Description

We dawned to more clag, but shortly after leaving the hut were delighted to discover it was an inversion and we were able to enjoy great views of the surrounding huge peaks.

The queen of which and the second highest in Austria, the Wildspitz, towered above us at nearly 3800m.

The most direct route took us over a minor summit, early in the day, the Mittlerer Guslarspitze, with a sizable cross, completely out proportion to its significance.

Fin took pleasure in climbing it, as we weren't working him hard enough (as usual).

I had been in this area with Nicky and a bunch of friends a week earlier, but we were taking a different route, so it didn't feel repetitive. A quick descent on better snow than the last few days, took us to the long steady climb over a high col on the shoulder of the Wildspitz.

It crossed our mind to climb it, but on balance it seemed too significant a detour and we had a fair bit further to go.

The glacial terrain on the N side of the col was majestic and inspiring, then a short climb up (back in the clag), took us to the Soelden lift system, where we managed to very rapidly lose each other.

The contrast, as always, between glacial wilderness and resort mayhem was striking!