Narrative Report

This is an overall narrative of the second part of a two-part solo ski mountaineering tour of 4-5 days each in the Stubai Alps (Austria) in June, 2004. The main report page has thumbnail photos with some comments, and the thumbnails are each linked to a page with the full size photo and specific comments from that part of the tour. There is also a resources page for anyone interested in planning a similar trip to this area.

On Sunday, June 13, 2004 the weather was still poor but the forecast was for significant improvement on Monday for the week. So in the afternoon I took the bus up the Stubaital and caught one of the last cable cars up into the fog in order to be situated at the Hildesheimer Hut when things cleared. My hope was to ski Wilder Pfaff and Zuckerhutl (which I had done before about 4 years ago), then descend the far ridge of Wilder Pfaff to reach the Muller Hut. From there, if things went well, I would climb the Sonklarspitz and travel over Hohe Eis down to the Siegerland Hut. From there it appears to be fairly easy to cross the col by Gaiskogl and descend back to the Hildesheimer, which is close enough to the ski area to reach the cable car easily. (Alternatively, in poor weather, the route from Siegerland down Windachtal to Solden is marked as a very straightforward valley bottom route.)

On Monday morning things were still pretty bleak up in the high mountains. The clouds lingered and the hut as well as all potential routes were in the fog. I was hoping it would clear during the day and considered making the shorter trip to Siegerland first (and reversing the plan) if it did. But it didn't clear until well into evening so I ended up staying in the Hildesheimer all day. It was clearing nicely in the evening so I planned to leave as early as possible on Tuesday.

On Tuesday morning at dawn it was cold and clear and I left the hut early, about 6:15 I believe. The snow surface was hard and icy due to the cold clear night following the passage of the cold front, as well as the early start before the sun hit anything near the hut. There is a pretty good drop from the location of the hut down to the basin below Pfaffenferner but there was a good couloir of continuous snow leading down. This was pretty wide and not too steep and I was able to get about 2/3 of the way down by cautiously making wide individual turns. But then I lost my edge on one turn and because it was ice I found myself sliding down with no chance of arrest. I knew when I started down this slope that there was a safe run-out at the base, and as I executed the occasional involuntary flip or spin and watched the bottom approach more and more rapidly I kept reminding myself of that. Towards the bottom I came to rest and sat there for a long moment to collect myself. I hadn't worn gloves and my hands were quite scraped up from the ice but aside from that everything was fine. But a small incident like this is a sobering reminder that in some situations (such as skiing icy conditions with no axe or self-arrest grip) a fall really can't be stopped and could easily be fatal in the wrong place. There is probably some merit to being safely reminded of this now and then.

The normal route up Pfaffenferner to Zuckerhutl climbs the left side (ascending) of the glacier along its margin to limit exposure to crevasses. However, this section gets pretty steep for such icy conditions and the run-out below it doesn't appear so forgiving - so in the early morning frozen conditions I took an alternate route up the lower angle right side, towards the route over Gaiskogl to the Siegerland hut. This stays to the (climbing) right of the icefall which is in the middle of the steep section, and then one can gain the flat upper section and traverse around a crevassed depression which sits above the icefall. There were a few signs of crevasses which I tried to steer clear of, although I did ski across a thin crack at one point. It was still very early with no sun softening anything yet, so the snow and any bridges were quite firm. At the top of Pfaffenferner I passed through Pfaffenjoch onto the top of Sultzenauferner with a break for a few minutes.

The route from here was pretty straightforward and is well used by many skiers who ascend Zuckerhutl from the Stubai Gletscher ski area as a day trip, using the first cable car trip up the mountain. Although there was no sign that anyone had done it recently. The Zuckerhutl and Wilder Pfaff are not visible as you climb up and around the head of the glacier, and about the time they come into sight on the right the highest icefall on the Sultzenauferner comes into view on the left. (Hopefully well below you!) The Pfaffensattel between Zuckerhutl and Wilder Pfaff is quickly and easily reached from Pfaffenjoch as there is not that much elevation gain here.

