Föhnmauer - Megusta (6b, rope solo)
During early spring the choice of multipitch destinations is relatively limited - if you consider a comfortable day-trip radius (with Zurich at its center ;) The route should be at low altitude (if you happen not to own skies), and preferably on a south-face. The Föhnmauer close to Sargans offers both, making it a close to all-year destination. The classic route is probably Megusta (7a+, 7 pitches) which we had climbed already in 2019. It went free, but the crux pitch took a few breaks to shake off the pump...so while our first priority was to have a great day out, we certainly had a bit of ambition to get the redpoint, too. Unfortunately, my climbing partner's date was not as understanding as expected, and everybody else had made arrangements already...classic ;) Such situations are usually the motivation to dig out my solo kit. I certainly don't prefer rope-soloing over climbing with a partner, as it is by far not as much fun, and pretty tedious, too. But if the objective allows it, it can be a decent drop-in replacement. On the upside, it is a great workout, as you get to do every pitch twice, and you don't freeze at the belay, because you are constantly moving :)
At the beginning of March, the sun gets into the face around 9:45am, which was accidentally exactly the time I arrived after leaving at Zurich at 8am. The weather forecast was 0-9°C with sunny conditions and little wind. While it was a bit chilly when I hiked in (ok I wore just a long-sleeve T-Shirt over my T-Shirt), it was just perfect when I started climbing, and even a bit too warm in the upper pitches, but for all intents and purposes, it was just alright :)
L1 6b
The start is not particularly marked, so using its coordinates helps (755470, 212450). The most remarkable sign at the start is a crooked tree that bends away from the face. This tree also comes handy as an anchor for the self-belay :) Moreover, the first bolt is gained easily, so everything pretty safe. Afterwards, the climbing is quite consistent with a mix of face and slab sequences. Usually, there is plenty of time to check out the features and find the best holds, and the clip positions are good, too. The crux is just before the belay, a steep sequence with barn door potential. The holds are pretty juggy, the challenge comes from their orientation and position in combination with the lack of good feet. Don't overlook the sidepulls to the far left. Belay is ok-ish-ly comfortable.
L2 6a+
A balancy-tensiony start up a tiny corner on relatively bad holds. Difficult starts (or starts perceived as difficult ;) are a bit of a nightmare when rope-soloing, because you simply don't want to take a hard fall into the first bolt, or even worse, the belay. Sure, it's also not nice when climbing with a partner, but as you are tied in directly to the belay, there is zero dynamic belay in case of a fall. An alternative would be to create more dynamic buffer, but that would add a couple of maneuvers to the already big amount of logistics. I could imagine to leave a biner in the last clip before the belay, when cleaning the previous pitch, but then you need a way to retrieve the dangling end of the rope to create a downward-buffer-loop.
Anyway, after the balancy start, good route-reading is necessary, as it is not entirely clear where to go. But as the third bolt indicates, stay low and take the airy traverse to the right. The final sequence is also tricky to read, as the bolt has been placed in the face, but it just does not boast a 6a+ solution, which is rather found by going right again and gaining the arête. Comfortable belay on big ledge.
L3 6b
This pitch starts on a steep arête with juggy flakes, and is afterwards dominated by an abundance of edges, which make you feel like climbing a ladder. Towards the end lurks a pretty slabby section, which deemed me the crux before the 7a+ pitch. I remember that in 2019 I had avoided it by going right, at the cost of not being able to clip the last bolt...maybe a bit easier, but I would not recommend it after all. The crux along the bolted line consists of edging on tiny footholds, or just smearing, while crimping 2-finger/1-pad holds. Having to clip from this position adds some spice, I really had to keep it together here! But the actual challenge is to move on from this tensed position, as you can't see any hold! After some nervous palpation, I finally managed to find one (the one...?). But even though you can't see the hold, it is actually indicated by some greens that sprout inside ;) Quite uncomfortable belay.
L4 6a+
Really cool face climbing pitch with lots of juggy crimps (or crimpy jugs?). A bit of route-reading helps to find the easiest path, which is not necessarily always straight up. The difficulties are consistent, but with plenty of rests, so you feel more like solving a sequence of boulder moves. At the end, you exit on a big ledge with lots of choss, which requires attention not to send any of it down to your belayer or following parties. You could biviy at this belay, or just have a snack and enjoy the view over the Sarganserland :)
L5 6a
When preparing for the climb, I had my doubts about this pitch, as I was not sure if I could easily rappel back. The line traverses a bit, and the terrain is quite overhanging. But as I found out, it is not a big deal. However, just to be sure, I had left the end of the rope anchored to the belay like a "fixed line" - which, of course, only works if you are not progressing further after this pitch.
In terms of rock quality, this pitch clearly falls behind the previous pitches. You are constantly testing pieces of rock to determine whether to put load on them, or rather not. In return, you get great exposure as you go around the crumbly arête, and in any case, the protection is alright. The rock gets a bit better towards the end, but not completely beyond doubt. I thought the crux of this pitch was to gain the belay ledge, which requires a brief moment of commitment to smear into the wall and pull up on decent edges.
