Bergundsteigen Magazine
by Marian Anghel
Schi und Hochtouren Übungsleiter
Bergundsteigen (www.alpenverein.at/bergundsteigen) is a German language magazine for risk management in mountain sports, and is a joint work published periodically by the alpine clubs from Austria (ÖAV), Germany (DAV), Switzerland (SAC) and South Tirol (AVS). They work closely with the mountain guides associations from the same countries and the executive of European Mountain Guides Association. All these give a very strong background, and the quality of the articles is very high most of the time. The magazine has been published quarterly for almost 30 years, accessible for German speakers only, with around 25,000 issues each print. Bergundsteigen is available for everybody for 32euro/year subscription.
Bergundsteigen deals with all areas that concern the safety of various mountain sports: material tests (ropes, carabiners, hooks via ferrata sets, harnesses), safety techniques, behavioural analysis (behaviour in emergencies, route selection on glaciers, etc.), avalanche knowledge, mountain medicine, psychology and accident research. This magazine is very interesting for those willing to know more about the latest safety techniques, development of the equipment, statistics, and information related to mountaineering beyond nice climbs stories. As an example I will make a resumé of issue #114, Spring 2021, for AAC(UK) members. The cover story concerns ‘Speed’ in the mountains and has other good articles related to speed. As these days we see speed records everywhere, four top mountaineers had been asked:
- Why do you do that?
- How high are the risks?
- How can they be limited?
Kilian Jornet talks about the attraction and importance of being quick on the mountain. The journalist Claus Lochbihler asks an exceptional athlete how he deals with the relationship between speed and risk. Like a drug, speed has affected all areas of our life including in mountaineering. But are all the speed records just a kind of condensed soup of alpinism rather than the full experience? Dominik Prantl philosophizes.
’Fast into the future’ is another title. Where are the tough guys who bivouac on dark north walls for days with a cigarette in the corner of their mouth? Where are the steadfast who do not give up, even when they are hopelessly lost? Where are the savages who don't care about the conventions in the valley? Mountaineering and its protagonists seem to have changed a lot. Those who practice ambitious alpinism today are first and foremost very, very fast. Martin Prechtl gives a quick overview of the developments in speed mountaineering. Where is it all going?
In another article, the famous Alexander Huber explains the fastest way to climb The Nose which he did in 2007 with his brother Thomas. Can a hobby mountaineer also benefit from this?
Pro Contra - would you rather go full throttle down the mountain or climb slowly? The authors Philipp Brugger and Michael Larcher represent opposing points of view.
Under the title ‘The last climb’, John Roskelley reconstructs the accident of Hansjörg Auer, David Lama and Jess Roskelley two years ago, using photos and GPS data. The team died on Howse Peak in Canada. The author is Jess's father.
The article ‘Halbe Sache oder optimal?’ by Chris Semmel, clarifies burning questions about using half ropes while climbing. When can a fall no longer be held? In the event of a fall, can the rope fail due to rope burns?
Another article talks about climbing in a climate-neutral way, how mountaineering affects the climate, what we can change about it and why the clean climbing route ‘Hope Principle’ (E9 / E10 8b / +) in Vorarlberg (Austria) has something to do with it.
In the ‘Permanent rubrics’:
- The indispensable standard measure over the past few years which is the partner check. A central point that has to be checked is the knot at the end of the rope. A fatal mistake can occur in the process. Guido Unterwurzacher talks about a near-accident on his first day at work as a mountain guide after the lockdown in March 2020.
- Mountain personality. Julia Janotte is a 29-year-old employee in the sports development department of the DAV, specialising in safety research. Her name resonates among those experts who research and publish on safety in mountain sports. She is interviewed by Michael Larcher, Head of Mountain Sports department in the ÖAV.
- Teaching methodological and safety-relevant ideas for crevasse rescue.
In a very strong tradition, the magazine ends each issue with a lovely cartoon on the topic. This time about “Going fast is not everything”!
Editor’s note: themes for subsequent issues of Bergundsteigen are #115 ‘Fear’; #116 ‘Rope Team’; #117 ‘Cold’
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