Buchstein Free Solo

Topo from bergsteigen.com:

The first time I visited Buchstein (1701 m), the idea of filming the climb to the top of the rock kept nagging me. With the weather getting worse each day, I decided to risk it and take the shorter route up Buchstein with the goal of recording the summit ascent. To differentiate this hike from the other version, I decided to hide away my map and only follow the signs.

The public transport to Bayerwald operates twice on Sunday, so an early morning alarm was unavoidable. After getting to the bus stop (hopping off the regional train in Tegernsee), I quickly realized how bad the temperature has gotten and how risky the climb can be if the stones are wet.

Still, I decided to at least check out the conditions at the top, so I started the hike. The first section to Sonnberg Alm Niederleger is a normal mountain path, a bit slippery in some parts. At some point along the route, I turned back to see the view and saw a snowstorm approaching in the distance.

It was still far away, so I made a decision to push through to the top. I kept going to Sonnberg Alm Hochleger, noticing the road became more rocky, muddy and slippery. I ignored those signs and kept going to reach Tegernseer Hütte at least to see Achensee from the distance.

Standing at the bottom of the rocks, I decided to take the shorter route. To my surprise, it already required climbing equipment and was fairly steep, with a metal rope to hold/clip onto. Since I conveniently left my equipment (besides the camera) at home, I had to rely on my hands to ensure my safety.

Nearly reaching the hut at the dip between the peaks of the rock, I saw a few other people climbing Buchstein (1701 m) to reach the summit. This gave me enough confidence to keep going, despite tiny drops of rain and snow already reaching me for half an hour.

I roughly remembered the way to the top from last time, meaning which holes and bumps in the rock to grab or climb, so going to the top wasn't an issue. I took the visitor book to put my name in there, not paying much attention to my surroundings.

When I finally put away the book and looked at the scenery, I saw the snowstorm being much closer, maybe one valley away from my position. I scrambled to climb down, but the rocks were already wet and slippery, so I had to take my time (also I tend to climb slowly because of caution bordering on fear).

Being showered with icicles, I reached the hut, got some coffee and cake to calm, warm up, and reward myself, and headed down to Tegernsee.

Going down the presumed path in the direction of Tegernsee and getting lost a few times (no maps, remember?), I managed to reach Leonhardstein (1452 m). I had an idea to climb it too, but it was already too slippery and I chose to head back to civilization instead.

Reaching Kreuth, the fancy bus stop with an E-ink display notified me that the bus will arrive in an hour. Freezing on the spot, I had to keep going all the way to Scharling (where I ended my hike to Hirschberg (1668 m)) to warm myself up, where the bus finally caught up with me and I headed home.

In general, if you don't mind the early public transport journey, I would recommend this route over the other much longer version I did before. The views are worth it and the rock climb at the top is optional. The hut itself was also nice, with a possibility to stay overnight, if one chooses to.

P.S. For correct map routing over via ferrata on OpenRouteService, a custom build of the service is required.