Arctic Adventure in the Alps

I was in the mood for an arctic adventure. And what's the best way to do so in Central Europe? Climbing mount Daniel in Austria at 2340 meters.

It was chillingly cold, way below zero Celsius. But climbing the 1400 hight meters warmed me up. I can assure you.

The clouds were thick almost all the time but sometimes they tore apart and offered views like this.

Or this. It's the Zugspitze (2962 m), Germany's highest mountain. I climbed it in summer, gonna make a post about it later.

The higher I came, the colder and darker it became. I met two other guys that had turned around. They hadn't expected such harsh conditions. There was no trail visible anymore.

But I went on. The snow grew higher. With every step I sank in up to my knees. That's what I had expected and why I left my beloved dog Mable at home. She's no Husky after all 😉

At the peak the sight was poor. No panorama shot from up there. Sorry. But at least I was the only one who made it up there that day 😊

The way downhill was quite slippery. But luckily I had my crampons and my hiking poles with me.

I came along a cabin. It was officially closed but the keeper and his family still prepared it for the long winter pause until May. I knocked and they asked me in. They served me hot liver dumpling soup and treated me a cold pear-honey schnaps. Yummy!

(All pics by me. As a newbie I'd love to get feedback to improve my posts.)