Michael's Musings

What's a happenin'

2009-05-28T12:27:00.003+01:00

Been really busy, away on vacation, etc. But the big story 'round here is Kris and her running. She has been really amazing. Check out her story of what is going on lately as well as how she got started running:

But mostly, I’ve been focusing my energies into running. I am kind of going through a mid-life crisis of sorts and decided I need to get off my lazy butt and exercise. I started back in November, kind of casually - about 2 or so times a week. I am ashamed to admit that I couldn’t go more than a block or two without getting winded. Then I became more serious whenever I went to Hawaii in December, upping it to 3 miles/3x a week. When we came back to Munich, I continued on, through the rain, snow and cold.

Back to the Martinswand

2009-04-28T08:32:00.003+01:00

Uli, Dan and I had a plan to climb the Gerberkreuz above Mittenwald. We worried about snow on the approach, but the rock looked dry and ready to climb. However, when we got out at the parking lot it was damn cold! And it seemed like it might rain. We really wanted to be in "the alpine," but the risk of hiking 2 hours just to get rained out led us to drive south to the Martinswand.

Pretty much the last rock climb I did last year was when Dan and I climbed the first 4 pitches of the Auckenthaler Riss on the Martinswand. We had started late in the day after the Ostriss (VI) and "Flying Grass (VII-)," and just ran out of daylight. So it was funny to go back there now, intent on the same goal. But this time we were starting in the morning!

The Auckenthaler Riss is an old classic, and features VII- crack climbing. It's also quite polished. On the other hand, it's been completely bolted, so the fear evens out!

We scrambled up the rather serious approach. Uli took the first block of three pitches, first climbing a chimney with a cruxy move (V) at the start of the second pitch. Then one more pitch led to the start of the Auckenthaler crack proper. Now I led a block. The first pitch had a dicey face move or two, then offered some jams in the crack. This was as high as Dan and I got last year.

From this point the route is absolutely vertical for the next several pitches. Some grade VI climbing led straight up with crack and face moves. When Uli came up, there was some excitement because he tested a little column of rock on the right to see if he could use it. But it exploded into pieces! Thankfully it all flew away and didn't hit Dan, who was climbing up about 10 meters below. Also, we saw another party had begun the route below, and happily because the route leans leftward for a long ways, they were also safe. Whew!

For my last lead I started up a vertical crack, then knew I was in the crux VII- section because of my shaking "elvis leg!" I remember one good hand jam, although too low to reach up. Then a dime-edged face hold above that. I had one foot jammed in the crack, and the other floating in space. Some kind of forgotten magic of swapping hands and smearing saw me through. "Whoo!" I yawped.

Dan and Uli came up, finding it pretty exciting. Uli is new to crack climbing, so it was especially "evil." :D.

Now Dan led a block of three pitches, the first two continued the "absolutely vertical" theme. The second of those had a set of very delicate crux VII- moves. Dan used a point of aid, as a piton with a fixed sling hung temptingly in the way. When following, I was able to avoid it, but just barely. It was more of a face climb for a few moves, then there was a poor hand-jam, just slightly too high to power up on. You had to be patient and get your feet a bit higher before you could yard on the jam. All the while, the Inn River and highway pull at you from below. I think this part overhung slightly.

Another easier pitch, then we were done! But Uli's book mentioned a 3 pitch grade V variation exit. "Go for it, Uli, it's your block!" So he took off, combining the first two pitches. It was certainly a more fun way to exit the route than the ocean of dirty rock that makes up the normal way off to the left. The route tried to find a way up the most solid rock. Eventually, we reached a little "rescue station" where the alpine rescue team has stashed some gear and some strong anchors for rappelling down along the Auckenthaler Riss. Here we unroped and hiked down in very strong wind.

After the long hike, I still had energy, so we went to the OeAV Klettergarten. We climbed two fantastic pitches as one 50 meter lead. The route was grade V, but felt harder, probably due to the terrible polish on the first slab pitch. But these two pitches had a lot of variety: slab, pockets, cracks, even an overhang. That Klettergarten is quite large, we'll have to go back to it.

