Tag Archive for: Mountains

My first ski tour

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Ski tourers resting at the snow-covered summit of the Rauhkopf, Bavarian Alpine foothills, Germany

I’ve (only) been skiing for 10 years – following an interlude with snowboarding in New Zealand in the nineties – and right from the start, my goal was to go ski touring after a few years of learning. Many of my friends have been doing this since childhood, and I want to be able to join them in the future. At the end of last season, I bought the skis and equipment at a good discount, and now I could break them in this season. After my first attempts in ski resorts, I chose the Rauhkopf (1,689 m) at Spitzingsee for my first easy tour. Read more

Between Christmas and New Year

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Sunset over the Glarus Alps

The end of 2015 also remained without significant snowfall, even high up in the Swiss Alps, thus concluding a very mild year overall. From Hüttlisboden (1,510 m), which at this time is usually a beautiful resting spot on the popular ski tour to Gulmen (1,798 m), I gaze at the sunset over the Glarus Alps behind the deep, fog-filled valley floor with Lake Walen. Read more

Star-studded night sky over the Ingolstädterhaus

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Milky Way over the Ingolstädterhaus

After a sunny and mild November day in the Steinernes Meer, I lay on the veranda in front of the Ingolstädterhaus and looked up at the star-studded night sky with the Milky Way and occasional shooting stars. Professional photographers would call it good timing; for me, it’s simply luck to be in the right place at the right time – this time during a new moon on a cloudless night with high pressure and clear air at a mountain hut at 2,119 m altitude – such unique experiences are gifts and make up the essence of travel. Read more

The Ingolstädter Haus in the Steinernes Meer

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Sunset at the Ingolstädter Haus

On a sunny late autumn day in November 2015, I visited the Ingolstädter Haus in the Steinernes Meer, which is located at 2,119 m at the Dießbachscharte and is overlooked by the local mountain “Großer Hundstod” (2,593 m). The mountain hut’s location on the pass offers a magnificent view of the mountains of the Berchtesgaden National Park, the Hochkönig or mountain groups such as the Loferer Steinberge and Wilder Kaiser. Read more

Silent Starry Night at Funtensee

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Milky Way above Kärlingerhaus

Funtensee and Kärlingerhaus, a mountain hut belonging to the German Alpine Club, are located in a wonderfully beautiful mountain landscape within Berchtesgaden National Park, offering magnificent hiking and mountain tours. Consequently, the hut is very popular, if not often overcrowded, during the summer months. It’s quieter in late autumn, when fewer hikers are out due to shorter days and closed huts, and they have to stay overnight as self-caterers in the hut’s winter room – which I found to be comfortably equipped. Read more

Picture-perfect autumn day at Lake Achensee

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Pertisau on Lake Achensee in its colourful autumn attire, Tyrol, Austria

A Föhn weather situation brought plenty of sunshine and temperatures of 17 degrees Celsius to Lake Achensee in Tyrol at the end of October – ideal conditions for a trip into the picture-perfect Tyrolean landscape, which looks almost too good to be true. Read more

Full Moon Night at Fiderepasshütte

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Full moon and dawn over the Fiderepass Hut in the Allgäu, Germany

Late September 2015 brought a special full moon night: the full moon not only appeared larger due to its closer proximity to Earth, but it also passed through the Earth’s shadow that night, leading to a lunar eclipse and a so-called “Blood Moon” – a moon coloured red by rays deflected by the Earth. Read more