There’s still snow up in the mountains to enjoy some spring riding/skiing. Our last adventure kind of tied a big red bow on the 21′-22′ season.
By that we mean that it was a pretty major two day backcountry tour. We reached a couple of major checkpoints, including Romania’s highest point, Moldoveanu peak (2544m).
Here’s some cool info on Romania’s most impressive mountain range.
The first bit, like all spring tours, implies some serious hiking, so that’s just what we had in store. Because of heavy logging in the area the road was closed. This meant that we had to leave the car earlier than we expected. Just a “cosy” extra 4 km added to the whole trip but we all accepted the challenge with ease.
First part felt more like summer, the sun was really coming down so each of us ended up wearing the skimpiest outfits they could come up with. (No fees were handed to us for semi-public nudity!) Even though we were burdened with our heavy packs (sleeping bags, mattresses etc.) the forest trail was great. Beautiful rich vegetation and superb scenery made it all worthwhile.
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However, the last part, right before reaching the hut was very different. Due to a massive avalanche the area was completely torn to pieces. It’s always a humbling and imposing view to see, an avalanche path…
Finally, we reached our resting spot for the night, somewhere around 19:30.
We enjoyed a nice dinner by a very cosy, warm fire and we called it a day.
Waking up at 4 AM in the high alpines of the Romanian Carpathians to the sweet and mellow sounds of METALLICA should be on your bucket list!
After that and breakfast we left the hut at around 5 am and from here on a veeery long day was in store for us…With our headlights on we started skinning (yey, finally) our way up to the steep couloir right under Viștea Mare peak (2527m).
The main reasons why we left at such an early hour is so that the snow on the way up will be, mostly, nice and firm. But the second reason is the spectacular view of early dawn reflecting its pink and purple colours on the massive cliffs of the Făgăraș mountains. Once we got to the steep couloir right under Viștea it was time to pull out the crampons. Long story short IT WAS TOUGH.
This part of the tour really took a toll on our clients, especially since the sun was beating down on us as the day progressed. It took some serious group effort and a few gnarly traverses along a beautiful ridgeline to finally reach Moldoveanu peak (2544m).
Our celebrations had to be cut short since we were running late and a bit of fog was rising along the cliffs. On the ridge between Moldoveanu and Viștea we singled out a very good looking couloir for our descent. Snow was really cool and the couloir led us through the mountain pass we had to climb our way up in the morning. Since this was a northern facing slope, the riding conditions, although slushy, were incredibly fun! Each turn would basically trigger a tiny slide but it was all good fun and with no potential for something major to happen.
We reached the bottom basin where we finally got some fresh water, everyone was excited about that. After that it was back to the hut to get our remaining gear and off we where to the car. As usual, it always seems like it should be rather quick and easy on the way down, right?
Well, it was only 3 hours later and after a badass thighs & legs workout.
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You can check out this link for the entire track!
