{"id":47295,"date":"2017-09-21T07:00:52","date_gmt":"2017-09-21T14:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.geocaching.com\/blog\/?p=47295"},"modified":"2017-09-21T08:56:07","modified_gmt":"2017-09-21T15:56:07","slug":"t5-klettersteig-caching-in-austria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.geocaching.com\/blog\/2017\/09\/t5-klettersteig-caching-in-austria\/","title":{"rendered":"T5 Klettersteig caching in Austria"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"T5
T5 Klettersteig caching in Austria and of course the Seattle Sounders<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This blog post was written by geocaching superwoman and <\/em>
\nGeocaching HQ employee, Annie Love<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Geocaching can vary around the world. It also varies for individual cachers. Sure, the concept is the same. Use coordinates to find a location, search until you make the find, open the container, sign the log, make trades, then replace the container. Repeat as often as the heart desires, or as often as the obsession requires.<\/span><\/p>\n

I recently posted about finding a T5 geocache in my flip flops on my personal Facebook wall. Many of my geocaching friends around the world think I\u2019m incredibly silly (or just plain stupid) for geocaching in my flip-flops, but I do it anyway. The T5 geocaches I\u2019ve searched out this year in my flip flops were only accessible via boat\/kayak, so my choice in caching footwear made perfect sense up to that point. But that recently changed.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

At the end of the summer, I attended the <\/span>Meeting Friends Mega<\/span><\/a> in Switzerland and the <\/span>Great Moravia Giga<\/span><\/a> in Czechia. Since I knew I\u2019d be near Munich, Germany for the events, I contacted some local geocaching friends. Christian (<\/span>Monsterbox<\/span><\/a>) and David (<\/span>dadida<\/span><\/a>) were up for taking me on an adventure in their geocaching backyard (which spans to Austria). This wouldn\u2019t be any typical caching adventure though. It would be a pretty legit T5. \u201cReal\u201d shoes would be necessary.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Annie
Annie (Love), David (dadida), and Christian (Monsterbox)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The plan was to find Huterlaner <\/span>GC329QE<\/span><\/a>. Known as a Klettersteig cache (also known as <\/span>Via Ferrata<\/span><\/a>), reaching ground zero would require special equipment. With a harness and a set of carabiners we would need to climb via fixed steel cables and iron bar steps about 200 meters (656 feet) straight up the mountain along the edge of the Austrian town of Mayrhofen. For someone who was never interested in rock climbing outside a climbing gym, this was a new challenge. I don\u2019t have a fear of heights, but I do have a fear of falling. Basically, if I wasn\u2019t using a harness and fell, I\u2019d fall 200 meters down the mountain. Ouch! Luckily Klettersteig is a very safe form of climbing where you always have at least one carabiner connecting your harness to a thick steel cable. This put my mind at ease.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Klettersteig
Klettersteig is considered a safe form of climbing<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

David, Christian, and I took off on a beautiful drive through the Alps to Mayrhofen. We arrived at the trailhead parking lot and put on our harnesses. My heart was racing, but I was excited. This was just the adrenaline rush I needed! Christian went first, I was in the middle and David followed. This calmed my fears knowing that experienced climbers would be there to help me along the way.<\/span><\/p>\n

For the most part, finding footing on the iron steps or rock steps was fairly easy. However, there were parts of the climb where the rock wall provided very minimal \u201csteps\u201d for footing. It had rained the night before and a few of these sections were quite slippery. There were a couple moments where I wondered if I could actually make it up the mountain. Each time this thought came into my mind, I remembered the little kids in the parking lot who got their harnesses on to go do the same thing. Heck, if a little kid can do this, I can too! Also, let\u2019s face it, I wanted that T5 geocache!<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Finding
Finding the cache was the easy part<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The cache itself was very easy to find. But the effort involved to get there made it no ordinary cache outing. Overall, it was an amazing cache adventure for me. I pushed myself to do something that I wasn\u2019t sure I would be able to do. I had amazing guides that helped ensure I was safe and offered tips whenever needed. I left the mountain more confident in myself and wishing I could do another Klettersteig right away. Smileys from other cache finds are great, but the smiley I earned on GC329QE will go down as one of my top geocaching memories.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Are
Are your knees trembling?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Some tips before you try your first Klettersteig \/ Via Ferrata geocache:<\/span><\/p>\n