David Kofler's climbing blog

 Many times I was dreaming about the steep limestone walls of the Churfirsten while driving by the Walensee. The seven Churfirsten offer many classic climbing routes with a spectacular view down to the lake (without clouds) and the mountains nearby. The Zuestoll south face is known for hard and steep sport multipitch climbing, with a spicy approach above the valley floor. We decided to try Chico Mendez from 1992 which is THE classic alpine sport climb at Zuestoll according to the guide book and also listed in the "moderne zeiten" book. Zuestoll south face - 250m of steep limestone.   Approach (1h 15min) The last part of the road was already covered in snow in November 2020, but still able to drive with snow chains. We start at the parking around 9am and follow the standard hiking trail to Palisnideri. At the crossing before where the hiking trail goes to Zuestoll we leave some of our gear, since we plan to hike down from the peak and not abseil through the route. There was al...

This year I have been two times in Rätikon at Partnun to climb Abraxas and Kathedrale, but never in Grüscher Älpli. Famous for hard multipitch routes like Silbergeier, WoGü and Deja, most climbers dream of climbing on the Kirchlispitzen. Since the weather was promising in November, dry and warm, I played with the thought of trying Galadriel. The weekend before I was already there with Ire and knew that the road is still driveable, so the climb would be perfect with sunny weather. The sunny weekend came and with Viktor, we drove to Grüscher Älpli on Friday night. Approach From Grüscher Älpli you can already see the famous Kirchlispitzen. From there we follow  20 minutes until the last flat area, where a hiking trail crosses the river at the turn of the street. We followed the hiking trail up until the first yellow sign, and took a small path to the wall. The start of the route is easily located with the photo in Extrem Ost . One hour from Grüscher Älpli. There were also cars parking...

After a long series of bad weekend weather in Switzerland, we finally got a good window and Ire was motivated to try the famous Langstrasse 6a+ at Schafbergwand. We did not expect that this day will be so close to a good party at the real Langstrasse in Zurich. Approach  Ire showing the path to the wall after Gamplüt. We parked at Parkplatz Gamplüt and took the hiking trail to Gamplüt. Keep right up the hill and enter the forest on a small path in a right turn. Follow the small path to the wall, marked by stone men. At the wall take the ramp with two bolts and red marks up to the start. This part is expo and a fall could be fatal, but can be belayed on the bolts if necessary. 1 hour from parking. Sketchy end of the approach, can be belayed. Our route of today is at the left part of the wall. The start with the big dihedral can not be missed. There was already a  party in the first pitch, so we used the time to fill up our tanks with water, fresh made climbing bread  (th...

    In September I had the opportunity to take one week off and go climbing to Arco! After a good day of sport climbing at  Comano with  Silvan and Haf , we decided to use the perfect sunday weather  for a multipitch climb near Arco.  We wanted to do something around 7a and well bolted so Pagliaccio Ridi at the central wall of Mandrea seemed to be a good choice. Approach Parking at the end of a white street after Laghe ljust before a water well and a memorial tablet ( Google Maps) . Follow the street left of the water well or you end up bush whacking as we did. Keep left at the wall following a small path. The start of the route is marked with a metal plate and a red point. L1 5c 20m The first pitch starts with some loose rock and strange pinches. Protected by one piton, one bolt, and a sling left at the tree, we quickly climb to the first ledge where we make an anchor at the tree.  Loose rock in L1   L2 6b+ 20m Now the route starts. Boulder st...