Thomas Holbach

Longer time ago another sportive trip started for me, this time wandering rock climbing in the alps.

Before, I had started a trip by bicyle to Berlin all alone - not the whole way from Trier, but a 400km-tour starting in Hennef. I had a tent and everything which was needed, with me, and it took me 2,5 days to go to Berlin, taking the train for smaller distances.

So, three week, we (my brother, my father, my father’s friend, Murphy and me) wanted to start our trip. But unfortunately my brother became ill and had no chance to come with us. We started the trip alone, without my brother We drove about six hours to the Alps, and began wandering in Brand, a small town in Austria, where my parents had a skiing trip about 30 years ago. The first day meant nice and relaxed wandering, and we arrived early at the Oberzalim-hut.

The next day we started and had a bigger adventure: The Leibersteig - a fixed rope route (mainly without rope) where we got 800 meters up - so VERY cliffy. During the beginning of climbing it up, I took the wrong way, and recognized that after 10 meters. The way back to the original way was terrible, and I felt a deep fear about going down - instead of, as I did before, going up. The next time my wandering became very insecure and I tried to have a guardrail everywhere I went. I was never afraid of hight, and I never felt a similar fear before…

Later, when we arrived at the hut, up on the mountain, where we had a beautiful view down to the valley, where we had spent the last night, my father and his friend decided to leave the heavy luggage at the hut, and to climb up the top of a mountain. Outside, it was very cold (the hut was situated close to a galcier) and the wind was very strong. I began the short expedition with them, but later decided to go back to the hut, because I had a big headache - but more important was the reason, that I was really afraid of climbing up to the top of the mountain, because I saw the way, which was very steep and the strong wind really put me over the edge. I went back to the hut.
The next day, we left the hut early, we had 2°C (while others in Trier had maybe 20° even at the morning), and it was rainy and foggy. We wanted to climb up the highest top in the region, but agreed to avoid climbing to the top, just to see some fog around us. We crossed the glacier, which felt somehow strange, because we had midsummer and I additionally remembered my trip to Iceland, where my teacher advised us, to keep a big distance from them. So, I was afraid again, but the trace on the ice, showing that other people survived this part of the track, encouraged me.

Maybe just 20 minutes after we passed the part of the way, where we had the chance to climb up the mountain’s top. the fog disappeared and we had a beautiful blue sky. We had a short stop at another hut and finished the whole trip, and even got back to the village where we left our car, and went back to Trier.
Wandering is really great, though it was, again, a very short trip. Four years ago, it was my first time to wander with Stephan and my father. The next year, Stephan, Gerit and me decided to cross the Alps in two weeks. We went by plane to Verona and got closer to the smaller hills of the Alps by taking the Italian train. But after two days we had to drop our plans and get back to Trier, because Stephan was injured at his leg, and Gerit and me returned back home with him, with the official reason, that it was just to dangerous to be alone, in cases someone of us got injured, too, and needed to get help - but the inofficial reason: We fell both just in love a short time before: Gerit with Anne, and me with Milda… so, somehow we were lucky to be back at home - but on the other side it was really sad to give up the big dream to cross the Alps by wandering.