Thomas Bubendorfer, Max Sparber add new tenuous mixed climb to Hoher Kasten in Austria

In mid-February Thomas Bubendorfer teamed up with habitual climbing partner Max Sparber to climb a new route up Hoher Kasten, a 3189m peak in the Großglockner group in Austria. The new route has been described as a "demanding, 11-pitch mixed climb", finishes on the Kastengrat ridge and is, according to Bubendorfer, "probably the most demanding alpine outing up the mountain in the Grossglockner region." Adequate protection was few and far between and Bubendorfer added "Technical and psychological difficulties aside, you also need to be on form, as from hut to hut you need to deal with 1400 vertical gain."

Die Abenteuer des Augie March - route description
Demanding, 11-pitch mixed climb. On pitches 1-3 the ice is very thin and barely adhered to the smooth, steep gneiss. The slender drip on pitch 3 broke away under the weight of the second.

Ice screws in pitches 1-3 offer mainly psychological protection (longer than 10cm are useless). In pitches 1-3 the the rock quality is very good but worsens as you gain height. We managed to place just 3 ice screws as pro on pitches 4 - 11. The terrain here resembles the North Face of the Matterhorn. All pitches are long: the first was 45m, the second 55m, all the rest almost always a full-blown 60.

Descent via the route. All belays, except one on Abalakov, are excellent.
Difficulty: pitches 1-3 M6 and M7, WI 6- , pitches 4-11 M4+/M5-

Links: www.bubendorfer.com, Grivel, SCARPA