From Pfaffensattel to the top of Zuckerhutl is usually a pretty quick and easy ascent, although not skiable on the upper stretch. (Some people do carry their skis up this section in order to ski down through the steep icefall on the north face.) On this day it was quite a bit more difficult. The old snow surface was refrozen hard underneath a layer of soft unconsolidated snow which varied in depth due to the wind, so kicking steps into the snow was tricky. I used the rocks where I could, although many of them are loose. So the trip to this summit and back took quite a bit longer than I had anticipated.

I got a few nice turns in from where I had left the skis to the base of Wilder Pfaff since the sun was finally softening up the snow a bit. The summit of Wilder Pfaff can be reached on skis and went fairly quickly.

The opposite ridge of Wilder Pfaff leads down to the head of Ubeltalferner and the Muller and Becherhaus huts. On the map this is marked in dots rather than a straight line. (Straight lines are skiable routes, dashed lines indicate skiable routes with some possible difficulties such as steepness or crevasse dangers, and dotted lines mean unskiable and often indicate fourth class hands-feet scrambling.) The top of the ridge had snow cover on it, again a harder refrozen older layer underneath a variable newer layer. There were faint signs of old tracks coming up.

I left my skis and pack on the summit to scout out the route down and pack out some steps. Between stomping or kicking steps along the narrow crest of snow and using the large blocks of rock I got to a point where there was a cable for use as a handline where the route went down a low angle section of fairly smooth fractured rock. Between using the cable as a handline and kicking steps into the soft ice on the rock this wasn't too difficult. From the bottom of the cable I returned to the top for my gear. Reclimbing the cable section was tricky since the thin ice was breaking off the rock when I reused the steps, but between the cable and the scattered fractures it was ok. As I climbed back up I heard distant voices and looked down to see two skiers crossing Ubeltalferner, above the line of icefalls and towards Sonklarspitz. A third person was out ahead of them a bit. I never saw them on the summit so I suspect they crossed to Schwartzwandscharte which leads to a descent route. These were the first people I had actually seen on any of my touring aside from the lower elevation huts (Franz Senn and Amberger) on the first section.

After having gone down and back up, the climb down once again with my pack and skis was not too difficult anymore. Except along the cable since the ice was gone entirely and the rock fractures were spread far apart. Through one section I essentially slid down, relying entirely on my grip on the cable. But this was short and then the rest of the downclimb which I had not scouted remained. This consisted mostly of large blocky rocks with some steep sections and was very much like the classic 4th to low 5th class ridgeline routes in the Rogers Pass region in Canada (and elsewhere in the Selkirks). Except that here there was a mixture of soft snow, icy spots, and dry rock. There were generally good handholds on the large rocks, but many sections were very exposed. So slow, deliberate downclimbing eventually got me to a point where I could ski out to the right (descending) onto the remaining snow on the headwall which led down to Ubeltalferner. I came out to the right and above the deep channel in the head of the glacier at the divide between Ubeltal and Fernerstube, above a crevasse field facing the Muller hut. The channel is right below the hut and short but very steep climb up out of it takes one to the back (uphill) side of the hut. The international border follows the ridge I descended, continuing along it to the summit of Wild Freiger, and the Muller Hut as well as Becherhaus are in Italy.

I spent quite a while resting, not only enjoying the views but also looking for the winter room and entry to it. I knew from advance research that the Muller hut claims to have a winter room, and there was a sign on the front door indicating it was around the side or back. But the back of the hut is a giant snowdrift. I finally concluded that the top piece of stovepipe protruding from the snow came from the winter room, which was entirely buried. The large shovel stuck in the snow on that side was left for digging it out. This was not a recent drift partially blocking the door, as at the Hoch Stubai winter room - this was an entirely buried room with old snow as well as new to dig through. Apparently nobody had dug their way in for quite some time. There was also no sign of a winter latrine, which may explain why human waste was beginning to melt out of the snowpack on this side of the hut. (About seven years prior to this I bivouacked outside the Grand Paradiso hut in Italy, which was also surrounded on the uphill side with dried human waste. Maybe a similar situation explains that observation as well.)