On a funny note, I ate "Goo" all day, having recently re-read Mark Twight's "Extreme Alpinism," and thinking I need to pay more attention to how I eat in the mountains. It worked really well. I was so up, and could have kept climbing 2-3 more hours until dark. But the city called us home. Dan was wasted from a transatlantic flight and Uli had dinner with Anna. I got in just in time for dinner with the family too. A great day out!

Fun times in Riva

2009-04-14T18:42:00.003+01:00

Kris, the boys and I packed up early Friday morning and drove down to Riva del Garda, a great little town on the north end of the Garda Lake in Italy. It's a good four hour drive, but the trade off is that you get to a place where it's usually warm and sunny. Although I can't complain, the weather in Germany had been great for more than a week.

It was my first week of working at home. Wow, it's too early to break out the champagne of course, but I have to say I really am enjoying it. The boys were home all week because of spring break, but they were very good and never bothered me when my office door was closed. I would start work around 10 am, take a lunch break at 12 or 1, then come back and work until 7 or so. I had no trouble concentrating, and in fact the day flew by each time because the work was so interesting. It's great to be learning about the .NET world again! Lots has changed, and lots is still the same.

The lunch breaks were really fun because Kris, the boys and I would go eat a sandwich outside in a park area.

But anyway, back to the story. As we started to leave Munich Kris saved us by asking me if I had both tents...I didn't! Whew...easily fixed. Then, at the lake we were worried that the campsites would all be full, but we found a spot. It is "high season" there, full of Germans, who seem to outnumber the Italians by 2 or 3 to 1. We made friends with some of our campground neighbors, meeting a nice couple from Munich with a son that Rowan and Elijah really loved playing with. There was a playground just 50 feet away from our tent, and we would let the boys run over there and play furiously.

We also brought climbing gear, as I hoped to gently introduce Rowan and Elijah to rock climbing. This area is one of the world famous climbing destinations, generally named for the town 3 miles north called "Arco." There are thousands of rock climbs on the walls above the lake and further north. We found a very easy area on low-angle slabs, and after an adventure of squeezing our car through a very narrow alleyway, we walked up a short steep trail to reach the rock. I climbed up, clipping several bolts while Kris belayed, then lowered down so the boys could try the 30 meter long slab climb. The key is that there is nothing for your hands to grab onto, you just have to trust the friction of your shoes.

Elijah and Rowan both climbed it so easily! They just have no fear. Kris climbed it too, but her feet haven't been in rock shoes for so long they it was kind of grim duty! Then I climbed up and belayed the boys from the top. Here are some pictures. Of course I was a proud dad!

Elijah at the top

Elijah climbing up

Rowan at the top

Afterwards, they obligingly posed for a portrait:

Camping was good fun. Our Thermarest pads seem to be kind of leaky. Kris woke up groaning every day, and I was always nonplussed to see how much air had left my Thermarest. Hmpf! But tent life was fun. Here, we are watching "The Incredibles" after another very full day:

One day we went up to the castle above Arco. The boys and I had been there once, but it was great to show their Mommy. We had a nice picnic and lazed about. Elijah was keen to make sure we got this picture of him with his mouth full of M&Ms:

Here is what Arco looks like. Really beautiful, IMHO!

Later, during nap time, I went on a hike of my own, climbing up 3700 feet, sometimes via long vertical ladders on the "Way of Friendship" special route above Riva. At the top, I found ankle deep snow, which slowed my return trip on the steepest "trail" I ever saw. It was so steep and narrow that one mis-step could be a disaster. In my opinion, the more technical "ladders" were much easier than the seemingly benign return trail down the north side of the mountain. Here is a scene looking down on Riva and the lake from the top of the last ladder:

On Sunday evening we did some more climbing, enduring a rather nerve-wracking walk through a car tunnel with no sidewalk to reach the area. But it was right on the water, and the light was just perfect:

Elijah climbs the crack!

There was a great finger crack to aid progress up a somewhat smoother and steeper slab than before. Elijah and Rowan both had fun again. Here you can see the angle of the slab:

Later I climbed the route that the person above is standing on, it was about 5.8 YDS, a pretty fun slab with a few tricky moves! The boys climb was about 5.6, I think.

