On Tuesday, we left for our second tour! We were all pleasantly surprised when a tour bus came to pick us up. We were even more excited when the bus dropped us off just north of Ramsau, near Austria-Hütte, where the Dachstein ski lift starts. However, instead of taking the beautiful ski lift, we ascended the 700 meters of mountain on foot. It was extremely cold, very windy, and difficult to maintain your footing, as the ground was mostly covered in snow. Using a lot of switchbacks, however, we eventually made it to the top, where we ate some lunch and photographed our accomplishment! To get to the hut where we were spending our first night required crossing the western part of the glacier. Some stretches were fairly steep. The daring mountaineers attempted to ski (w/o skiis or poles) down these slopes, and invariably ended up on their rears (myself included) before the bottom. Seeing our miserable attempts, Heli, our mountain guide, took everyone over to a smaller hill for some practice sliding, and more importantly stopping. We practiced quickly turning to an uphill facing pushup position, from whatever position we may find ourselves in. It felt like I was in a lot like a colony of penguins, and was a lot of fun! After the sliding practice was over, we came to our destination, Adamekhütte. There was still a bit of light left, so we did a little bouldering on the rocks outside. On one of these boulders, Heli and I were the only ones able to complete it. I think Heli was impressed, because during dinner he came over to talk to me about rock climbing, asking how long I had climbed and so forth. Apparently he used to climb semi-professionally, and toured all over the world, looking for the biggest rocks!
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| Nearing the top of our first mountain ascent! |
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| At the top |
The next day, we were woken up early for breakfast. At the end of breakfast every morning at Upward Bound, someone stands up and shares a devotion. This morning, it was my turn, and I talked about a recent experience I have had, and the importance of having good Christian friends who aren't afraid to show "tough love" and keep you accountable when you go astray. I think it came off well, and several people approached me afterward, saying how applicable it was to their lives, which was neat.
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| The edge of a crevase |
After breakfast, we put on our harnesses and roped ourselves together, as the stretch of glacier we were about to traverse had many crevases (pronounced Crev 'Ass es), which are often 50 meters deep, that you can fall into with out careful navigation. Luckily, no one fell into any of these hidden pits, and we made it to the great Hoher Dachstein, standing 3000 meters tall! In order to scale this peak, we used our kletterstieg sets. In addition to the wind and cold, we also happened to be climbing in the middle of some very dark clouds, which made it impossible to see farther than a few meters. However, this also didn't allow us to see the hundred meter drop that awaited us, should we fall off the other side of the mountain, which was nice. At the top, was, of course, a cross. Due to the extreme conditions at the top of this, the highest mountain in the Dachstein range, the cross was constructed out of metal poles, which made it ideal for climbing!
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| Climbing up Hoher Dachstein |
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| The peak! |
After klettersteiging down the other side of the mountain, we roped up again and made out way for the Simony-hütte, our next destination. Heli led the way with me right behind. He was very anxious to get to the hut, and practically bounded across the glacier! At one point, however, it became too icey, and we had to contruct a sort of slackline with our ropes and ice axes to get everyone across . Simony-Hütte was worth it though! As we were arriving, the sun came out, so we all got to relax for an hour or so on the rocks before dinner. Dinner was excellent as well, consisting of soup, followed by mashed potatoes and ham, followed by fruit and wipped cream. :) I appreciated the meal even more after learning that all the food must be flown up by helicopter (which costs 70 euro/minute to operate). The huts are mostly all run by the Austrian Alpine Society though, and apparently they get enough outdoor enthusiasts during the summer months to make it work. Before bed, Martin gave a lecture outside on the rocks, which was cool.
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| Little pockets of clear skies coming down |
Yesterday, we made our way back to Tauernhof, by way of the eastern glacier. We climbed up a ladder, and through a tunnel in the rocks, then slid (again, some on their feet, but most on their backs) down a steep slope which brought us to a meadow where we ate lunch. Following lunch, we got to slide down a scree hill, which I personally found to be more fun than the snow (if a little more more painful). At the bottom, a bus was waiting to take us back to Tauernhof!
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| At Simony-Hütte looking south east |
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| Crossing the glacier |
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| Our view after coming out of the tunnel |
Today, we got to go canyoning! We geared up in our wetsuits, gloves, socks, and helmets, and drove about an hour west. The descent, like everything else around here, was very steep. On the way down, we jumped a few odd looking deer and saw another mountain goat on the ridge across from us. The bottom of the canyon was so amazing! I wish I had a waterproof camera, so that I could have taken pictures. One of the girls did bring hers though, so I'm hoping to steal some of hers at some point. :P We swam for parts, and walked others. There were also several jumps (the highest of which was around 10 meters or 30 feet). I backflipped off a couple of the mid-sized ones (6 - 8 meters or so). As picturesque as the canyon was; however, the water was very cold! By the time we got back to the cars, I was very thankful I had packed an extra set of dry clothes to change into. We all worked up a big appetite with all the swimming, so we stopped at a McDonald's on the way back and pigged out! Gotta love good ol' international fast food chains.
As for life here in Tauernhof, it's only been a couple weeks, but it almost feels like home already. I mean, sure the culture is different, and obviously most of the people speak German, but it's not really that much different from the United States. It is a very affluent city though, and I have definitely seen more Audis and BMW's than ever before in my life! It is also a very sporty city, sitting in the valley between two mountain ranges. There was actually an outdoor clothes fashion show the other day in town center. It is also a very musical city, as there seems to be a band playing nearly every night (even the week after MidEurope). Finally, they have very good ice cream here! My small group (the mountain goats), have now tried three different ice cream shops. All of them offer scoops for 1 euro, but the best one will give you a large scoop, allow you to mix flavors, and gives you the option of a waffle cone for only 20 cents more!
To any readers who are still with me, thanks for reading!
Tomorrow is a free day, and there is talk of a trip to Salzburg, so I may be blogging about that next time.
Until then, Globetrotter out
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