Schafberg - Frospfeiler (6c+)

Lately, the weather has been a pretty persistent party pooper. So this is how we stopped worrying and learned to love the cold and wet...An obvious destination for spring, the Schafberg face at Wildhaus, had been over-due anyway. The forecast predicted that rain would fade until 9am, and that clouds would progressively disappear afterwards. While far from ideal, it was good enough to let us succumb to our optimism (=wishful thinking). When we arrived "late" at Wildhaus (~10:30am), it became obvious that our original objective (Bridge of Light), which features many meters of corner cracks, was clearly out of the question. However, the west part of the Schafberg face did look relatively dry, so we quickly settled for Frospfeiler which promised five sustained pitches on the steep pillar.

There are no bad conditions, just the lack of optimism X)

L1 6b
Steep indeed, at least compared to the otherwise predominant Schafberg slabs. Just moments after joking about how low the first bolt had been placed, my partner actually produced an unexpected whipper into the very same bolt...well, in hindsight not too unexpected. The friction on this first pitch is low, probably even in good conditions, without 100% humidity, numb fingers, and wet spots. But after shortly recollecting himself, Marco fought his way back and up this defiant pitch. While the cracks were still wet inside, the most limiting factor was indeed the numb fingers, which reduce your sensory feedback to zero, meaning that you don't feel what you are holding on to. Moreover, the climbing is pretty tensiony on sidepulls, so little margin for foot or finger slips. After this stout first section, you can take a rest in the middle section, and check out the crux before the anchor. Just mind one loose block (melon-sized), though! It is very tempting to pull on it, but that can and should be avoided with a bit of trickery. For the top crux we had to negotiate a section of burly wet crack, about hand/fist size. Now I really cursed myself for leaving my crack gloves down in the backpack...well, no pain, no gain (in elevation). The wet jams still stuck surprisingly well, but it was pretty exhausting and pumpy. Not to mention the blue indents on the back of my hands...

Frospfeiler is located in the sector Kein Wasser kein Mond (KWKM).
It follows the steep corners and cracks of the arête.

Close-up of the first pitch (6b). You can see the crack-crux lingering at the very top.

L2 6a+
Spoiled by the tight protection throughout the first pitch, a runout to the first bolt feels a bit uncomfortable. But it's just the nerves, the clip goes easy enough. The middle section offers awesome, steep climbing on jugs, pretty cool. The crux lingers just before the belay. A seemingly blank section of rock needs to be traversed. Depending on your height, two options are available. Tall people (~185cm) manage to perform a split all the way to the other side, and use a locking hand jam to pull out of the split again. Shorter people will need to embrace the face (no pun intended), which seems tougher, in particular, as the least bad holds are somewhat hidden.

Looking back at the second pitch (6a+). The last bolt indicates the traverse.

L3 5c+
Another great, and steep pitch! The grade is on the tough side, but in the context of the route, this certainly adds to the total value. The first few meters climb a corner crack (fingers to thin-hands), after which you traverse out to the airy arête to arrive in another very technical corner. While this section has the potential to be climbed harder than necessary, it is indeed pretty steep, if not slightly overhanging. Spread and use the jams! ;)

Preview of pitch 3 (5c+) with a steep and technical corner around the arête.

L4 6c+
From the belay you can already study the crux higher up, marked by a fixed wire. It is a steep bulge with, how could it be else, obvious cracks (flashback to those gloves in my backpack). But to get there, you will first need to overcome a tricky corner where everything seems a bit in the wrong place. The crux section starts at the clip from a juggy sidepull-slot. A super cool five-hand-sequence leads through this exposed, and overhanging section, involving a painful fist jam, followed by a bomber hand jam. While the sequence is rather obvious, it does require some determination to be executed...the remaining meters to the belay are not as steep anymore, but nevertheless very cool, and equally technical (thin hands).

Marco just after having negotiated the 6c+ crux in pitch 4.

L5 6a
Visually, the last pitch appears to be quite moderate, however this appearance is deceptive. The best sequence(s) need a bit of studying, and crack enthusiasts will not fail to notice some decent arm bars ;) A runout, but managable mantle leads into the final section, which involves quite technical spreading on shallow, flared grooves. The final belay is pretty uncomfortable, so we quickly threaded in the ropes and took two rappels, using one of the KWKM belays.

Looks benign, but isn't! Tricky climing in pitch 5 (6a).

Frospfeiler offers spectacular climbing, very often along steep cracks in all sizes, so better bring your gloves. The route dries up very quickly, and wet spots are rare to non-existent. Just the first pitch tends to stay wet a bit more. The protection is great, so that the obligatory grade 5c+ is likely quite accurate. Winds seem to be amplified around the pillar, which can make conditions (4-5° Celsius, cloudy) really chilly, in particular if you happen to forget your dawn-jacket (we managed in T-Shirt, long sleeves and wind jacket, but with no comfort).

In general, the face parts at Schafberg dry up pretty quickly, but roofs and corners often continue to drip for much longer. Grass pads in the face will also cause more persistent water streaks. Next time, we will rather start even later, in the afternoon (on this day we met two more parties, one did the alpine ridge, the other climbed one of the routes in the Sandührli sector).

Only when on top, the clouds would retreat for good...