Finally Monday came around and it was time to go home. I made us stop for a picnic near Scharnitz, Austria because the sun was so nice. We got these pictures of happy kids:

Kris made a delicious pasta dinner with Olive Oil from the fields around Arco. It was incredible. Somewhat lighter than normal, but very flavorful.

Thanks to Kris and the boys for an amazing little trip! Can't wait for the next one. For all the pictures see my Flickr set here.

A trip to Belgium

2009-04-05T09:00:00.003+01:00

So I just had my first week of work at my new company, Advanced Medical Diagnostics. I flew up to Brussels early Monday morning, and came home Friday night. I was lucky that there was a training on use of the HistoScanning device Monday, and then a great dinner at a local restaurant that night which gave me more insight into the company.

In between asking lots of questions to set up my machines, get passwords, etc., I even managed to help out with some .NET memory management questions and SOS/Windbg debugging. Maybe one of the bigger accomplishments of the week was refreshing my brain on the whole gamut of minutiae involved in that work from the CLR days. It's cool to be a customer of .NET technology now!

The weather in Belgium was amazing. The office is in Waterloo, a suburb of Brussels and the site of Napoleon's famous defeat 200 years ago. I went for a jog one evening, cutting across fields just outside of town on bike trails. The land slopes gently at times. There was a great sunset, surprisingly late. I couldn't be sure, but it looked like clouds were coming back in as I left Friday night, after 5 days of blue skies.

The people at the company are really friendly folks too, I'm looking forward to getting to know them. Oh yeah, Wolfgang and I went to a climbing gym Thursday night. The grades were French, so I didn't really know what I was climbing. The hardest were a couple of 6a climbs. Enjoyed lots of great food too: an Ethiopian food place and an Indian food restaurant in Wolfgang's neighborhood were the best. Wolfgang also took me on an evening tour of the city, including the famous Manneken Pis. I bought some chocolate, but not the best...too sweet.

This next week will be working from home. I've already got a handful of projects, but so much more to learn too.

Next time: gotta try Belgian Waffles!

Ray Jardine

2009-03-23T18:47:00.002+01:00

Here is a quote from Ray Jardine that really struck me today:

Highway 90 led through a few small towns. Now in the afternoon, the headwinds grew stronger, laying the grasses over and of course slowing our progress further. I remembered something the last bicyclist we had met had said, when she described that first day of wind which had been so strong. She said it was "brutal" and that her whole day had been a battle. Ultimately, she could not reach her destination, so her husband picked her up in his van. That same day we had peddled nearly 90 miles, into the same wind. The difference was in attitude. What you focus on becomes your master, and it can and will defeat you. The past week we have experienced these strong headwinds, but have not battled them, nor tried to change them. We are not here to change anything; we are here to experience. And we are here to learn what nature has to teach us, and what the journey has to teach us. This difference in attitude is like night and day. When I mention the wind, I am making an observation, not a judgment. Most people tend to judge everything when they go into nature. Judging means comparing it to what they think it should be. And when you do that, you give it your strength and your power. We punch through this wind because we do not give it our strength. For us it is not brutal because we are not in battle.

This is from a 2004 bicycle trip he and his wife made across America. This couple have done so many amazing things I won't bother trying to even list them here. Probably the best thing he did for me, personally, was to get me thinking about traveling as light as possible in the mountains, indeed everywhere. Here is the link to his story about the bike ride.

The Sound of Music

2009-03-17T15:06:00.002+01:00

I grew up watching this movie, it was a favorite of my mom's. To this day, if you catch me whistling, it'll be a song from the musical. Okay, in my darker moods it'll be "The Imperial March Theme" from The Empire Strikes Back, but otherwise it'll be something from the Sound of Music.

Kris and I were puzzled at how few Germans know this musical, and of that set how few like it (we found no one). Usually people make a funny face and object using the word "kitsch." "But it's a good movie," I'll protest to no avail.

