream, cold from snowmelt in a narrow canyon.  The cliffs gradually close in as the trail climbs steeply up the middle.  It's somewhat like using a stair master with some great scenery...the stairs just keep coming.    Upper Bell Canyon reservoir is almost 4000 feet above the lower reservoir.   I'd like to say we made it there, but it wasn't in the plans.  I guess we got almost halfway up, enough for a good workout but not enough to kill us.  

Regardless, the sun was warm and the trees had that spring green color, so it was a nice day to be out for a walk.  With the snow still hanging on the hills it was beautiful to be up in the Wasatch range.  I suspect that the upper reservoir would still have been shrouded in snow and perhaps even still frozen...it's tucked into the canyon and a long ways up there.  Perhaps I'll make it up there later in the summer when it's broiling down in the valley?

The View from 12,000 Feet!

There is quite a good paragliding community here in Utah, helped along by great learning conditions at both the North and South sides of the Point Of The Mountain.   Alongside that, we also have great cross-country opportunities to fly along the front range of the Wasatch Mountains.   When the weather looks good for flying, the word goes out, and people meet up in landing zones to share rides up to launch.   Or in some cases, to send their gear up with someone else and get in a nice hike up mountain on the way to flying.  Without having to lug up a heavy pack!  

We still have spring paragliding conditions here in the Wasatch, with snow on the tops, but on the ground it is warming up and feeling great.   So I gladly sent my gear up ahead of me and tackled the hike up to Inspo.  Inspiration Point is a popular paragliding launch above the Provo valley overlooking Utah Lake.    The trail up is steep, and the shortest route is a little confusing, but I followed a friend up who knew the way and was setting a blistering pace.  We both finished in under 38 minutes, altho he was a good couple of minutes ahead of me by the finish.  It was an unofficial record for our little group, and I took a while to catch my breath before launching my wing.  

Thermal tops can be high here in the west, and when I headed higher than 12,000 feet I was feeling pretty good.  Although I was also feeling pretty cold...my hand warmers in the gloves weren't helping much to keep feeling in my fingers.  It was nice to see lots of snow on the tops...we've gotten some late season snowstorms which will help with moisture levels later this summer.  

After climbing as high as I could stand with the cold temperatures, I headed south as the winds were coming from the northwest.   A few of us were strung out along the range but since it was pretty easy to find lift I wasn't worried about needing help with thermals.   In fact I was so cold I was actually happy to make a valley crossing and lose a little altitude!   With the strong tailwinds I was doing 75 kph...valleys crossings aren't too tough at that speed.  

Unfortunately, after reaching Spanish Fork, the wind was now westerly and in my face...I suppose I could have flown further but didn't feel like it.  I guess no one else did either so six of us landed in the same field.  Even better,  a friend who had sunk out early even came to pick us up.  WOW.   Amazing to get a ride straight back to the car after an XC flight of almost 30 miles!