Projekt 180

It's been awhile since I have posted here and only now am I slowly starting to go through the footage from during the summer. Thought I'd share another unedited section of ridge scrambling from near the end of the trip! Enjoy!!

Scrambling turns into Climbing! On Day 38 of Projekt 180 I climbed this fun but slightly nerve racking rock step on the ridge between the North Fuchskarspitze and the Kesselspitze. The ridg...

Day 62. All good things come to an end.

This morning I woke before my 6.30am alarm and lay in my sleeping bag looking up at the Karwendel Mountains. The early morning haze still hung in the air and the summits were waiting for their first warm rays of sunshine. The car park was nearly empty and I could hear the river nearby. I lay there thinking that today was officially the last day of this adventure. I was happy and sad all at the same time.

The weather was set for rain and after lunch it had already started, and even now as I sit here in Munich the rain is pouring down. Hopefully this is not a omen of the Irish weather to come, an acclimatisation of sorts.

The drive back to Munich was great. I love driving with empty roads and sunshine all the while blasting music. As I was heading to Munich early I was still able to enjoy the wonderful scenery while the weather was still good. Germany truly is a beautiful country. The neat and tidy fields, the forestry and the many small villages of clustered houses with their orange roof tiles gives a sense of order and place to everything. Nothing is wasted and I have always enjoyed the look of the German landscape. And as poetic as that all sounds, the vision of a 33 year old guy driving fast down the motorway signing along to Justin Bieber should round it off perfectly. I never had good music taste.

Once in Munich I had my first shower and shave in three weeks. It was very nice to feel that clean again. I then ate and drank tea and shared stories with Alex for hours. Later a pizza and beer was enjoyed as a sort of "hey I'm still alive" sort of celebration. It was odd to spend so much time indoors in a house after so many weeks living in the back of a car.

And so the journey comes to an end, back to where I started here in Munich on the 1st of July. I remember waking around 4am that morning to head out to the mountains from Munich with Alex. So much has happened since then, so much has changed and yet everything is still the same. Life goes on and there will always be the next adventure.

For those of you who have followed this adventure I hope the daily posts didn't come across as too weird or whatever. I won't lie, I had a love hate relationship with this daily posting but on the positive side sharing the adventure was fun if at times trying. Your support and encouragement has been awesome, especially on the days where failure or obstacles seemed to be around every corner. Those that rang me on numerous occasions, often with concern for my safety or just to chat and hear the latest on the project, from the bottom of my heart thank you very much and sorry for any worry created. You guys are the best and I look forward to sharing a beer with ye soon! There are too many people to thank off the top of my head but I think a later post might cover that. Thanks for being awesome guys! I will leave you with my final photo I took today....a farewell to my "home" for the last two months. I am now, actually homeless! Catch you all later ;)

Simon

P.S. Final stats still to come in the next few days.

Last night in the car with entertainment! ;)

Day 61. The cunning plan part 2 and “half way” isn’t so bad!

After a long day yesterday I finally turned the head torch off at midnight and was up again at 6am this morning. The weather was good as forecasted and I knew I had the whole day to climb at least 6 summits to make the half way mark in the project. I was tired and sore and my feet where a little worse for wear but today was the last day to get to that half way mark. Tomorrow rain and even snow on the 2000m mountains is forecasted. It was make or break time as they say.

I started off at 6.45am and within one hour my feet were starting to “give out” about what I was forcing them to do. I promised them the day off tomorrow if they just got me through one last day! ;) 3 hours later I had climbed from 900m to 2193m to the summit of the Rotwandlspitze. From here I back tracked to the saddle and climbed the Kirchlespitz at 2302m. This was all lovely trails and great views. Just before the summit of the Kirchlespitz I put on my harness and helmet as the Mittenwalder via ferrata started just before this summit.

Along the ridge north to the Sulzleklammspitze was easy going but it was getting hot. My pace was slow due to tiredness from yesterday and my sore feet. I found my balance was often not great due to my feet hurting depending on how I walked or climbed. Further north took me to the Südliche Linderspitze at 2304m and along its narrow and exposed ridge to the Nördliche Linderspitze at 2374m. The ridge was amazing, the views were amazing and the via ferrata made it all nice and safe. The only thing about the route was the smooth and polished rocks were super slippery at times, oh and the many broken bolts and pegs that were securing the metal wires on the via ferrata to the cliff.