I stumbled across this article about a showing of the musical in Vienna. The story took place at a painful time in Austrian history, and folks there found it easier to forget that many Austrians were happy about the Anschluss with Nazi Germany. But now time has passed and maybe people in Austria can see why the rest of the world loves the story so much (including the Lederhosen and other kitschy elements).

The Sound Of Music is one of the world's favourite musicals, but it has hardly ever been seen in Austria because a lot of it takes place during a very painful time in the country's history when it was annexed to Hitler's Germany. But now a new stage version is playing to packed houses in Vienna.

Read the full article here.

Another article illuminates the painful choice the family made to leave Austria:

When the Nazis annexed Austria in 1938, the von Trapps realized that they were on thin ice with a regime they abhorred. Georg not only refused to fly the Nazi flag on their house, but he also declined a naval command and a request to sing at Hitler's birthday party. They were also becoming aware of the Nazis' anti-religious propaganda and policies, the pervasive fear that those around them could be acting as spies for the Nazis, and the brainwashing of children against their parents. They weighed staying in Austria and taking advantage of the enticements the Nazis were offering—greater fame as a singing group, a medical doctor's position for Rupert, and a renewed naval career for Georg—against leaving behind everything they knew—their friends, family, estate, and all their possessions. They decided that they could not compromise their principles and left.

Climbing "tribes"

2009-03-13T10:36:00.002+01:00

Somehow I missed this funny article a few years ago in the NYT. The author, Will Gadd, is a really amazing ice and mixed ice/rock climber. Here is a segment on "my tribe:"

The Trad tribe (short for traditional climber) believes that the bolts common to sport climbing are sacrilegious. A common trad bumper sticker reads, "Sport climbing is NEITHER!" Trad climbers use only removable or "clean" safety equipment. Beards, wool, third-hand clothing and Volkswagen vans are still common among the most holy of the Trads, but these climbers are not to be confused with mere hippies, although the priests of Trad climbing use the term "climbing bum" as an honorific. The Trads are the most evangelical and fundamentalist with their beliefs, which are well-documented in frequent ranting letters to the editors of the climbing magazines.

Check out the whole article here.

Neko Case

2009-03-10T15:02:00.002+01:00

I'm really liking "Middle Cyclone," the new album by Neko Case. I think my sister in Oklahoma would really like it. Here is a review from the New Yorker. Also the song Challengers from the New Pornographers is great, she sings on that. Finally, for all things Neko Case you should also check out this music sampler from the New York Times, and the fascinating article that goes with it. I hope she'll tour to Munich sometime. Oohh, a double feature with Neko Case and the Handsome Family would be an amazing show!

Sacred cow: the mortgage deduction

2009-02-26T10:39:00.002+01:00

In Germany we don't get to deduct interest on a mortgage from taxes. It does make it a bit less attractive to buy a home. This article exposes an interesting debate on how that deduction might distort housing cost and even land use:

...
Problem #1: Subsidizing interest payments encourages people to leverage themselves to the hilt to bet on housing markets. The size of the tax benefit is proportional to your debt. The deduction essentially encourages us to make leveraged bets on the swings of the housing market. That leverage means that housing price swings can easily wipe people out. We are currently experiencing the consequences of subsidizing gambles on housing.

Problem #2: The deduction pushes up prices in places where the supply of new homes is constrained, as it is in many coastal markets....

Read the rest here.

Tamara besucht uns!

2009-02-22T22:46:00.003+01:00

That means, Tamara came to visit!

Tamara found a last minute ticket deal that allowed her to come for two weeks of fun. She cooked us an amazing meal, she brought us mustard direct from Paris, she went to Venice with me, and other sundry fun items!

I have a Flickr photo set with all the pictures here. Click here to go straight to a slideshow view of the pictures. A few teaser pics are below:

The boys in the horse buggy at the Partnachklamm in Garmisch, Germany.

The fabled city of canals: Venice.

Michael and Tamara in the clock tower of Saint Mark's Square.

Kris and our neighbor in an exciting venue: our Lehel Farmer's Market!

