Winterversuch Drei Schwestern

Mit meinen nagelneuen Schneeschuhen wollte ich mal testhalber meinen Hausberg bezwingen. Daraus wurde aber nichts, weil ich mich im allerletzten Stück, kurz unter den Gipfeln, nicht weiter getraut habe (Lawinengefahr).

To test my new snow shoes, I tried to climb the three sisters (german / english wiki). The weather was perfect but the danger of avalanches was not to be underestimated due to very fresh powder snow and wind transport (Windverfrachtung).

In the upper part I mostly followed animal tracks, there was no chance to identify the original track. Two times I actually came across markings, so altogether I must have been close to the track. But on the last hundred meters there were two large, extremely steep snow fields with a very high avalanche risk which I circumvented. This probably brought me too far to the east side, where I finally got stuck in dense, tough brush wood. I really missed my machete there.

It was already 15:30 (I slept long), I didn't know how fast I would be able to go down (it was my first snow shoe tour) and I forgot to bring a headlamp. The last hundred meters were so steep and the snow was so powdery that for every two steps I took I slided back one. So I finally decided to abort and take a break. By the way, my thermos was frozen because it leaked and I nearly failed to open it. This was my second McKinley disappointment this year! (The first was a pair of gaiters which was damaged after only one use on the Lagginhorn)

On the way down I was much faster than I anticipated. But I also took some spectacular falls - nothing to worry, though. The snow always prevented me from getting hurt. In one of those falls I discovered that my snow shoes have a climbing system (Steighilfe) - this would have saved me a lot of struggling on the way up :D

The last picture shows the path I took and where I finally aborted. Next time I will take a partner again so that I can cross the dangerous snow fields.

PS: Mit der Bewertung WT5 bin ich unsicher. Es ist stellenweise so steil, dass man sich kaum halten kann, das spräche vielleicht sogar für WT6. Andererseits ist die Tour kurz und ohne Gletscher, was eher wieder für WT4 sprechen würde. Schlußendlich ist es aber gefährlich, also belasse ich mal eine wacklige WT5.