We spent our family vacation this year in the Bavarian Alps mostly in Bad Reichenhall where my wife grew up. This centuries old Bavarian town is located on the Saalach River near the Austrian border about 10 kilometers from Salzburg and 15 kilometers from Berchtesgaden. A literal translation of Bad Reichenhall would be "Spa Rich in Salt." Salt mining from brine pools dates back to 450 BC in this area. Salt production from Permo-Triassic (250 MYA) salt deposits including solution mining using brine extraction wells continues to this day.


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Cretaceous (70 MYA) limestone of the Northern Calcareous Alps, Predigtstuhl in Bad Reichenhall (1,613 meters; 5,292 ft)

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This area is also rich in Alpine climbing history dating back to the late 1800s. For example many of the early attempts on the Eiger Nordwand were made by Bavarian and Austrian climbers, including Anderl Hinterstoisser (Bad Reichenhall), Toni Kurz (Berchtesgaden), Anderl Heckmair (Munich), Heinrich Harrer (Huttenberg, Austria), etc.

Anderl Hinterstoisser's gravestone in the St Zeno cemetery in Bad Reichenhall.

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In recent times, the Kugelbach Alm in Bad Reichenhall has been a favorite hangout for the Huber Brothers and the late Dean Potter while he was visiting Bavaria. An Alm is a farm house generally located on a ridge top or summit that was used for grazing cattle during the summer months. Many of the Alms have been converted to restaurants where you can have a great meal, drink a Weissbier, and have Germknoedel for dessert. Heidi, shown here with her dog, runs the Kugelbach Alm. She is good friends with the Huber Brothers and was aware of the tragic accident that killed Dean Potter and Graham Hunt. Heidi and the Kugelbach Alm were featured in Pepe Danquart's documentary film "Am Limit" about the Huber Brothers' attempts to break the speed record on the Nose.


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Arne and Sascha enjoying a Bier and Germknoedel at the Kugelbach Alm

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My niece Eva arranged for a day of sport climbing with Alex, a local Bad Reichenhall climber. Both Eva and Alex are students at the University of Augsburg. Eva and I spent an afternoon with Alex and his friend Jonas climbing several short, bolt-protected sport climbs on limestone in the V to VII- range near Thumsee, a lake on the outskirts of Bad Reichenhall.

Thumsee

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Alex is an accomplished rock climber and alpinist who is a former member of the elite German Mountain troops (Gebirgstruppe) who train in the Alps.

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Alex and Jonas did all the leading. The routes are typical sport climbs, fairly steep but well protected with bolts about every 10 feet. According to Alex, the German Alpine Club insists that these sport climbs are outfitted with closely spaced bolts, even where there is ample opportunity for placing gear in nearby cracks. This has lead to some conflict with local climbers who have removed hangers from bolts and, in some cases, chopped bolts. Apparently recently the local police had to intervene to stop the bolt chopping.

Here's Alex working out a sequence on TR on one of his projects.

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It was a blast to get out and do some climbing here.

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Eva working on technique. Note bolt located near crack that could reasonably be protected using a small cam.

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Cooling off afterward with a swim in the Thumsee.

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Here's the crew after a hard day's work in the Saltbergwerk Salt Mine ;-)
(from left to right: me, Eva, Nick, Ingrid, Nina, Andy and Sascha)

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