Summitpost Bulk Uploader

2009-02-11T13:28:00.003+01:00

Last night I burned the midnight oil to finish a code project I've been working on since Christmas. It's a bulk uploader for Summitpost.org, a beloved site for many mountain climbers and hikers around the globe. Despite a snazzy "Web 2.0" interface, there is still no possibility to bulk upload pictures. Therefore, creating a content page on your favorite mountain or climbing route can become an exercise in manual drudgery once you upload more than 10 pictures or so.

First I wrote the tool on the Mac in Python with wxWidgets for the GUI. But deployment was a real pain, and I didn't feel I had sufficient control over the UI. So I re-wrote it in C++, also with wxWidgets. Right now I have a Windows version, but it shouldn't be too hard to port it to the Mac in the future.

Documentation and download information is here. There is a discussion page over at Summitpost already getting some interesting responses.

It's been a fun hobby project. Especially because I believe a lot of people will want to use it. That is very motivating!

Bike fall #4

2009-01-29T09:18:00.003+01:00

I've noticed that this blog chronicles all falls on my bike since moving to Munich. So I have to keep it up. I left work Monday in a good mood. After I got my bike I realized I forgot my gloves inside. Not a good idea in freezing Munich! So I rode around to the front of the building, just to step inside and get them. WHAM! Suddenly I was on the ground, slamming chest-first on the pavement, my bike skittering away into the street. Luckily no cars were coming. A passerby got my bike and another helped me up. Very embarrassing. I sat for a while rocking back and forth to work off the pain in my knee. A crowd gathered around me, telling me to get up. I said I was okay and just needed to sit a moment more. Everybody left but one guy stayed to lecture me for a long time about being careful, how it's dark, how you should get right up after you fall, etc. I didn't have the bandwidth to listen to him, I was just too confused as to how it happened so quickly.

So hopefully that is the (only) fall for this year!

Oh, the front plastic fender of the bike is a causality. Sigh. There goes 30 euros.

2009-01-29T09:15:00.002+01:00

I loved this comment from Steven Johnson's discussion about Lost:

Steven said:

"Lost" has the unique opportunity of proving you can build a narrative of mesmerizing implausibility that ultimately turns out to be entirely plausible simply by changing one elemental rule of the universe--and then not telling your audience about the rule change until the third act.

Then the commenter, TDAWWG, said:

Err, that's called a deus ex machina and is generally considered one of the worst storytelling faults, the quackiest canard, if you will, in the arsenal of terrible narrative humbuggery. It's not literally Father Zeus dropping out of the clouds to make everything all right at the end, but it's a similar kind of unfair trick, a fake plausibility: even worse when it's used, not out of desperation in ending an unwieldy plot, but from the beginning, as a ticking narratological time-bomb that will explode to the delight of the credulous.

Dunno, Twin Peaks proved there was a vital market for "one-damn-thing-after-another" storytelling, false portentiousness, etc.: why is Lost so special? Really, I'm curious, despite the snark....

Haha! I like Lost, but he makes a good point.

Made it just in time!

2008-12-14T22:08:00.002+01:00

I made it back from the architecture conference in Boston to play guitar at the kindergarten Christmas concert. It was really important because I took a book the kids really like, "Itsy Bitsy House" and made sheet music to it. The tune is really simple, but what was really amazing was the effort the teachers at school put into it. There are four animals in the story, and each one was played by a child in a great costume (a mouse, a dog, a cat and a billygoat). There was a house, there was "lightning" and many other props. Rowan played the Old Man who invites the cold animals into the house. I guess it's kind of a Christmas story in a way, too. Rowan was so cute in his beard and lederhosen! Kris took many pictures but tragically, because of a bug in the USB card reader software, they were all deleted!! Maybe we'll get some from some other parents later.

I used LilyPond to write the music up, and you can see my work here.