From the Nördliche Linderspitze to the Westliche Karwendelspitze was a short distance and I took the via ferrata way to the summit and descended the normal way. The ascent was vertical on this section of the via ferrata and was strenuous but short and buckets of fun for me! Once on the summit of the Westliche Karwendelspitze I took a good 15 minute break to take in the view and enjoy my final summit of this trip. Sadly it was packed busy with people but I just sat and enjoyed the view.

I descended down to the west via the 282 trail and it was tough going in places. My feet were not happy and I was in pain at this stage. The descent was steep, slow and never ending. Of course it did come to a wonderful end several hours later when I arrived back to the car.

With raw feet, bruises, cuts and general tiredness I was happy to be down, to be done for this trip. I thought I would feel some sort of joy or happiness to have reached the half way line. On the summit I told myself that would come at the car when I was safely back down. At the car I just fell into my after hike/climb routine of washing and getting myself sorted. I guess I still view this as a semi-failure, semi-success. One thing is for sure I have had a lot of fun and a lot of scary moments. I have climbed a lot of mountains and I am ready to come home.

Tonight I will stay in the car one last time before driving back to Munch tomorrow. I am simply too sore and too tired to drive. Also I want this one last night dirt bagging before the world comes crashing back in to reality. I will share a few posts in the coming days of stats and what not from the trip. For now, I am going to enjoy this beer! Catch you all on day 62, officially the final day of this madness!

Simon

Day 61. :)

Just a quick post. I'll do a proper post later on. I am delighted to say 93 summits of Projekt 180 are now officially and confirmed as climbed! I made it to the half way line!!! 93 out 186, it's been some journey so far!

Until later,

Simon!

Day 60. The cunning plan part 1 and Kratzer reloaded!

Yesterday I mentioned a “cunning plan” and today was day 1 of this 2 day plan. The weather window I had been waiting for arrived and today was blue skies all day long. Tomorrow is set to be the same! As some of you may know with all the upsets to the project I slowly came around to realising not all 186 summits would be possible on this trip, for several reasons. I secretly harboured wishes to climb at least half of the summits, 93 to be exact. With weather issues I lost a lot of time, along with my approach of not using the mountain huts. Valley to summit and back down to the valley in a day is not only tough but more my style. Having said that I worked systematically through the mountains of Allgäu climbing the summits from the list. Only 6 summits are remaining, scattered in 3 different areas. 3 of these summits I fully believe I could climb alone. 1 summit even though grade 2, I would choose to do it with a climbing partner due to the steepness of the ascent. Finally, 2 summits which are known as being lethal “grass mountains” that are steep beyond belief scare the absolute be-jasus out of me and required a different approach. At a later date I might share more info on these 6 summits.

Today my mission was to climb at least 3 summits (not any mentioned above) and relook at Kratzer the summit with speculation on the highest point. If I could do this I would then be ready and setup for tomorrows day 2 of the cunning plan. I have a “summit rich” route in the Karwendel Mountains that would give me 6 or possibly 7 summits in the day. So, if day one I climbed 3 summits, I would need to climb the 7 summits on day two. This would bring me to 93 summits climbed in total, thus half way! Needless to say this excites me :)

And so today I set off at around 6.30am and made my way to the Öfnerspitze at 2576m. This mountain would have to be climbed via the Southwest ridge at only grade one scrambling. It would turn out that after the god awful gully approach that was loose and messy (as per usual) the scrambling was some of the best grade one I have done out here. Easy, well-marked but absorbing all the same. Not overly loose and yet you take a line that tacks back and forth over the SW ridge all the way to the summit. It has a big feel to the route. From the summit I proceeded down the NW face in a zig zag manor through unlikely cliff face but always marked and nothing harder than 1+ scrambling. From the saddle I climbed the east Krottenspizte at 2553m. Again straight forward and easy grade one scrambling. The views and the terrain you get to move through are pretty awesome.

I back tracked over the Öfnerspitze and descend all the way to the top of the gully that I didn’t enjoy climbing. On route I met a women scrambling up and I asked her if she knew much about continuing the ridge line to the Muttlerkopf, my next planned summit. As it turns out she came from that way and said there was only one section of grade 2 maybe easy grade 3 climbing up out of the gully and then it was all walking. I decided that not only did this sound more fun but safer and easier than going down the gully again. I climbed up with ease but not without problems finding the route. When I reached the top I thought to myself, “that lady was a legend for back climbing that thing”. I summited the Muttlerkopf at 2368m and took a well-earned rested.

