People often ask me how I choose the 101 best mountains. There’s no set list of criteria. Most of the time, I don’t even know beforehand that a summit will make the list. Because it’s not just about how it looks. It’s about the feeling that stays with me during the ascent. That’s how it was this time, too. Weißspitze in Osttirol is mountain number 7 on the list.
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I’m breathing hard. Putting one foot in front of the other. I can feel the effort, and I’m glad I can already see my goal. Just a few more metres separate me from the summit. I keep making my way up through the snow, concentrating on my movements. But I’m almost there. Soon I’ll be standing on Austria’s highest mountain. And in winter, at that.
Continue reading “2/101: A strenuous ski tour to Großglockner”
“This could get dicey today.” At the top station of the Gletscherexpress, we put on our climbing harnesses, adjust our crampons to fit our ski boots, and warm up one last time. Outside, temperatures are freezing. The thermometer reads a biting -18 degrees Celsius. And today we’re heading much higher still. Our goal is Wildspitze, which at 3.768 m is Austria’s second-highest mountain. Continue reading “2/101 Wildspitze: An Ice-Cold Ski Tour”
The first few metres are hard work. I’m breathing heavily, even though we haven’t come very far yet. Still, I can feel the unfamiliar movement in my legs. The first ski tour of the season takes us up the edge of the piste on the Kaunertaler Glacier. We duck under snow cannons, make our way past rocks at the edge of the run and, in the end, take the cable car for the final stretch of the climb. After all, it’s already running … Continue reading “What a view! The first ski tour of the season on the Kaunertaler Glacier”
The Drei Zinnen are among the most imposing mountain formations in the Alps and a favorite photo subject for mountaineers and tourists alike. In winter, touring skis offer a chance to get particularly close to the striking rock towers. Far from ski lifts and tourist attractions, this relatively easy ski tour leads to a rocky viewpoint with a direct view of the Drei Zinnen. I want to do that too, I think to myself. No sooner said than done, …