Good night Rowan

2008-12-10T22:44:00.002+01:00

I'm in Boston for the week, but Kris just sent the cutest thing. Here is Rowan's good night catechism:


i love you mommy
and i love my feet
and i love my hair
and i love my teeth
and i love my eyes
and i love my "Nase" (german for nose)
and i love my eyebrows
and i love my chocolate
and i love my chocolate ice cream
and i love my eggs
and i love my school
and i love my gray car
and i love my grandma from texas
and i love my grandma grandpa
and i love my cookies
and i love my Kalea
and i love my house
and i love my sponge bob square pants
and i love my people
and i love my daddy
and i love my brother elijah

NYT Article about South Tyrol

2008-12-04T16:53:00.002+01:00

South Tyrol (Südtirol in German, or Alto Adige in Italian) is the region south of us that encompasses some of the best Dolomite Mountains, along with the town of Bolzano and other wonders. The New York Times made a photo essay about the area with nice historical notes. I haven't read it all yet, but it seems to do a good job describing this region, my favorite region in Europe:

Every traveler has a landscape that, for him, contains the wonder and mystery behind all travel. It could be the beach, or a cathedral square, or the rain forest, or a volcanic island — for me, it is the mountain pass...

Read the article here.

BTW, the Times may require registration to view the page. It is free.

Cute cartoon

2008-11-20T13:05:00.001+01:00

I'll try this line with the kids if they complain! :D

It was inline in an article about foreclosure in the New Yorker.

St. Martin's Day

2008-11-11T23:45:00.002+01:00

Today was St. Martin's Day. Kids all over Germany make paper lanterns and go out in the night. At our Kindergarten they re-enacted the story of St. Martin. A poor, sick man was by the side of the road, very cold. St. Martin was a knight on a powerful horse, with armor and a beautiful red cape. The man asked him for help. In response, he tore his cape in half, and gave half to the sick man. That is the story of St. Martin.

I played guitar and sang with the kids in the morning, and so I didn't go in the evening. Only after seeing the pictures and hearing about the little play they put on did I realize I made a big mistake! I'm sad to have missed it. But Kris has pictures here.

Frank Rich does it again

2008-11-10T10:19:00.001+01:00

Great post by Frank Rich in today's NYT:

For eight years, we’ve been told by those in power that we are small, bigoted and stupid — easily divided and easily frightened. This was the toxic catechism of Bush-Rove politics. It was the soiled banner picked up by the sad McCain campaign, and it was often abetted by an amen corner in the dominant news media. We heard this slander of America so often that we all started to believe it, liberals most certainly included. ...

So let’s be blunt. Almost every assumption about America that was taken as a given by our political culture on Tuesday morning was proved wrong by Tuesday night.

Read the whole thing here.

Two hikes with the boys

2008-11-09T22:59:00.003+01:00

In the last week I went on two great hikes with the boys. First was on Breitenstein, with Angie, Josef, Felix, Helga and Evelyn. We were a big group! But the boys felt right at home, holding Josef's hand, or Helga's or Evelyn's at different times.

The hike up got a little boring for the kids. But with everyone helping we always found something, like roots or mushrooms or water. I have such a hard time hiking up a dirt road, I really have to sympathize with the kiddos! Finally, after about 1000 feet of hiking and another 300 more ahead I was getting worried about the overall size of the effort. Along came a jeep with an older couple who offered a ride to the kids...angels! I got in with the boys and we bounced up the steep narrow road, passing Josef, Angie and friends who looked bemused. The kids giggled at every bump in the road. What a treat! They were very nice. They let us off at a pass that marked our hut (I forgot the name of it).

Angie and the others arrived, and the boys did their best to eat all the cake they brought. They continued on to the summit but me and the fellas went to the hut for long-promised cake and ice cream (this is how I get kids to hike!). I have a picture of them waiting impatiently at the table.

We finally started down on a long journey. But as long as the boys got chances to stop and play with rocks, water or toy trains (preferably all at once), they were happy. I hoped this would be the first of many special trips with dad.

Next, after a week of pestering me to go hiking again, we hiked up the Kranzhorn. Well, we didn't tag the summit, but we reached the hut/playground just a bit below the summit. Again we had beautiful weather, and made a wise choice to hike up on a steep trail that had warm southern exposure. The views of the Inn River Valley (or Inntal as they say here) were amazing. I think this is one of the best view peaks around. The elevation gain was around 1000 feet. The boys definitely got tired at the end, though it was hard to tell if it was boredom or worn-out legs. Rowan actually has a cold, and seemed to have learned how to cough theatrically in the last few days. He's like an old Pennsylvania coal-miner! At one point he adopted another family, running up and holding hands with the mother. How awkward I felt! Oh well, I hiked with them for a while, then improvised an "Apple Juice Stop" that allowed them to go their own way.

