mountaineering?

[jenv]

Hi everyone,

A friend and I are going to Europe in May/June, and hope to climb to at least one summit while there (we're thinking Switzerland right now, but we're open to other options).

Does anyone know of any relatively easy (read: scrambles) mountains to tackle? we're going to Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and the Netherlands, but we'd be open to other suggestions.

We've both climbed before, but we're definitely not experts, and I'm finding the international grading systems a touch confusing. To give you perspective, we've climbed Castle Mountain (Banff, AB) before. We're from Canada.

Thanks in advance!

~Jen

[herrbert]

In the Netherlands everything is climable, as the highest peak is 321 meters.

There are some organised climbs to find, which are let by guides. (I know that for the Grossvenediger in Austria, there is a 2 day route for less experienced climbers, with a guide.) This still means you need to be in shape, and preferable have some experience on glaciers. I guess this will also be the case for most of the high peaks in Switzerland and Austria.

My experience is that if you choose the somewhat easier mountains like the ones I once did (the Wildkogel, and the Zwölferkogel, both near to Bramberg am Wildkogel in Austria) than you don't need to worry about ice and that stuff, it has pretty good path leading up the mountain, so although these were long climbs (from 800 to 2200 meters.) these were not difficult. (but still you need good shoes and a detailed map).)

For Spain it would be logical to be looking at the Sierra Nevada, or the Pyrenees. But just outside of Madrid, there is a mountainrange that is not that high, but still has some nice hikes. One of them is a hike that leads over an old Roman road (part of a path to Segovia), to a place that is supposed to have a nice view. (can't tell you from my own experience, as we turned around last year, because of snowfall and fog, and still have to go for a new attempt.)