As I sat there I toyed with the idea of just heading back to the car. I had a 2 hour drive to my next location I told myself. I was trying to get out of going back to the Kratzer summits. I knew what was waiting for me there. I descended the Muttlerkopf and told myself “lets see”, which meant I was going to Kratzer, I was going to try to climb the middle summit. One hour later I stood at the bottom of the steep grass ramps that lead up to the summit areas of Kratzer. I took out my drybag from my rucksack and cached all the things I didn’t need. I took my first aid kit (if that’s what one could even call it), phone, some water, a small snack and 1 walking pole to help me up and down the gully and grass. I put the helmet on and I started upwards towards the middle summit.

I aimed for the gully just left of the middle summit as you approach from the south. Again this was steep and loose near the top, something I never like. Once on the ridge below the rocky summit I looked up and surveyed what I had seen days before. This time I was closer. It was just as steep from the West Summit as from where I stood. My palms were sweaty and I needed to p*e. Great, “signs of nerves” I tell myself. There appeared to be no easy line of weakness. I first try climbing up the broken cliff through small ledges but meet a bulging near vertical section only 20 vertical meters from the summt. So close, yet so far away. I knew I could climb up, but the rock was that brittle limestone made on small stone sized pieces all compacted together. It was easy to kick stones out and it was naturally hard to trust anything. At this point it was grade 2+ scrambling and easy grade 3 climbing. What was above me, looked full on grade 3. There was no way I could back climb that with bad rock. I backed off, and with great effort found my way back down to the base.

As half my mind willed me to go down, the other half willed me to have a closer look at what I was scoping out. Just to the left of the near vertical face was a steep and nearly vertical gully. Very narrow and with a boulder stuck half way up. Total height of the gully was only maybe 15 metres and then it joined what I assumed was the summit ridge. If I could get over the chockstone (jammed boulder) I think I could make it work. I went up to “have a look”.

The jammed boulder was making the moves slightly overhanging but the holds were amazing. I practiced the moves a few times to be sure I could back climb them, and then committed to pulling over the top while stemming my feet on either wall of the gully, like I said, it was narrow. Once on the boulder, a short but tricky upward traverse joined the ridge. A few meters higher and I passed some abseil tat with a metal u-ring slung over a spike of rock. “Should of brought my rope” I nervously joked. I thought of taking the tat and using it as an aid point during my descent over the bulging boulder in the gully. I told myself I would decide on the way down. I reached the first little rock summit and a short ridge would take me to the actual summit about 30 meters away. Gaining the ridge proved hard and holds broke away as I tested them. The ridge itself was good and goes at about grade 2 scrambling. As I stood on the second and actual rock summit I could already see by looking at the west summit of Kratzer that the west summit was indeed higher.

With GPS analysis afterwards it would tell me the following. Kratzer west summit, max height recorded on the summit was 2427.8m and on the “main” or middle summit was 2423.5m. Of course GPS readings can vary and now at least I have climbed both and can count the summit as climbed. As luck would have it my descent would be down the north side of the summit via a butt clenching loose gully that proved far easier than what I had climbed up to get to the summit. The ascent was probably one of the harder ascents in recent weeks and as one can always tell by the lack of photos taken, it was tough going. Simon “was working” and thus photos or video were the last thing on my mind. Of course I snapped a few photos from the summit.

Now I am camped next to my route in the Karwendel Mountains, nearly ready for tomorrows big day. The drive from Austria through the mountains and valleys was as awesome as ever! I am now exhausted, as are you from reading this super long post. Hope you enjoyed and I bid you good night. Oh, and wish me luck for tomorrow….I might just get my 93 summits climbed yet :)

Simon

Day 59. Biding my time and frustrating weather forecasts.