The hut was a real treat. There was a slide and a petting zoo, but it was the last day it would be open this year and the rabbits and goats were already stowed away somewhere warm. Too bad! But the slide and other playground equipment were amusing. I had a delicious Weissbier and Kaiserschmarmm, though Elijah ate almost all the applesauce. The kids had Apfelstruedel and cream. It was very good!

We played this game where they would go into a little house, and I'd go on a hill across the way. They'd try to lure me over. Only when they got far enough out of the house would I come running down the hill to get them. They'd scream bloody murder and race for the house! They'd usually beat me. I was a little drunk so I put extra acting into the "monster" bit running down the hill.

Though I had "summit fever" I judged it was wiser to be prudent and preserve the store of laughing and fun we'd had rather than spend limited energy on the final climb. So we finally left, going down the easy way on a dirt road. But Rowan fell down after a few minutes and kind of mumble-cried for a long time! Poor fella, he was really tired. The kids got me to stop and let them play with their trains at a couple of culverts along the way. We also explored an abandoned bulldozer. "So viele Wildnis hier und sie wollen nur mit eine Maschine spielen!" I said to an older couple who laughed, forgetting that Maschine means jet airplane, not just any old machine.

10 minutes in the car with the heater on and I was the only one awake.

Alps versus Cascades

2008-11-07T09:19:00.002+01:00

Recently on a Summitpost forum we were talking about the Alps and the Cascades. I spent a few minutes outlining my thoughts...

jordansahls wrote:

Nice climb, thanks for the link MVS. Also, as a former Cascade Knight, and now a current Alps extraordinaire, how would you compare the two? I know, I know, you cant REALLY compare them, but for the progression of conversation, what would you have to say? I have never climbed in the Alps, but I picture them as being a much larger, more easily accessible form of the cascades, with better rock of course. It seems like over here in the North Cascades, we have more of the "adventure " deal with long bushwacks and a lack of huts. Not to mention the many miles people will put on to climb a few pitches of rock or ice.

Good question Jordan, and one I could wax on about forever. The Cascades will always be my "home range," the one I compare everything to. That said, I'll spend a few minutes focused on the alps...

What is so great about the Alps: I am in the Eastern Alps, which are almost all limestone. The amount of alpine rock climbing here is incredible. You would never, ever run out. From the mountains outside of Munich straight south through the Dolomites the riches are immense. You almost can't compare the Cascades, because there are so many more such climbs. Also wintertime access is much better. And huts open all winter deep in the mountains mean you can get to areas that would be completely "sealed off" in the Cascades. The amount of backcountry skiing terrain is enormous.

What surprised me about the alps: much less crowded than I thought. Especially if you climb adventure/"old school" routes. You'll see between 0 and 2 parties, just like in the Cascades. Also, I walked the famous "Chamonix to Zermatt" Haute Route, and saw only 3-6 people per day in amazing country. That was a big surprise.

What is disappointing about the Alps: of course they are bigger, badder, and have so much wonderful infrastructure. But I found a few sad things. One, the weather in the summer is unstable. August can be extremely rainy, I think it's the worst summer month during the three years I've been here. Two, it can be hard to find folks who understand the desire for adventure/"no bolt" climbing. I think I've frightened many europeans with my idea of a great weekend of climbing! (4 am start, use the whole day until dark, so what if there are no bolts, yes we are only two on a glacier, etc.) Smile

Still learning: It takes a long time to discover the weather patterns, the unexpectedly nice areas you overlooked before, the like-minded friends. My first few years in the Cascades were very unproductive because I didn't understand the weather. I've been going through that here and am getting better. I also learned how to backcountry ski here and that's added a great new dimension to my year (made winter more fun).

I've been here 3 years now and my feelings about living here are very positive, but complicated too. It's hard to know when/if we will go back or not. One thing for sure, if we do go back it'll be to the Old Home...the Cascades!

