Similaun von Vent (3606m)

• Similaun von vent (one night at the Similaun Hut)
• Full report here

Is giving up an act of courage or an escape? Where is the line between the two?

In mid-September, I went on one last mountain climb of the summer season with J. This time, we were climbing Similaun, a 3,606-meter peak on the border between Austria and Italy.

It’s technically a snow-season climb, but with a difficulty rating of F (Facile) on the SAC scale - the easiest level so I figured it would be easy enough.

We spent a night at Similaunhütte, a mountain hut at 3,019 meters, planning to head for the summit early the next morning. But I was already feeling unwell at the hut. (fainted from anemia) The weather wasn’t ideal either.

Around 3,400 meters, I was unusually nauseous and felt my knee injury. The clear sky suddenly clouded over and turned into a blizzard. It became a true winter mountain - visibility less than 10 meters. My hands were so frozen I could barely grip my ice axe (especially with my ulnar nerve non-functioning, I could barely use my hands, not super safe in hindsight)

J asked me repeatedly if I wanted to turn back but I refused stubbornly until he made the decision to turn back for the both of us - smart of him, stupid on my part. Very ashamed how stubborn I was and also very indecisive about whether to keep going or to turn back.

Even though we didn’t make it to the top, I still learned a lot and enjoyed parts of the trip.