Sunrise on Pleisenspitze

Even though I had already stood on the summit of Pleisenspitze (2,567 m) the day before, I didn’t want to miss the chance to do the tour again, as originally planned, for sunrise. Siggi, the hut warden, had predicted a sunny day for today, the first Sunday in November, despite yesterday’s persistent Föhn storm. He was right, as was his forecast that it would remain warm, dry, and predominantly sunny for the next three weeks, with winter arriving late. So, I crept out of the dormitory, where everyone was still fast asleep after the atmospheric hut evening.

I still needed my headlamp for the first few metres of altitude, but then the dawn provided enough light. Soon, the first clouds glowed violet above the main ridge of the Alps. As I gained height, the horizon expanded, allowing me to see the Wetterstein massif with the Zugspitze and the Mieminger Chain in the dazzling light of the first sunbeams.

I love mountain tours at sunrise for the joyful excitement, brought on by the anticipation of the awakening day and the unusual circumstances of an early start in the dark, as well as for the peaceful and quiet atmosphere of a morning in the still-solitary mountain world. Every mountain, every day is different, making it an incomparable and new experience every time, for example, during an ascent of a New Zealand volcano, on the wintry Mt. Angelus, at the Württemberger Haus in the Lechtal Alps or to Piz Palü.