Attempting Alpspitze in Winter

In the beginning of March I had the opportunity to spend three days in Southern Germany.

As two of my planned climbing activities got canceled last minute, I used the first two days to do two hikes up the Wank mountain (1,780 m) from Farchant. The weather was nice and only near the top I had to cross some snow fields.

On the third day, I attempted to climb Alpspitze (2,628 m) via the via ferrata route. While an easy climb in summer, the route can become quite challenging in winter.

I’m glad I hired a local mountain guide to do the climb with me as the night before brought plenty of new snow (even down in the valley). The route became a proper winter ascent with almost all of the via ferrata cables being buried under the snow.

Our initial plan was to take the Alpspitzbahn (cable car) to the Osterfelderkopf and start from there. Unfortunately, as we arrived at the parking spot the cable car was not yet in operation due to the conditions. Additionally, avalanche blastings for the ski-tracks were still on-going.

We decided to instead take the Kreuzeckbahn and then hike up to Osterfelderkopf on the ski slopes. Due to the weather we were pretty much alone, but hiking on partially prepared slopes was easy compared to the deep snow that awaited us after reaching Osterfelderkopf.

Without anyone doing the climb to Alpspitze that day, we had to break trail right from the start. Having an experienced guide for navigation was an absolute must as no trail could be seen, visibility was poor and we were constantly hiking and climbing in knee to sometimes hip deep snow.

About 200 meters of elevation below the summit we decided to turn around due to the poor visibility and avalanche danger.

We descended on our previously made trail (where it wasn’t yet buried again) to the Alpspitzbahn, which was now in operation. Eventually, we took the cable car back down to the valley.

All in all an adventurous and fun day out.

Some extra gear to think of in winter: avalanche shovel, avalanche transceiver, gaiters, replacement clothing (e.g. gloves), snow baskets for the hiking poles, hot drinks.