Today and yesterday both had thunderstorms forecasted for after lunch. Today like yesterday these storms did not make an appearance. Both days saw big dark clouds and even yesterday we had passing showers. Of course playing it safe is important, especially when the route planned not only will take 10 to 12 hours but includes a lot of scrambling. Yesterday the skin on my feet needed the rest anyways, however today I was ready to do a big route and the weather forecast set me on a different path. Again I know this is the correct way and the safe way, it can still lead to frustrations. However I have been biding my time. The weather window I have been watching and waiting for arrives tomorrow and lasts for two whole days. I have of course a cunning plan for these two days, but I’ll tell you about that later ;)

Back to today. Knowing or at least thinking I only had a few hours I set out to climb the Wildmahdspitze at 2485m. This summit was the summit I was thinking of linking to yesterday’s route and to the Muttekopf. I set out from Holzgau and followed a nice and easy trail towards the village of Steeg. At the sign posted turn for the Wildmahdspitze I turned off the trail and onto a grassy less trodden track. On the map, it showed a trail to the summit but with closer inspection the “dots” of the red outlined trail were far and few between. This means little to no markings and I figured the trail would be hard to follow or find. After about 1km of this grassy trail I lost it completely. All I could see was grass mountain side stretching uphill without a sign of a footprint or an outline of a trail. Of course I had been expecting this and went into “Irish” hillwalking mode. I knew the direction I had to go and so uphill and off track was the way I went.

Once up high on the spur the trail magically and from nowhere reappeared and took me towards the steep group and scrambling that awaited. My route would take my up a wide gully up the south face, join a left tending ramp to a steep scree slope that meets the west/south west ridge. It was grade one scrambling up the broken ground. The gully was easy and the ramp too, however the steep scree slope above the cliffs was loose and tough work. Two steps and two hands forward (yes I was using my hands too) and slip N’ slide a little backwards! At one point I stopped and thought sod this, coming down this will be a nightmare, I think I’ll turn back. Of course after a little break I continued in the upward hellish slog. Once on the ridge line it was a short and easy, albeit super loose scramble to the summit.

Dark clouds were building in the distance and I snapped a few photos and signed the summit book and got going! I knew going down was going to be time consuming. As it turned out going down the scree slope and ramp proved easier but still required good and careful foot placements. Everything moved and everything that moved wanted you to move with it! Once back in the gully I applied some “bum technique” and of course at times sent rocks into the void. Right at the end as I traversed towards “better loose rocks” my left foot hold crumbled out from below me and set me to my belly. Lucky the guns had nice wobbly rocks for that extra leverage and I avoided a face smear down the last 10 meters of the gully. It would have been a shame to wreck this beautiful face. Of course jokes aside it was rather a tense moment of “could have, would have” but such is the life in loose gullies.

Once back on the trail, or at least the part that was there it was easy going. When the trailed magically and again expectantly disappeared again I went down the grassy mountain side direct filling my shoes with debris from the ankle to knee high grass and plants. After that, it was back to the car and lunch time! Another non Projekt 180 summit climbed but it is a summit in the Allgäu mountains that fits the criteria and is from the Thomas Geis book. Just like some of the smattering of other summits I have climbed over the last week, the Wildmahdspizte belongs 100% in Austria. A good outing but one I shall not repeat me thinks ;)

Simon

Day 58. Being a "tourist".

Today with the skin on my feet still being slightly raw I postponed my planned route, which was a 10 to 12 hour outing. However I couldn't just sit on my arse all day and so I still climbed one 2000m mountain. Then I proceeded to be a tourist in Holzgau.

The village of Holzgau, like Steeg is nestled on either side by steep mountains, and like Steeg is at approximately 1110m in altitude. The mountains that rise steeply on either side of the valley reach near or just above 2500m. Due to their steep ascents long valley walks can be avoided. One can leave the village and start nearly immediately uphill towards a summit.

The Muttekopf at 2431m was my summit of choice today. I left Holzgau around 9.30am. The sign to the summit said 4.5 hours. The timings here are very generous to account for all people. The "trail", as per usual here was not well marked or kept. In fact my GPS and map both had the trailed marked else where. Obviously the trail had been changed and the signs directed me accordingly.

I made swift timing going up hill. I had an idea about linking the summit to another nearby summit and then descending back to the car. The weather was for passing showers with a small possibility of thunderstorms. Once on the summit I had splendid views of the summits I had climbed two days ago, including the Kratzer summit(s), which I still have no confirmation on where the highest point is.

On the summit dark clouds were coming and it wasn't long before the first shower of the day started. The wind picked up and I decided I would head back to the car, after all I was supposed to be resting and allowing my feet to heal. Happy that I had still climbed a summit from the book by Thomas Geis albeit not a Projekt 180 summit I turned around with ideas of what I would do with the rest of my day.

