UKC

Can anyone who has done the Hasse-Brandler (or Brandler-Hasse tell me if climbing on a single rope (careful rope management of course!) & hauling a sac on a thin haul line is feasible?
We're thinking that on the generally easier traverse pitches, the second will carry the sac.
But maybe with all the chimney pitches near the top it's just not worth it?

I heard the crux pitches were damp mid August (not unusual) - can anyone confirm that?

Thanks for any input!

Boggy now not in France

In reply to boggyinfrance:

Were I to do it again I reckon I'd use that system, simply because I hate climbing with a pack. Single rope would be fine, just take a few more extenders.

On the note of extenders, we took 20 quickdraws as it's a case of 'the more, the merrier' when it comes to clipping the many insitu pegs.

In reply to Rob Greenwood - UKClimbing:

Thanks Rob!
Yup, neither of us wants to climb with a sac, especially in the crux pitches!

Out of interest (trying to minimise the gear we take) what else did you take in addition to the 20 'draws?
We're thinking 4 or 5 cams (from 0.2 to size 2 Camalot - as recommended by Arnaud Petit) & maybe 10 or so wires of various sizes...............

In reply to boggyinfrance:

We took no cams whatsoever and a half set of wires, of which we placed around four (at the very most) all of which were on the first pitch.

You feel like you're setting off naked as a result, but I personally wouldn't recommend any more as it's just not necessary. Think there's another thread somewhere within the archives that concurs with this stance (even though it sounds pretty weird).

In reply to Rob Greenwood - UKClimbing:

Thanks Rob! Sac hauling naked it is then

In reply to boggyinfrance:

Climbed it a few years back use twin halfs. Took 25 quickdraws and a set of wires. Both myself and my partner wore a camelback. The type of camelback that holds around 1.5 litre with enough room for some snacks, windy and a few other small bits & bobs.

In reply to boggyinfrance:

I'd reconsider whether you need a bag at all. A friend and I did the BH a few years ago with a litre of water, lightweight jacket and our trainers (stuffed with snacks) clipped to our harnesses following the advice of an Austrian guide we met on the yellow edge. It worked really well. As I'm sure you know the BH is north facing so you don't need a great deal of water and as its almost a clip up you can climb it quickly before you get too hungry! We took doubles (mainly to keep our retreating options as open as possible), one set of wires and one set of cams. I think the middle pitches are often a little wet (they were when we did it), but you can climb around the wetness as long as it's not too extensive.

In reply to duncan b:
Now that's a clever idea but you'd need to buy new approach shoes on a regular basis

In reply to boggyinfrance:

You are of course referring to the Hasse Brandler in the Tre Cime, not their route dedicated to Hermann Buhl on the Rotwand?

In reply to boggyinfrance:

Hey hello....
Yes you can do this. We did Hasse Brandler this summer, august. ...with hauling the sack on the steep pitches. So on the first(we did a long one) we carried the sack and on the fist easy traverse, which was quite interesting. Then hauling all the others to the easy ones at the top. The chimneys were alright, climbing with the sac was ok. The first two crux pithes were wet, then 7a+ was dry. We did them all free. Rope manage wasn't difficult. Climbing without the sac made the moments great, real and lovely...
Katerina

In reply to boggyinfrance:

Second time lucky Dave

In reply to ukb & bmc shark:

Thanks to everyone for all the useful info - the haul sac is actually packed & sitting in my garage..................
But, unfortunately not second time lucky Simon ;-(
Heavy rain last Saturday turned to snow Sunday & Monday on the Tre Cima (some beautiful images on the archive WebCam here : http://www.umbriameteo.com/webcam/trecime/index.php?task=archivio#arch).
When I rang the refuge Monday afternoon, the guardian told me the approach & the descent were sheet ice.........& that heavy rain was forecast later in the week just as we were due to arrive. At this point our team of four took a vote & cancelled.........3 of us now going to do the Barre d'Ecrins (hopefully!) & the other going home to Greece...........
Yesterday though I heard that one of the best guides in the area with two Japanese clients actually did the H-B on Monday in an amazing time - they left the refuge at 8.15 & were back down via the normal ascent at 18.00. Climbing as a rope of 3, that's pretty impressive!
For the archive, weather forecast for Dolomites here : http://www.arpa.veneto.it/previsioni/en/html/meteo_dolomiti.php
& of course now that we've changed our plans, the forecast for the end of this week is not too bad.........
Oh well, maybe there will be an Indian Summer in the Dolomites.............or I'll get in touch with you next year Simon????
Cheers all back in the UK -
Boggy No Longer in France (& about to become a papa for the second time............)

In reply to boggyinfrance:

We used twin ropes. I'm happy to clip a single strand occasionally (once I've got a bit of rope out) and it helped with eliminating the drag.

In reply to boggyinfrance:

Very frustrating and congrats. Seb recently joined old dads club too!!