At last! But…

alpsAustriaMini adventuresThe AlpsHikingMountains Snowy mountains Austria trip 2023Campervan Life

Sep 15

Sunday 10th September 2023

About a week ago Mrs P worked her magic and found a shop nearby, where I could get new boots.

*Shiny shoes. Note the carefully blanked out price tag*

*My new boots, failing to make me look any less dorky*

I was initially reluctant to part with €520 just to climb one snowy mountain but, as Mrs P veraciously pointed out, it’s not like it will be our last snowy mountain AND the boots are cheaper here in Europe than at home in the UK (I blame Brexit. Don’t get me started!)

So, now I had the boots, we just needed to find a suitable mountain to climb. There was a period of good weather due, so we consulted our ‘book of snowy mountains’ …

Our really not very old and yet, horribly inaccurate guide book. A summer image of our chosen peak is shown on the right

…and elected to climb a mountain called The Fneilspitze. I mean, why would I not want to climb a mountain that is practically named after me. Just imagine the title of the summit photo, “Neil Pitts on the Fneilspitze.” A nice easy bimble across a pretty glacier followed by a short, but airy knife edge arrete (ridge). What’s not to like?

The mountain is too big to do in one day, so we booked a couple of beds in a dormitory in the nearest mountain hut, packed our harnesses, rope, crampons, ice axes and two days of lunches into our now very heavy rucksacks. I fastened on my lovely new boots and off we set. It was a five hour hike from a place called Vent, at the end of one branch of the Ötztal valley, to the Similaunhuette (Similaun hut) 14 kilometres (8.5 miles) and 1,200 metres above us.

*We left Gandalf languishing in a field*

*For the first two-and-a-half hours we had a great view of Austria’s sixth highest mountain, The Similaun*

We are both somewhat out of practice carrying heavy bags and it showed. Mrs P was concerned about me wearing new boots.

“How are the boots?” she asked

“Fine.”I lied “Like slippers.” I fibbed.

I threw in a few more terminological innexactitudes for good measure, but the limp was giving me away so we stopped at the Martin Busche Hutte on the way for coffee and some Compede (blister plasters).

*Mrs P, showing off in boots that didn’t hurt*

After our little rest we trudged on. You can’t see the Fneilspitze from the valley we hiked up, but it is behind (and higher than) the glaciated mountain in the below picture.

*After three hours we spotted a small dot on the ridge far in the distance.*

That tiny dot was our destination. The hut. It is on the ridge in the LH corner of the photo above. Near where the mountain on the far left meets the ridge. Or in short, a bloomin’ long way away.

*We finally arrive at the Similaunheute where we were soon to receive a spot of bad news*

We arrived at the Similaunheute after a very respectable 4 hours and 15 minutes, beating the advertised five hours by a whole 45 minutes (look at me doing simple maths for you!).

We booked in and told the lovely owner what we intended to climb the following day (this is a standard question on arrival. They like to know where everyone is in case something goes wrong). “The Fneilspitze.” I proudly announced. Adding the bit about us having similar names, which went completely over her head. “Do many people climb it from this hut?” I asked, hoping she would say something like, “No, only really tough climbers do the Fneilspitze.” Instead she said something that made our jaws drop.

“Oh, lots of people climb it now that the glacier is gone.”

We couldn’t believe our ears. “Gone!? The glacier is gone? The enormous white thing that is supposed to take about an hour to walk across, is gone!? But our book says it is a glacier climb!” we said. “…and we’re carrying all our glacier kit. It weighs a tonne.” I added in metric, because she was European.

“Oh, you poor things. Well, you won’t need it.” she said. She consoled us by suggesting, “You could climb the Similaun instead.”

Time for a bit of background. The Similaunheute (Similaun Hut) lies on the once heavily contested border of Austria and Italy. It is a private hut that has been looked after by the same family for nearly 125 years. Due to wars and politics it has been in situated in both Austria and Italy. Until the next war the hut currently resides in Italy. It’s all terribly confusing.

The hut is named after the mountain I have already mentioned, the Similaun, because it dominates the view.

*Mrs P outside the Similaunheute with the Similaun peak in the background.*

As we have been noticing over the last few years, global warming is having a devastating effect on glaciers in Europe. Just 20 years ago the glacier in the above picture would have come right across to where the hut is. Accessing the glacier from the hut used to be a walk of just a short few metres as the glacier snaked off down past the hut for a couple of kilometres. Now, you must hike for 20 minutes before you get to the start of the glacier. More than two kilometres of ice, to a depth of around 50 metres and a kilometre across has just disappeared. Melted. Is it any wonder there is more moisture in the air and more flooding?

So, there is no glacier on the Fneilspitze and we carried a lot of heavy kit up. My how cheerful we weren’t as we sat trying to decide what to do.

We were booked in for the night with evening meal and breakfast provided. We needed to make a decision. Plan A: Climb the Fneilspitze with all our kit, alongside people in trainers probably. Or, a new plan B: Use our kit to climb the Similaun instead, meaning we would miss a side visit to the spot where Ötzi the iceman was found back in 1991. A spot we have been desperate to visit for years now. What to do? Oh, hang on… do I smell dinner? Hold that decision for a while.