Report

Pretty soon after moving to Vienna I learned about the Grossglockner. It was always a bit formidable but I cautiously kept my eye on it. Over the first 2 years or so I’d ask around to see who’s done it and what it takes. Really asking if a couple scrubs like us could climb it. When Jo’s cousin, Joe, came to town to do some backcountry skiing, we looked at doing this peak. However, bad weather kept us away.

Almost weekly the next 6 months or so, I’d watch the weather and see if the conditions were favorable. Johanna was pretty nervous about this one. It’s not just a hike. It requires technical skill and errors get people killed every year. I felt like we were prepared and capable of this, but wanted the most favorable conditions we could get. So, late in the season in September, we decided to make our attempt.

We started our trek from Kals am Glockner, a town in the valley southwest of the peak. We got to the trailhead late one Friday night and slept in the back of our car at the trailhead. The next morning we started our ascent. We had a reservation at the Erzherzog Johann Hutte (the highest hut in Austria) that night, which was nearly a 4000 foot climb from the trailhead. Our original intention was to summit that afternoon, spend the night at the hut, and return to the valley the next morning.

Jo was stressed about time, but we didn’t need to be, our backup plan was to summit the next morning, so we slowly climbed the highest peak in Austria. On the way up we passed Studl Hutte, the other hut option on this route. After passing this hut, we crossed over to the glacier. There we got into our crampons, roped up, and started to cross/ascend the glacier. It wasn’t a long hike across, and we soon arrived at the Klettersteig section. We packed up the crampons, and got into our via-ferrata gear and began our climb. The climb takes you up on to the southeast ridge and then finally up to the Johann Hutte. This section was mentally tough as now the clouds had rolled in and we couldn’t see how far we needed to go.

Eventually we arrived at the hut, got something to eat, and contemplated finishing the climb to the summit that day. The problem was we were tired and everything was cloud covered. It would have been a shame if we climbed all that way, only to be socked in at the top of Austria. So we opted to just chill the rest of the afternoon at the hut and try for the summit the next day. That night we ate the dinner the hut provided (spaghetti) and chatted with the other mountaineers. Quickly we discovered that we were maybe the only people there who were climbing the peak un-guided. Obviously we knew that most people hired guides, but I had felt like we were totally capable. We slept that night eager and uneasy.

At around 4:30 AM we woke up, grabbed a quick breakfast and were one of the first groups out that dark, cold, morning. After only 15 minutes or so we got back into our crampons and harnesses to cross some steep snow fields on the way to the ridge. We followed the trail of headlamps to the ridge and began to climb. One of the reasons I felt okay about this climb was the fact that there are pylons along the ridge from which you can quickly belay. Jo and I stayed roped up, and one of us would always be looped around one of these pylons as the other made forward progress. This system dramatically increased the safety of the route in my opinion.

The guided groups flew by us as we took our time navigating the ridge and we eventually made it to the top of Austria. It was an exhilarating experience and one that I had been planning for for months. All the self-doubt about whether we could climb such a mountain on our own. I was filled with pride as we had conquered a pretty technically challenging peak on our own. After enjoying the moment for around 10 minutes, we made our way back down the ridge to the hut. After packing up our gear we descended the cliff back down to the glacier and hiked the rest of the way down.

This peak is the one that I am most proud of. It was mentally and technically challenging and I’m proud of both Jo and myself for having the ability to do it. It filled me with confidence to tackle other peaks that may appear out of our league (according to the internet) and I’m excited to continue to test our abilities on other peaks.

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