Blog Posts in Category: Winter

After a few more days of snow the weather was forecast to improve in the afternoon, but we certainly did not expect the day we had. As the weather was still awful in the morning, and as it wasn’t a weekend we were able to enjoy a leisurely start. It was hard to believe we were going to have a good day when we left Munich in the snow, but we stuck with it, and we are so very glad we did. We decided to do the Brunnenkopf because it was a relatively short day, up a fairly low peak, with the majority of the ascent up a good track. The initial part of the ascent was fairly pleasant due to a series of waterfalls on the stream which was by the path, however it did then drag on as we ascended in the forrest with no view. This lack of view also hid the improving weather, so when we broke out of the forrest and had our first view it was a total surprise. All the clouds had vanished, and left crystal clear air and snow covered mountains. After. Read the full article…

We were expecting a fairly full on day out on the Notkarspize, as despite the wall to wall sun in the forecast, a 60km/h wind was also forecast on the summits. As we set off from the car park it all seemed quite calm, and a quick look at the Zugspitze weather station suggested that the wind had not materialised. We decided to head up the ridge past the Ochsensitz and the Ziegelspitz up to the summit of the Nortkarspitze and then descend into the north west corrie and then back down to Ettal. It was great to have a wonderful view of previously completed walks nearby, which include: Sonnengrat Kristenkar – Bischof – Wankbahn Kramerspitz Brünstelskopf to Vorderer Felderkopf Ridge Hinteres Hörnle Ski Tour The ascent up through the woods was over fairly quickly, although it was fairly frustrating with lots of icy snow patches, interspersed with dry path. Which meant that we couldn’t wear crampons, but had to move slowly to avoid slipping over. As we emerged from the trees we were greeted with a stunning view, as it seemed that the haze which had been present over. Read the full article…

After a day with poor weather and colder temperatures we had another day with an excellent forecast, just quite a bit colder than the previous few days. This reduction in temperatures lead to some wonderful winter walking conditions, as all of the old snow had re-frozen which made the conditions underfoot considerably easier than the previous few days. Rob, Becky and I headed to an area which wasn’t familiar to any of us, some mountains above Bayrischzell. We started fairly high from the car park at the Rosengasse ski center, which meant that we were above the snow line for the vast majority of the day. We followed the ski tracks up which took us up a slightly different, but almost certainly nicer route to join the ridge. With the refrozen snow we made great progress up the steep ascent. The views from the ridge were wonderful, and it was just great to be out walking along a ridge in such good conditions. There were a number of skiers out, but at no point during the day did I wish I had my skis, as the snow was very icy,. Read the full article…

After a few weeks of excellent skiing, the weather seemed to turn very abruptly to spring with warm weather and clear skies. After months of not being able to join me in Munich due to Covid travel restrictions, Becky was finally able to come out for a few weeks. Thankfully the weather once she had finished her quarantine was still beautiful, so we headed out to do the classic circuit of Herzogstand and Heimgarten. The weather was beautiful all day, and we certainly felt too warm in trousers and a t-shirt! The ascent up to the Herzogstand was fairly quick and we were greeted with exceptional views, the difference between the view to the north towards Starnbergersee and Munich and south towards the alps was amazing, and it was great to look down over Kochelsee and Walchensee. The ridge between the two looked brilliant with the last of the snow still covering the ridge, we had to put spikes on to get down to the start of the ridge as the descent was not in the sun, but otherwise the snow was all soft. The ridge was enjoyable, with some. Read the full article…

The weather forecast for Saturday had been fairly mixed all week, but it had remained sure that there would be very strong winds. With this in mind we had elected to do an alternative variant of this route to minimise the time we spent on the ridge. However, due to me following the wrong route we ended up doing the entire ridge, which as it turned out was a fortunate mistake as there was no wind, clear air and wall to wall sunshine. The ascent to the start of the ridge was fairly painless, and we gained a surprising amount of height fairly quickly. As we emerged from the forrest onto the ridge just below Brünstelskopf it became clear there was plenty of snow along the entire ridge and that we would need to put our crampons on. The ridge was just spectacular, with inspiring views in every direction, clear air, lots of sun, and more importantly no wind. We must have been on the ridge for quite some time as it is a reasonable distance, but it really didn’t feel like it took very long as it was so. Read the full article…

Today was a day where the weather forecast couldn’t decide between not great and brilliant, and it seemed the actual weather was a bit indesisive as well, but it certainly wasn’t the day which the forecast predicted at 6:30 am that morning. We had decided to head up to the Sylvensteinspeicher and walk up the ride towards the Demeljoch, with no particular objective in mind, just seeing how far we could get with the snowy conditions. We were expecting a clear day, the but actual weather had other ideas in mind as it was snowing as we left the car park. As we drove across the dam I was very surprised to find the dam frozen, a bit of a different scene to when I was last here in the Autumn! After a typically Bavarian ascent in the forrest, with a few fleeting views out over the frozen reservoir, we soon arrived at the start of the ridge, which meant we had wonderful views to one side. We could see plenty of bad weather, but didn’t appear to be catching much ourselves which was great. We made good time up. Read the full article…

Having returned to Munich it has been strangely warm, however winter seems to have suddenly returned. After an evening of snow, Adam and I headed out to do a circuit above Lenggries including the Schönberg and the Seekarkreuz. The morning was beautiful, with a cloudless sky, snow down to the valley and cold air. We enjoyed a gentle walk up a snowy forrest, which was much more interesting with the fresh snow. We soon got to a stunning opening, which also marked the start of the proper ascent. This was fairly straightforwards, other than the small part where we went off the path due to following tracks in front of us… We soon were at the summit, and enjoying fleeting views of the mountains, as unfortunately the cloud had come in. After some well earnt brunch we descended as the weather improved and had brilliant views towards the Hochplatte and Roßstein. There was one small section of scrambling which we were the first party along, which was fairly interesting, especially due to my route finding error. Once we approached the end of the scrambling, the views were absolutely fantastic. We. Read the full article…