Just above Holzgau is the "hanging bridge" which I decided I would cross while on the way back to the car. This foot bridge crosses the Höhenbach valley at a nice height and is very enjoyable for those that like heights. I made it back to the car 3 hours and 25 minutes after starting. I did do a little trail running on the way down, thus the good timing. The skin on my toes felt my eagerness but was reasonably forgiving! :/

After some lunch I headed back up the Höhenbach valley to the Simms waterfall (approx 25min). What's special about this waterfall is they have built a via ferrata route over and around the cliff at the waterfall. This was my sort of thing and what a way to experience the waterfall. Near the end of the route they have built an "adrenaline" option which takes you through some overhanging via ferrata. Needless to say I took this option and got a little pumped while remembering I had no real via ferrata kit, rather just rope leashes. Still it was great fun and takes little under one hour to complete the whole course.

The weather tomorrow is looking bad from lunchtime and I may have to climb another summit nearby rather than my planned route with projekt 180 summits. Let's see, one thing is for sure, being a tourist was fun today ;)

Simon

Day 57. Rest Day.
Last night’s thunderstorms rolled through the valley and woke me several times throughout the night. My raw feet and their stingy existence woke me also throughout the night, fun times! The constant wear and tear on my skin finally came to a head yesterday. As I bathed my feet in the cold water of a river the skin was weeping from the constant friction. Funny, no blisters just raw skin around my heels and toes. Having said that I have been on the go for two months and can hardly complain about some lost skin! Nothing a day, or two, can’t help!

After today I have 5 days left out here and hopefully my feet and weather will allow me at least two more days in the mountains. If not, I will be happy with what I have achieved and enjoy the last few days before work and college commence. I don’t want this to be a long post so I will keep it short. Tomorrow if all goes well I hope to climb something, either Projekt 180 related or not, I am not fused as long as I can get out ;) Today I will continue to rest and eat and really, I have already said enough! I will leave you with a photo from yesterday of what I have been told is the last glacier in the Allgau mountains. There is something in that fact that I find very sad…. Until tomorrow folks!

Simon

Day 56. 4 or 5 summits....hmmm!

Today started at 7.20am and the weather was great! With plenty of video and photos it's always hard to choose what to upload and ill have to share more at a later date. The plan for today was a big route with 5 summits. I would start and finish in the small village of Holzgau in the Lechtal area of Austria.

I took the Hoehenbach valley and made my way towards the Hohes Licht summit again. Near this summit I would join a ridge and take the Heilbronner Weg (way) over the Wilder Mann at 2578m, and the Bockkarkopf at 2609m. As there was via ferrata on this route I was dressed to impress with harness and helmet. I was the only one though :p It turned out the wire cables are really just there for hand railings. I never used the harness once myself but I looked the part. The Wilder Mann I personally question as to why it is part of the Thomas Geis list as I feel it does not have a 50m prominence. The Bockkarkopf however does indeed belong to the list.

After these two summits I made my way towards the Hochfrottspitze which stands tall at 2649m. The south ridge to the summit had grade 2 scrambling with some easy grade 3 climbing but I thought it best to take the other way I had read about. I crossed a snowfield or glacier, I think it was a glacier to be honest. Anyways, I scrambled up a gully and joined the saddle between the Hochfrottspitze and the Mädelegabel. The scrambling was loose and mostly easy going. There was one grade 2 section to join the ridge which had my full concentration.

Once at the saddle I headed up the east flank of the Hochfrottspitze just below the ridge until you have to join the ridge to the summit. On route I met another scrambler coming down the way I went up. He had taken the south ridge and was unsure if he could descend my way. When he saw me climbing up he knew a descent was possible. He proceeded to ask me about the south ridge to the Mädelegabel. I told him what I knew, grade 2 scrambling mostly with small sections of easy grade 3 climbing. He seemed happy with this, and considering he had covered the same difficulty on the south ridge of the Hochfrottspitze, he didn't have to worry about it. When he asked if I had planned to climb the south ridge to the Mädelegabel, I told him no....but he had planted the seed.

I continued on my upward traverse of the Hochfrottspitze and made the summit. For good measure I traversed the summit ridge to the far side and lower summit, then made my way back to the main summit and then lower to the saddle and the south ridge to the Mädelegabel. The descent was ok but very loose in places which proved a little trickier than the ascent. Once at the saddle that "planted seed" took over and I started up the south ridge to the Mädelegabel.