I had thought about completing the last two pitches (7a+, 6c), too, but after climbing ten pitches my main objective (great day out) had been satisfied sufficiently (six hours, including abseiling). At this point, the co-objective (redpoint) seemed neither very attractive nor realistic, as I had no memory of the moves, and solo-clipping can be a pain. Sure, you could also throw in that I was afraid to fall, but wouldn't it be stupid to figure that out halfway up the route? :D So I decided to stop on top (figuratively speaking), and save the redpoint for another time, when I could count on a partner again :)
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| Great view of Gonzen, another interesting spring destination. In 2020 we had climbed Plattänani there, hope to come back soon! |
At the beginning of March, the sun gets into the face around 9:45am, which was accidentally exactly the time I arrived after leaving at Zurich at 8am. The weather forecast was 0-9°C with sunny conditions and little wind. While it was a bit chilly when I hiked in (ok I wore just a long-sleeve T-Shirt over my T-Shirt), it was just perfect when I started climbing, and even a bit too warm in the upper pitches, but for all intents and purposes, it was just alright :)
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| May I introduce - my backpack. Reliable partner, feeds rope smoothly, and never complains even though it has a pretty big mouth! |
L1 6b
The start is not particularly marked, so using its coordinates helps (755470, 212450). The most remarkable sign at the start is a crooked tree that bends away from the face. This tree also comes handy as an anchor for the self-belay :) Moreover, the first bolt is gained easily, so everything pretty safe. Afterwards, the climbing is quite consistent with a mix of face and slab sequences. Usually, there is plenty of time to check out the features and find the best holds, and the clip positions are good, too. The crux is just before the belay, a steep sequence with barn door potential. The holds are pretty juggy, the challenge comes from their orientation and position in combination with the lack of good feet. Don't overlook the sidepulls to the far left. Belay is ok-ish-ly comfortable.
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| Looking up the steep face of the line Megusta. |
L2 6a+
A balancy-tensiony start up a tiny corner on relatively bad holds. Difficult starts (or starts perceived as difficult ;) are a bit of a nightmare when rope-soloing, because you simply don't want to take a hard fall into the first bolt, or even worse, the belay. Sure, it's also not nice when climbing with a partner, but as you are tied in directly to the belay, there is zero dynamic belay in case of a fall. An alternative would be to create more dynamic buffer, but that would add a couple of maneuvers to the already big amount of logistics. I could imagine to leave a biner in the last clip before the belay, when cleaning the previous pitch, but then you need a way to retrieve the dangling end of the rope to create a downward-buffer-loop.
Anyway, after the balancy start, good route-reading is necessary, as it is not entirely clear where to go. But as the third bolt indicates, stay low and take the airy traverse to the right. The final sequence is also tricky to read, as the bolt has been placed in the face, but it just does not boast a 6a+ solution, which is rather found by going right again and gaining the arête. Comfortable belay on big ledge.
L3 6b
This pitch starts on a steep arête with juggy flakes, and is afterwards dominated by an abundance of edges, which make you feel like climbing a ladder. Towards the end lurks a pretty slabby section, which deemed me the crux before the 7a+ pitch. I remember that in 2019 I had avoided it by going right, at the cost of not being able to clip the last bolt...maybe a bit easier, but I would not recommend it after all. The crux along the bolted line consists of edging on tiny footholds, or just smearing, while crimping 2-finger/1-pad holds. Having to clip from this position adds some spice, I really had to keep it together here! But the actual challenge is to move on from this tensed position, as you can't see any hold! After some nervous palpation, I finally managed to find one (the one...?). But even though you can't see the hold, it is actually indicated by some greens that sprout inside ;) Quite uncomfortable belay.
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| Blocky arête at the start of pitch 3 (6b). |
L4 6a+
Really cool face climbing pitch with lots of juggy crimps (or crimpy jugs?). A bit of route-reading helps to find the easiest path, which is not necessarily always straight up. The difficulties are consistent, but with plenty of rests, so you feel more like solving a sequence of boulder moves. At the end, you exit on a big ledge with lots of choss, which requires attention not to send any of it down to your belayer or following parties. You could biviy at this belay, or just have a snack and enjoy the view over the Sarganserland :)
 |
| My rucksack and me enjoying the view from the belay after pitch 4 (6a+). |
L5 6a
When preparing for the climb, I had my doubts about this pitch, as I was not sure if I could easily rappel back. The line traverses a bit, and the terrain is quite overhanging. But as I found out, it is not a big deal. However, just to be sure, I had left the end of the rope anchored to the belay like a "fixed line" - which, of course, only works if you are not progressing further after this pitch.
In terms of rock quality, this pitch clearly falls behind the previous pitches. You are constantly testing pieces of rock to determine whether to put load on them, or rather not. In return, you get great exposure as you go around the crumbly arête, and in any case, the protection is alright. The rock gets a bit better towards the end, but not completely beyond doubt. I thought the crux of this pitch was to gain the belay ledge, which requires a brief moment of commitment to smear into the wall and pull up on decent edges.
 |
| My rucksack and me with the crumbly-exposed arête (L5, 6a) in the background. And yes, I definitely need a haircut...darn homeoffice can turn you into a dirtbag! :D |
I had thought about completing the last two pitches (7a+, 6c), too, but after climbing ten pitches my main objective (great day out) had been satisfied sufficiently (six hours, including abseiling). At this point, the co-objective (redpoint) seemed neither very attractive nor realistic, as I had no memory of the moves, and solo-clipping can be a pain. Sure, you could also throw in that I was afraid to fall, but wouldn't it be stupid to figure that out halfway up the route? :D So I decided to stop on top (figuratively speaking), and save the redpoint for another time, when I could count on a partner again :)
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