I began to dig, but the new snow was getting wet and stuck to the shovel, the old snow was very hard, and it wasn't clear whether I was freeing the entry or just part of the wall. So I decided to ski across Ubeltalferner to the Becherhaus hut to see whether or not they had a winter room. This hut is perched on the top of rocky high point and at 3190m is the highest in the Stubai Alps - quite a spectacular location. I retraced my approach track across the top of the crevasse field, and at that point I removed the skins and had some very enjoyable turns down onto the open low-angle section of glacier below. I was also able to glide part way across before needing the skins again.

A pretty mellow climb brought me to the base of the ridge which the hut rests on and I left the skis and followed the rock path up to the hut. After two trips around the hut it was clear that Becherhaus has no winter room, so after a bit of a rest I returned to the skis, made some good turns again down into the glacier basin, and skinned directly up below the crevasse field into the deep channel below the hut.

Another round of investigation at the Muller Hut uncovered an alternate entry. I had noticed a loose shutter before but had not been able to open it easily. But with a closer look the latch could be freed and the small quarter-pane of glass in the window behind had been broken so that the inside handle could be turned to unlock and open the window. (I guess this is what happens when the direct access is so unmanageable. They clearly need to either construct a windbreak or relocate the winter room.) A walk through the kitchen led to the winter room, which was rather dark and dingy with the door and both windows having been under snow all winter.

The following day, Wednesday, was foggy and quite windy and I stayed at the Muller Hut all day. It finally began to break in the evening, although the wind remained gusty.

The fog and wind must have been a quick cold front because the next morning dawned clear and quite chilly. I got an early start and wore more layers than I had at any previous time on the trip. After a short but somewhat anticipated icy slide down to the base of the channel (this short bit was extremely steep) I repeated the start of the route to the Becherhaus. The section with turns was too firm to be as much fun as on the previous afternoon trek, but it gets first sunlight and was still enjoyable. I climbed the side of the Ubeltalferner towards Becherhaus because it was easy to keep to very safe looking sections right along the rocks, and the glacier looks much less crevassed there overall. There is a common route up the Muller side to Wild Freiger but this appears to come close to, or cross the edge of, some large crevasse fields and icefalls.

At the top of the glacier is a ridge with Wild Freiger on the left (looking up) and Signalgipfel on the right. I parked the skis below Signalgipfel and scrambled up the ridge to its summit, then walked along the ridge to Wild Freiger. There is a border sign along the ridge, although none in sight anywhere else for people crossing the border nearby. More curiously there is an abandoned customs shack made of stone, which most of the roof is now missing from. At 3390 m on a ridgeline. Its amazing what lengths some governments will go to (or have gone to) in order to collect money - building, maintaining, and manning this must have cost more than it generated. Now its a mere curiosity.

I saw one person on the summit of Wild Freiger for a while as I ascended but they were gone when I got there. This was the second and last time I saw anyone, although there were somewhat recent tracks in many places.

The direct drop down the snow from the summit to the glacier looked much more benign from above, and I descended that on foot which was quicker than returning over Signalgipfel. The ski down the Becherhaus side of the glacier along its edge was very nice and had softened up by now. This may have been the longest section of turns on the trip.

My plan was to ski down the edge of the glacier and around the base of the rock formation which the Becherhaus crowns, climb back up around the other side on the snowfield there, and cross the Freigerscharte col just below Roter Grat. The other side of this pass leads down to the Nurnberger Hut and the Stubaital with no glacier travel. I had obtained views of various parts of this and for the most part it looked very feasible.

As I skied down along the edge of the glacier and got below Becherhaus I reached an area where a "shortcut" seemed to be possible by skiing down through the rock area rather than rounding it entirely at its end. I had only had a partial view of this but it seemed ok, so I started down. The snow here was very thin and received the first sunlight of the day so it was getting to be very wet by now, even in mid-morning. I managed to go from one rock island to another, pausing just above them. But finally the slope, which had been steadily rolling over and increasing in angle, had steepened too much and to my right where the entire slope was steeper there were glide cracks visible. At this point I decided I didn't like this very much at all! I put on skins and managed to carefully select what seemed to be the safest route back up to the glacier. The alternative of skiing around the end of this rock section involved easy and enjoyable skiing, but in one section the glacier curves and has crevasses right up to the rock so some caution is necessary.

