Galengrat
A big wall of near perfect granite, Galengrat offers "plaisir pur" rock climbing to within an hour of the summit of Galenstock. Although the route described here is very well bolted, don't be fooled, it is still a big undertaking, that takes time to complete and has some long run outs on the easier sections. Although it is climbed in rock shoes, you will need to carry full alpine equipment (mountain boots, ice axe, possibly crampons) with you. Take 2x50m ropes. It is possible to abseil down the route, but this will involve about 8 abseils with the risk of rope jam. Much better is to scramble 100 metres up to just before a very large cairn where there is a very well equipped abseil piste, that can be descended in 3x50m abseils, plus one final abseil from 20m above the bottom to reach the ever receding glacier. Descent is then down the snow / glacier to join the approach route above Hannibal Turm.
Sport and bolted routes
Topo Ref | Route | Sport Grade | Length | Quality | Description | Tick |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
01 | Galengrat Verschneidung | 6a | 350m | Gold | A long alpine route. After the first 50m, the line is reasonably obvious with bolted stances, plus bolts on all the hard bits, albeit sometimes spaced. There are long runouts on the easier sections, a few additional friends might be useful. It is 10 to 12 pitches long. The first pitch is 6a if you can get to the first bolt (depends on the height of the snow / glacier) , or 5a if you climb in from the left (no bolts). After that, with the exception of the scrambling in the middle, practically every pitch is a beautiful 5b or 5c. |