The scrambling was great and mostly on solid rock. The grade 3 sections were short and required a cool head but the rock was great and good holds were found always. I made good time up the ridge and I was loving it. I was glad I didn't have to back climb this ridge but climbing up it was wow! Exposure on both sides and behind me was ever present however the climbing was never too steep, vertical in places but only for very short sections. Once on the summit of the Mädelegabel I was well pleased with myself.

The descent was grade 1 scrambling but on a marked way and easy going. Once I was back on my track I headed to my final summit of the day, Kratzer at 2427m/2428m. The scrambling was easy and grade 1. I made the summit and signed the summit book at the cross. However this is where the question begins, 4 or 5 summits? Kratzer has several rock tower summits. The summit book at the cross said 2428m and my GPS had this summit also marked as the high point. However the map I have has a big error and said the summit I was standing on was only 2322m. This is confirmed as incorrect online. However there is another summit rock tower that says 2428m and marked on the map as the summit. I climbed only the summit with the cross and I am currently trying to find out if I must go back and climb this other rock tower, which does not look like a grade 1 scramble....online I have yet to find any confirmation on which point is considered the highest point. Of course the book by Thomas Geis is of no help and states the summit is at 2428m (which is what the summit book says). Some maps report the summit cross at 2427m and so it is possible that another point is in fact the highest point...aaargh! Do I count this or not is the question?

And so that pretty much sums up my day. 4 summits 100% climbed and maybe a 5th. I may have to go back and climb another tower on the Kratzer summit area for this to count and so for now I do not entirely count it, for now! Otherwise an excellent day with some great scrambling and climbing. Sadly my toes and feet are raw after all the walking over the past few weeks. I actually walked the last 1km bare foot as the raw sections of my feet were rubbing so bad....tomorrow may be a rest day in spite of (everything else) feeling good to go again...lets see what tomorrow brings!

Simon

Day 55. Keeping it strictly Austrian.

The weather forecast for today was thunderstorms after lunch. My planned route was a 12 hour day. So I got with the programme and changed my plans. I couldn't really shorten my planned route and so I picked a different summit to climb altogether! :)

The Wilder Kasten at 2542m stands proud and tall above the small village of Steeg. When I first arrived in Steeg it was low cloud and I couldn't see any summits towering above the village. The next day though I climbed the Ellbogner Spitze which is a neighbour to the Wilder Kasten. At the onset of the walk I couldn't see any summits due to the weather being poor. However as the day went on it slowly cleared and I got to see some fine looking summits. One of which was the Wilder Kasten.

Naturally when I couldn't do my planned route this morning I knew exactly where to go. I drove back down to Steeg from a nearby village and took the trail that goes to the Ellbogner Spitze. After about one hour and 30 minutes I took my junction towards the Wilder kasten.

The summit was graded as a grade 2 scramble in the Thomas Geis book but online trip reports graded it as just a grade one. From a distance it look tough with many cliffs to navigate through. As I looked up at the summit I told myself the usual, "it always looks steeper than it is". Of course this has not always been the case on this trip and somethings have turned out to be steeper than it looks, but usually it's the other way around, thankfully!

Once at the base of the scrambling there were stone cairns marking the way and such was their feqencey that route finding was not really part of the scramble. It was always easy with short sections to scramble and quite the joy actually. 3 hours after starting in Steeg I was already on the summit enjoying the wonderful views. So much so I started to doubt the weather forecast for the day.

Descent is always the part that worries me when scrambling but there was nothing to worry about here. The online trip report I read was probably the better measure of the difficulties one were to face on a summit bid of the Wilder kasten. All was rather handy I must admit, and in ways I was slightly dissapointed the scrambling had been so easy. Of course on the other hand I enjoyed the easy pace and lack of "head moments" and had a fun time.

Just under 5 hours in total and I was back at the car going through my after hike routine. A great little hike altogether, it may not have been a Projekt 180 summit but it was a summit I had wanted to climb after seeing it. It had looked tricky to me at the time and so it had stayed in my mind. Nice to have gotten the chance to check it out and see what it was like.

Sadly I have 7 days left out here now and I know I will get a handful of Projekt 180 summits done before times up. However the project aside, there is a lifetime of hiking and climbing out here. As happy as I will be to go home, I'll miss this little part of the world once gone.

Simon