Thanks for the opportunity to jawbone...

The Martinswand

2008-10-22T22:24:00.003+01:00

Dan P. and I had the day to climb. With recent snowfall, we needed to stay at lower elevations, preferably south facing. I chose the Martinswand. I'd been there once before to climb a via ferrata which was kind of "blech." Sorry, but it's just not a mountain experience when you are endlessly pulling yourself up metal cables, not touching rock at all!

Here is the wall:

First we did a 5 pitch route called "Flying Grass." Rated VII- (5.10b/c), it's completely bolted. There were some interesting moves, though the VII- crux was too hard for us! We could pull past it, and enjoy several VI/VI+ pitches in better style.

Above this route, we scrambled a ways to the west to reach the start of the Ostriss, rated VI (5.9). This is a 4-5 pitch vertical crack climb. The first pitch was a little scruffy, but had a nice character all the same. The second pitch had the first real crack climbing. This being limestone, there were only a few good jams, but I loved the steepness. At the top of this pitch was an airy semi-hanging belay. Dan took off for another steep pitch while I admired the Inn River far below, and the noisy autobahn. Across the valley the snow on the Stubai Alps was melting visibly. I combined the last two pitches, which had a slab, then another steep corner pitch.

We hiked down to the car, then moved west to climb the Auckenthaler Riss (Auckenthaler Crack), rated VII-. It took quite a while to find the start of this route, and unfortunately we ran out of time to finish it. We climbed 4 interesting pitches. The last one, at grade VI-, gave a foretaste of the consistently hard pitches that would follow. Alas, we'd have to wait for another day. With our single 50 meter rope we had to be adventurous in our rappels to the base. A long downclimb back to the car ensued.

All of these routes are either completely bolted, or just need a small selection of small/medium cams to protect. The Auckenthaler Riss is 9 pitches, climbing almost the entire wall. Not bad for a "climbing garden" right beside the road!

Lago di Garda

2008-10-22T20:28:00.004+01:00

We went to Gardasee for 3 days, for our first camping trip with the boys. It was great! We stayed at a campground right on the beach in Riva di Garda (click on the link to visit a map to show you where this is exactly). The Lago di Garda is a huge lake on the edge of the Alps. It's far enough south, and low enough that it has a warmer climate, which is perfect for fall and spring when the northern alps are wet. The drive is about 3.5 hours from Munich.

We thought the boys would be scared to sleep in their own tent but they loved it. Every night we'd walk along the beach in the moonlight. In the day we'd get gelato, which is this amazing Italian version of ice cream. We'd ride a ferry to another town, or go for a drive up the mountain. The boys loved climbing up the town tower, or one day, when we went to Arco, they walked steeply uphill with me for 20 minutes to the castle above the town. I'm really impressed with them!

Later we visited our friend Daniel and his family in Bolzano. They took us out for Pizza, and we had a great time catching up with them. I'm amazed by Daniel's bike racing schedule. He has raced up the steepest passes in the Alps.

I did one unusual thing, climbing the Via Ferrata d'Amicizia in the moonlight one evening. It was fantastic climbing ladders up vertical cliffs with the lake and town far below, all bathed in blue moonlight. I reached the summit at midnight, and came down a different way that led me to a sort of shrine in the middle of the cliff face. The townspeople built this chapel to the virgin sometime in the 40s or 50s.

We got climbing harness for Elijah and Rowan too. Climbing and camping, here we come!

Good ol' Tom Toles

2008-09-26T11:31:00.001+01:00

He is a genius:

The Wallbergbahn

2008-09-19T21:37:00.003+01:00

On the first weekend Mom came, I took her and the boys to Tegernsee, where we rode the Wallbergbahn up that mountain to a restaurant. It was Sunday morning, and there is a beautiful little chapel up there:

There was a church service going on! Somber horns were playing, and the priest and all the listeners were standing outside. We went up close to listen a while. Both boys were very quiet. It was a neat place. We sat and looked out at the Tegernsee and the neat plains of green stretching away to the north. Here are some more pictures:

All of the pictures from Mom's trip can also be seen easily here.