Did a bit of a (somewhat frustrating) tour of the valley today in search of some good rock to climb. Up near the ski town of Solden, there are a couple of crags which looked okay in the guidebook, but in reality were a bit dirty and scrappy. I set off up a route at ‘Sölden Moosalm’ but came down after one pitch as it felt much harder than it should of and clearly hadn’t been climbed recently. The topo guide was also very inaccurate with both routes names and lengths!
Further along, we found the same at ‘Sölden Freizitarena’. Although some effort had been made to put in a belay ledge at the base, the rock was covered in lichen and looked pretty un-inspiring (apart from the super hard routes!). A small rain shower convinced us to return to base for some lunch and a re-think!
A third a final attempt was made later in the afternoon at ‘Tunpen Engelswand’, where after nearly getting crushed by some passing cows, we managed to claw our way up a couple of routes, which again felt very hard for the grade (or just wrongly graded?!).
The cliff is like being at a climbing wall, with parking, toilets and lots of people! Still, we were glad at least to have climbed something after the days efforts!
Engelswand Climbs:
– Fir Reno (P1) 5b (felt like 6a!)
– Pollenta, 4c (felt harder!)
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