Wendenstocke. For alpine rock climbers the word conjures up images of steep high quality grey limestone with a big adventure element. Not only due to the widely spaced bolts but also the steep scrambling approaches. Friendly and convenient modern sport climbing this is not! But for those willing to hike, scramble, ‘run it out’ and use some alpinist skills along the way, this is a magical & inspiring place to climb. Welcome, to Wendenstocke….
Kev heading up the beautiful upper Wenden Valley, West of the Sustenpass in the Swiss canton of Bern. The cliffs of Wendenstock above. The route of Caminando takes the steep grey wall just right of the narrow black water streak in the upper centre of this photo. The grassy and rocky scrambling approach can be seen below with the route leading right to the top of the pinnacle just below the cloud base.
The steep approach hike to the bivi cave below the Reissend Nollen. Caminando takes the grey and slightly orange wall high on the right and to the right of the main cascade / wet streak.
Our chosen route, Caminando, is on the Reissend Nollen, at the eastern end of the Wendenstocke wall. Reissend Nollen is a reference to the steepness and frequency of avalanches in winter and spring as snow and rock debris tears down the wall. Caminando is a Spanish word meaning walking, eg Caminando por el parque = Walking through the park. We were certainly not expecting to have a walk in the park but this is perhaps a reference from first ascensionists Ruth Baldinger & Kaspar Ochsner in 1989 to the intricate nature of the line aiming to take the easiest line up an impressive crag!
Kev checks out the approach to the base of the climb before retreating to the superb bivi spot…
Fine bivi spot beneath the Reissend Nollen and our advance base camp for approaching Caminando.
After a very comfortable full moon-lit bivi in the pleasant cave below the crag (worth noting that there is still some running water near the bivi site so we could have economised on the 10L of water we carried up!) we picked our way along the terraces and up the slabs below the crag.
The intricate but logical scrambling approach to the base of Caminando.
The approach to Caminando on the Reissend Nollen with the route taking the steep grey wall right of the central wet streak. This cascade is fed by a big mountain couloir / valley above and we witnessed some rock fall in this area so it’s worth not hanging about there.
The first pitch of the route sets some of the tone for the ensuing 16…It’s 5a/b Jim, but not as we know it! There are 2 bolts on this pitch and 1 or 2 more on the next, 6a pitch.
The first 2 pitches are characterised by slabs and water worn grooves and not many bolts! Photo Kev Avery.
The angle, difficulty and number of bolts, all ramp up from the third pitch onwards. This is a technical 6c+ pitch with sustained face climbing on some small holds. There are a few more bolts but you definitely still have to climb between them!
The hard climbing arrives at the start of pitch 3, 6c+. Fortunately there are a few more bolts accordingly! The climbing is great and the rock quality is high.
We had heard of Wendenstocke’s reputation for bold climbing and apparently Caminando is one of the more friendly routes on one of the more friendly sectors, which does make you wonder what some of the other routes are like! :-0
A description of our ascent of this route would not be complete without a shout out to Filidor and their superb topo in Schweiz Extrem West II. The topo for this route is a Swiss masterpiece of attention to detail including a reference to each bolt and thread as well great info on the abseil descent.
Rob on the 6th pitch, 6b+. A steep and exposed traverse with good holds followed by fine steady but quite bold face climbing. Photo Kev Avery
Pleine Gaz! Beautiful rock and face climbing in a wonderful setting on the 6b+ wall leading to the base of the crux Klagemauer,
Once the pictures have been taken on the remarkably photogenic pitch 6, it’s down to business! The crux wall of the Klagemauer starts immediately above with sustained hard technical climbing from the départ. “Klagemauer” translates to “Wailing Wall”. It can also be used figuratively in German to mean a place or person where people complain or vent their problems…
Kev setting sail on the Klagemauer, 7a+ with steep and sustained climbing from the start. A big pitch!
…Kev did less venting than me but we both agreed it was a stunning pitch!
Wendenstocke exposure nearing the top of the overhanging crux Klagemauer pitch. Photo Kev Avery
The 6a pitch above, the 8th pitch, deserves a mention for it’s near comical boldness. It start ok with a fine steady rightward traverse with a thread, some bolts and trad gear. But then the wall above just keeps going without any gear! It’s steady, enjoyable climbing on good rock, but it’s hard not to notice the rope drifting about in the breeze below unhindered by any runners!
Kev reaching the belay on the 8th pitch with the upper Wenden Valley beyond & Grassen 2946m and the Funfingerstock on the eastern skyline.
After 8 pitches, it feels like a lot of climbing already and you’re not even halfway up the wall! Caminando is about the same length of route as the Comici or Brandler Hasse on the Cima Grande in the Dolomites but one big difference is that, here, there is nobody else about!
Kev sailing through a sea of steep limestone on the ‘Brotlimauer’ or ‘Bread Wall’. A remarkable pitch on consistently superb rock.
The quality and difficulty of the climbing continue above. We’ve done the ‘Complaining Wall’ but now it’s the Bread Wall. Another 6c+ and the longest pitch on the route. Another big stage on this Grand Tour!
Rob following on pitch 12. After the route book, but still with 5 pitches to go! Photo Kev Avery
Under the overhangs above pitch 11 there is a box with a route book inside. It’s a long way to get there but 5 pitches still remain to the top of the route. We had been hauling a bag up to now so we were not going to break any speed records. Time was getting on and there was an awareness that it’s a long way down too. Not only with the abseils, but the scramble below the base of the route would be far from trivial in the dark.
Kev leading out above the Gogarth like lichen and bird poo corner.
To speed things up we left the haul bag here and started block leading. This worked very well, particularly as Kev led one big block to the top of the route :-)
The last pitch of Caminando. Enfin! A trad layback corner leads to a final powerful wall and roof protected by some bolts.
Quite a few of the ascent anchors can be bypassed in descent but it’s worth noting that some of the abseils do require a bit of rigging to stay on line.
Free hanging abseil to regain the haul bag, by the route book under the roofs above pitch 11.
We had seen suggested timings between 5 and 12 hours to climb this route. Given the length, difficulty, boldness and intricate route finding in places, the former would be remarkably fast.
Atmospheric dusky walk down to the beautiful alpine meadows at Wendenlager
We were just pleased to just get down both the abseils and scrambling terrain below the crag with some daylight still to play with.
Wendenstocke had given us a memorable alpine rock adventure with a ‘Grand Course’ ambiance. It would be great to return and sample some more classic Wendenstocke rock, but maybe a bit more conventional sport climbing, with lots of bolts, first!
