Blog Posts in Category: Walking

Having not been in the mountains for a while, combined with a week with a mixture of fresh snow and rain in the mountains, before it suddenly warmed up for the weekend, it was hard to know how high we could go without the snow being very hard work. We took a chance and headed to Frieder as we knew the view from the top with the clear air that we were expecting would be brilliant. On the drive towards the mountains in the morning it was quite clear that the air was indeed very clear, and a good sign of the views we were going to have. From the car park we gained 400m easily up a forrest track, and then another 500m easily up a winding path to just below the Frieder-Alm. Here we met the snow, and our progress slowed down significantly. Thankfully another team had gone up in front of us, so we mostly had food prints to follow, however this did not make progress easy. The difficult progress was more than made up for by the stunning views in every direction. We could see well. Read the full article…

After missing a day of excellent weather due to needing to complete Brexit admin in Munich, we were disappointed to see the weather forecast on Friday was not very good. But wanting to make the most of Becky being here, we decided to head out anyway, and it was certainly a good decision as we had sunshine all day. We headed down to Neuhaus, where we did a circuit which went up the obvious ridge up to the Brecherspitz, before traversing across to the Brecherspitz Vorgipfel and then heading back down to Neuhaus. On the drive past Schliersee we could clearly see the Brecherspitz and our ascent ridge, which looked fantastic. The walk up through the woods was very pleasant as it was a good path and a nice gradient, we soon emerged at the Ankl-Alm and headed up to the ridge. The views over Schliersee were great, albeit very hazy. The walk up the ridge was very enjoyable with changing views, and a gentle breeze. As we approached the top the wind became stronger, but we were greeted by more excellent views at the summit. After getting to the. Read the full article…

After what has seemed like two weeks of glorious weather since I arrived back in Germany, the first bad weather day was of course on a Saturday. James and I were nonetheless keen to do something, as we both felt the need to improve our fitness. We had planned to do a walk which had brilliant views, but given the conditions elected to do a mountain which is otherwise less inspiring. Unusually, and mostly due to the weather, we didn’t leave Munich until after 10 which made for a nice lie in. The weather was pretty much as forecast, grey but not precipitating. The walk up was mostly up good tracks, until the last bit were we headed straight up the ridge, rather than circumnavigating the hill and doing a “there and back” to the top. We made excellent time and were at the top only 1h40 after leaving the car, after a short lunch break where we admired what the view was supposed to look like, we descended down the other side. The descent was very enjoyable down through the forrest, and with the snow covering was very easy. Read the full article…

Having returned to Munich and finished my quarantine I was keen to get back out into the mountains. Unfortunately the cold conditions from the previous weekend had not lasted, but the weather forecast was glorious. We decided to head out for a loop above Tegernsee, which climbed up to the Gindelalmschneid and then around to the Baumgartenschneid, before descending back to Tegernsee. Not knowing how much snow had melted during the warm weather of the previous week, we optimistically carried snow shoes, needless to say we did not require them! The walk was really enjoyable, with paths up through the woods, rounded ridges, beautiful views, and generally good going underfoot. There were some sections in the woods which were very icy, and some spikes would have been useful, especially for the descent.

With another day of good weather I decided to head out again, although I was not so sure it was a good idea when my alarm went off at 5:45! It was another cold clear morning and the drive past Kochelsee was spectacular as the (relatively) warm water interacting with the very cold air to make it look like it was steaming. We had decided to head up the Simetsberg, which was a relatively short day with only 1000m of ascent… Days are not every really short here! The ascent was mostly in the woods, and with the covering of snow made it a bit slippery in places. We had a few chances to look at the stunning view when there were breaks int he cloud, and it was clear it was going to be another spectacular day. After a decent climb we broke out of the woods, and were able to take in the brilliant views. The final climb up to the summit was very warm, but we were treated to a brilliant view, although I think it was actually better part way up than from the top. After. Read the full article…

With yet another beautiful weekend I was keen to get out again and enjoy my new local hills. However this weekend was a bit different to last weekend as it felt like a totally different season due to starting in -3 degrees and there being plenty of fresh snow on the ground. We decided to heat to the Risserkogel and do a circuit from the east rather than the usual ascent from the west. This was a really good decision as we had varied views all day, had a relatively quiet ascent in the morning and a quiet descent in the evening. As is often the case here, it was straight up out of the car, and we were soon warm despite the cold temperatures. Thankfully we were soon above the tree line and able to enjoy the fantastic scenery around us. The highlight of the ascent has to be the Blankenstein which initially looked impressively pointy, and then as we traversed the other side of the valley showed us it’s three faces which looked fantastic. We enjoyed a long lunch on the summit as it was nice in the. Read the full article…

I was expecting November here to an awkward in between season, however (apparently unusually) so far this year it has continued to be a lovely month for getting out and enjoying the mountains, which has made the “lockdown light” here in Germany significantly better. On Saturday Rob, Helen and I decided to head for the obvious ridgeline of the Kramerspitz which is directly above Garmish and which overlooks the Zugspitze. As there was a viewpoint marked on the map at the north end of the ridge at the Königsstand we decided to take the direct approach (although due to a closed path the start was less direct than expected). While this approach was steep, it was very enjoyable as it was quieter than the main approach, and had lovely views looking out over Garmish as the trees were less dense due to the steepness of the slopes. Eventually we reached the Königsstand, and enjoyed some of our lunch and soaked up the views. As it turns out, the views were only going to improve as the day went on. We traversed below the Katzenkopf and joined the usual approach for. Read the full article…

Wanting to make the most of the autumnal walking conditions Rob, Helen and I headed out to an area of the Ammergauer Alpen which none of us had been to before. Rob chose this walk because the contours looked “interesting” on the map, which seemed as good a reason as any to select a route, and the shape of the mountain was certainly unusual! As the previous day had been much sunnier the roads, and more importantly, the hills were very quiet. The start of the walk headed up a quiet valley in the forrest, however we soon left the track and headed up a small path. It didn’t feel like other walking I had done in the area, and felt much more remote was which really nice. As we arrived at the Bäckenalmsattel we were treated to a wonderful view to the west, which just became better as we climbed. We were soon able to see our objective, and the strange bowl below it. The best way to describe it was that it looked like the middle of an old volcano due to the depth and lack of runoff. Read the full article…