u/Emo_Dilemmo

Hi! In July I will have a single day to climb alone a peak near Lienz, Austria. I have experience in the mountains of Bulgaria and some experience in the Alps. I have climbed some smaller peaks near Ehrwald, Zugspitze from Ehrwald in one day and Kreuzspitze Oetztal in one day. I have some experience with via ferrara. I consider myself in a very good shape. My limitations - zero glacier experience and fear of heights.

I want to climb a peak that is as high as possible, beautiful, but not "lüftig/exposed" and with no glaciers. My research so far led me to Petzeck, Böses Weibl, Hochschober, Säuleck and Glödis. Of all of them, Glödis seems most attractive to me, but I know I have to climb a via ferrata of grade 2.

Having mentioned my fear of heights, to ilustarate it - I climbed Zugspitze using a via ferrata set (the only one to do it, everyone I saw this day was only holding the rope with hands or not at all), which made me feel good enough to make it. On the top of Kreuzspitze I was pretty nervous and spent most of the time sitting. Whenever I feel a slip could be fatal, I freak out.

Do you think I can make it to Glödis if I use a via ferrata set and avoid the short 3 grade section with the bridge? If not, which of the other peaks I mentioned is the best combination of beauty, height and low exposure and no glaciers? Can you suggest another option around Lienz? Thank you very much!

Semi-serious question. On Saturday I plan to do my longest ride so far, a popular loop of 230 km and 2800 m. A friend is waiting for me at 6:00 at the start. I've booked a hotel for my family 10 km from the start, 200 m higher. My friend has no option to pick me, so I have to either ride or drive for 10 km. And if I ride, after the loop is completed, ride 10 more, uphill. I kind of know the correct answer, but still ... what would you do?

Road quality is a big issue in Bulgaria and after the first three stages people here were divided on whether the crashes in stages 1 and 2 were bad surface quality and bad road design's fault. There's also what Vingegaard has said and I understand the issue was written about in Italian media. We've seen what happened in Stages 5 and 6, though. So, was it still worse in Bulgaria or it's an organizers issue?