A jaunt in Austria

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After a month in London, with no jobs on the horizon, we took the opportunity for a quick jaunt to Austria to experience the Alps for the first time. Of course, when you are living off savings, corners tend to be cut and we found ourselves at the coach station, waiting for a bus to Stansted at an ungodly hour of a Saturday morning.

Munich was scorching hot, despite it being early, so we found a packed beer garden and settled in to wait for the others to join us. I wished I had brought a dictionary though. Ordering off the menu, the beer was straightforward. When it came to mains, we needed some assistance from the waitress. I happily tucked into what I thought was a delicious veal goulash. I was later informed that it was foal.

We took the train to Innsbruck and found our way to Obergurgl to start our trek. The day didn't begin well, with rain falling relatively steadily. Things got worse as we headed up into the Alpine area. We found ourselves amongst claps of thunder and lightning. Ben was in a bit of a panic as he had two ice axes hanging off his pack. Hannah was quick to point out that hers was much longer and stuck up like an antenna. It was torture trying to race up the hill to the hut, in the rain, while feeling the effects of altitude and a good few months without a decent walk. We were astounded by the facilities at the hut. Being kiwis, we were quite unused to buying beer or joining the others for a communal 3 course meal, cooked by a bear of a man who spoke little but made up for it in pointed looks.

We traded stories with some dutch climbers and quickly agreed that they had had a worse day. They found themselves stuck on a pass, slogging through thigh deep snow, while lightning raged around them. They casually described how their ice axes were ringing and their hair was sticking up on end. Thankfully, they reached the hut without incident.

Our luck did not improve the following day. We intended to cross the glacier and climb to a pass, however, the valley was thick with clag and it was difficult to see your own hand in front of you. When the cairns we were following mysteriously stopped, we found ourselves wandering in circles on the glacial moraine trying to find a good entry onto the glacier. After much discussion, we gave up and retreated to the hut. More discussion ensued during lunch and eventually we decided to bail and catch a bus to the next valley. This proved to be a good decision. Later that night, we once again encountered our dutch friends. They had had an epic day on the pass. The snow field that used to provide easy access on and off the glaciers no longer exists and they had to abseil off the pass in the clag, then teeter down slippery rock covered in a fresh layer of snow. They made it to the next hut 14 hours later, but were worried that we would try and follow them.

The next few days were fantastic. We had some good clear weather and managed to find some excellent glacier travel. We had thrown in the rope and a few harnesses almost as an after thought, but found ourselves using them for the majority of every day. It was strange coming across well stocked huts and ski fields on what we thought were remote passes. But we were happy to enjoy the hearty meals at each stop that the gondola's made possible. Some huts even had hot showers.

Our last day was a bit of a race against the weather. We were still one valley over from where we needed to be. We could see the clouds building behind us as we walked. We made it to the final pass, just in time. The skies opened, just as we began our descent. Thankfully there was still snow about and we were able to slide straight down the hill, instead of zig zag down the goat track. There was one moment of brown pants terror as a great flash of lightning cracked behind us. We must have been an entertaining sight, drowned rats, running as fast as we could down a steep snow slope, occasionally falling through and trying to get to shelter as quickly as possible. While we were standing in the rain, contemplating the long walk back to Solden, a public bus drove by. We took the opportunity of a ride back to Solden and saved our feet the final few hours walk.

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