Wellhorn - Miracolo/Aura (6c)

Wellhorn is one of the areas where many stars need to align: long daylight, stable weather, preferably on a Saturday, being in sufficient shape, being sufficiently motivated. And of course, your partner of choice should be available, in good enough shape and committed, too.

These stars aligned for me and Philipp recently and we seized the opportunity to give a shot at the Miracolo/Aura combination which climbs Miracolo in the lower part and Aura in the upper part.

It's a proud objective with 25 pitches totalling 700m of demanding climbing, mostly in the 6a-6c range. The protection is decent (xxx) with exceptions mostly in lower angle terrain and a few high first bolts. We agreed that the good protection rating in the guide books (xxxx) is not what you should expect. For my standards, the rock is pretty perfect all the way, except when you cross the two obvious big ledges. The climbing is quite athletic, particularly in the first 8 pitches. After that it becomes more technical, but still with significant fractions of face climbing.

Gear: 2x60m, cams 0.4 - 0.75, slings or threads, 13 quick draws incl. extendible

Additional notes for myself
Left at Zürich ca. 19:15, take turn to Rosenlaui after gas station, not before!
Arrived at the bivi 22:30 (hike ca. 1h). Block provides decent shelter from wind.
There is another bivi spot close to the climb, but likely more exposed to the wind.
Set alarm to 05:00. Breakfast: Emmi coffee, oats with fruit, nuts and milk.
Additional beverages for hike-in and out: ca. 2.5 liter.
Temperatures Rosenlaui 13°/25°, warm in the evening, chilly in the morning, hot during the day.
Brought 3 liter for the climb, used 2.5 up to L18. 2x bloks + 1x cliff bar + 1x Brötli

Start at the curved slab a bit to the left of the niche where Gletschersinfonie starts. You should see the faint yellow label which says "Miracolo". We started shortly before 07:00, could have been 30 min earlier. Temperatures were pleasant in a T-Shirt.

L1 6a nice slab & face climbing on to the ledge. Kind warm-up.

L2 5b easy climbing, trend left at the end. Chain anchor belongs to Gletschersinfonie.

L3 6c start sharp right into the roof (bolts are actually slightly behind you). Merge into Gletscher.

L4 walk cross the short ledge trending left. Link with L3.

L5 6c delicate first clip, tricky face culminating in heinous roof with non-obvious holds.

L6 6b Sustained, tricky face climbing on slopey pockets and edges.

L7 6a Short pitch, link with L6. Not so obvious to identify line of least resistance.

L8 6b+ Tricky face into arm-blasting overhang.

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L9 5a gain ledge and trend left. Don't take the obvious left ledge, but gain the ledge above.

L10 6a start at threaded anchor with one bolt. Tricky first clip, sustained friction slab.

L11 6a+ go hard left around corner. Avoid the step by entering slab from higher up.

L12 cross grassy ledge trending left to arrive at one-bolt anchor. Link with L11.

L13 6a mental lead in sparsely protected slab. 2nd bolt high up. complement w/ thread & cams.

L14 5b easier slab and shallow runnels.

L15 6b+ unlogical line. Crux roof can be avoided by runnels on the left, needs cam 0.5 & 0.75.

L16 6b+ short steep step, maybe link with L17. Good rests, easier than it looks.

L17 6b sustained climbing on great runnels. Bolts always a bit higher than I would like them.

L18 6b+ loaded pitch: crack, layback, steep slab into friction traverse, finish in corner.

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6 more short pitches (6b-6c) after the grassy ledge.

Having climbed for 10 hours, we rappeled after pitch 18 at 17:00. From here we touched base again after not quite 2 hours.