The climb back up towards Roter Grat was looking quite a bit steeper from straight below and was in the hot sun. It was probably not really a problem to traverse up to the base of the col from an angle, but the view straight down the valley beckoned at this point in the day. This is the Ridnauntal in Italy which eventually ends at Sterzig which is on the highway and rail line through Brenner Pass. It seemed like it couldn't be all that hard to return to Innsbruck after descending this valley. Sterzig is only about 20 miles or so from Brenner Pass. Unfortunately there were a series of problems and I would have been much better off to ski over the divide and end in Austria.

I had some enjoyable wet snow skiing down to Vogelhutten See at 2600m. Here the map showed flats along the left shore, but at the moment they must have been under the lake since steep slopes ringed that side. The map shows a ski route reaching the other side of the stream feeding the lake which crosses the bottom of the glacier, but this is obviously a crevassed area at a lower elevation and it was pretty warm. I managed to cross the still frozen lake ice between a few pockets of water where it was shortest.

Below this point I carried the skis. The map shows a summer trail winding down through a steep section of cliffs to reach Grohmann Hut, and I did manage to pick up this trail along the top of the cliffs. This was an odd trail in its markings and maintenance and turned out to be a poor choice. A section with good cairns and even constructed steps would be followed by a section that was almost impossible to find. After a lot of searching around I reached a point where it crossed a steep ravine which channeled a waterfall through the cliffs (but was still filled with a narrow, steep, and hardpacked snowfield right now). There was a smooth sloping rock to cross with no security, and below it was steeply angled smooth grass for a couple meters followed by a big drop into the ravine. After crossing this rock the trail clearly improved and that is where the security cable begins!

After a lot of consideration of options I decided the consequences of slipping on this section, as well as that section which appeared to climb out of the ravine on the other side, were too great. And I was in ski boots carrying a pack with skis on it . So I climbed all the way back up this trail and traversed the top of the cliffs to reach the Teplitzer Hut and the trail down from there to the Grohman was pretty good. (Just as an aside, the Teplitzer had a winter room which was not buried in a snow drift but was the smallest I have seen with just two sleeping spaces. Barely.)

By the time I got down to the Grohmann hut and beyond it was getting late in the afternoon. The trail got progressively better but it was still quite a hike. I reached the bottom, where a dirt road ends at Aglsbodenalm (alm=alpine pasture), somewhere around 5 or 6. I hadn't carried much water and was in need of a rest so I rehydrated at the alm well and enjoyed a Weissbeer there. Then I began the walk down the valley on the road and an adjacent trail, figuring that when I reached a town there would hopefully be a bus or some sort of transportation. The first bus stop was at Maiern, but there are not many buses and the last one had run. (Actually there was one more that ran up the valley, but even though it returned towards Sterzig it wouldn't stop on its way down the valley.)

Hitchhiking turned out to be futile so I ended up walking most of the 15-20 km of road to Sterzig. In telemark ski boots. At the very end a woman did give me a ride to the train station, where I encountered the next difficulty with Italy. Which is that the trains (among other things) strike frequently. So there was no train to Brenner Pass. (The common response to this in Europe seems to be a shrug of the shoulders and a comment that in Italy there is nothing unusual about this.) The autobahn exit had a large "No Autostop" sign (hitch-hiking is called autostop sometimes, especially in Italy). So I spent half the night trying to hitchhike on the old road to Brenner Pass. Sometime around 2 am a couple guys going home from a night of partying gave me a ride and actually went beyond their village to the pass for me. On the Austrian side the trains were running and I got the next one at 5:30am or so. I was worried that we had to leave for Galteur in the morning and that I might miss that trip, but fortunately we went in the afternoon. But between worrying about making it to Galteur and being exhausted after 24 hours of skiing, climbing, hiking, and trying to get out of Italy I actually took a taxi from the Innsbruck station to my friends house a few blocks away! Very much out of character for me, but in this case it was well earned.

So on this second part of my ski through the Stubai Alps I had two good days on which I summitted Zuckerhutl, Wilder Pfaff, Signalgipfel, and Wild Freiger. I had two days of bad weather which kept me hut-bound. And I learned the hard way that it is better to exit into Austria than into Italy where the transportation systems are dysfunctional and unreliable.

Jim

[Main Trip report page and photo links]