A solo alpine adventure in the German Alps

Last September, a group of us decided that we were going to celebrate Justin’s bachelor at Oktoberfest in Munich. Knowing that I was going to Munich in late September, I decided that I would spend some time in the Alps prior to the celebrations. The four days I spent in the Alps hiking, scrambling, and climbing were some of the best days of 2017 so far.

Prior to my trip, I extensively researched what to climb, how to climb it, and where. Ever since I heard about via ferratas, I always wanted to climb one. I eventually settled on attempting to climb the Zugspitze, Germany’s highest peak. My intended route was to first climbing the Alpspitze, then traversing the Jubilee ridge (Jubiläumsgrat) to the summit of Zugspitze. It was an ambitious goal: It required climbing 600 meters in elevation by the Alpspitze via ferrata, then traversing a very exposed, class III 6 kilometer long ridge to the Zugspitze summit. Nonetheless, I worked very hard on my physical preparation for the challenge, and I felt ready by the time I boarded the plane to Europe.

After spending two days with friends in Berlin and Zurich, I arrived in Innsbruck not feeling great but excited to finally be in the mountains. That night I visited The Kletterzentrum Innsbruck, one of the best climbing gyms in the world.

The outdoor wall at Kletterzentrum Innsbruck

Even though the climbing session at the gym was productive, I still was not feeling great. I went to bed early hoping that I would feel better the next day.

I woke up feeling very under the weather. I knew that in order to feel better for the rest of the week, I needed to take it easy and rest. I decided to take the Nordkette Cable Car up to Hafelekarspitze (2,334 meters), one of Innsbruck’s highest peaks. I walked around, checked out the sights, and had a delicious Tyrolean lunch. My body needed this leisure day.