as with many of my trip choices, it all started with social media. My best friend and I were discussing climbing Germany’s highest mountain, the Zugspitze, via the Reinthal route. It’s described as beginner friendly, only moderately exhausting and doesn’t require any actual climbing, just a pure endurance trail, overcoming a distance of 20km and roughly 2km of elevation gain. We quickly hyped up one of her work colleageue and her partner, as well as my younger brother to tag along.
We picked the 02.10 as our date, because that weekened was connected to a national holiday giving us a three day window for the trip. However, we never got passed the hype phase. Time passed and suddenly it was already three weeks before go time, and none of us had prepared gear or any plan. So, naturally we postponed it on to next year.
However, I also happen to know a very ambitious work colleague and bouldering friend, who just so happened to have been up the Zugspitze twice already and was free on that exact date. He jokingly suggested to depart Dresden on Friday afternoon, to arrive at the foot of the mountain in the evening and ascend the mountain throughout the night. He must have thought i thought he was joking, but instead i knew he thought i would think he was joking and actually already prepared shopping for the suitable equipment. And thus began another spontaneous trip.
Preparation
12:00 Packing
13:00 Departure from Dresden to Munich
21:00 Arriving at Garmisch
The Ascend
22:15 Startin from the Partnachklamm @ 706 m
00:30 reached the first hut Bockhütte @ 1052m
03:00 reached the second hut Reintalangerhütte @1370 m
05:45 reached the third hut Knorrhütte @ 2051 m
08:00 reached the fourth hut Zugspitzplatt @ 2590 m
From the starting point to the second hut it was actually smooth sailing. We encountered some other hikers on their way back and had a good time, while the elevation gain was still minimal. However, soon after we took our first break at the Bockhütte, my stomach started acting up. I’m pretty sure it was the combination of sweat, cold wind and my special condition: whenever my tummy gets too cold, it starts hurting in a very specific “only a proper bathroom break can fix this” way. As long as we were moving, the issue temporarily calmed down, but after the second hut I definetley had to execute my contengency plan and in fact, had not just one but two emergency detours. Funnily(?) enough, after our little adventure, my friend told me, if the wind was right, he was even able to smell my number two.
I believe things really went downhill at around 1500 m. I was only left with around 900ml of water, an emotional support cucumber and an irrational fear of not having enough to drink. I held on to that cucumber for at least 300 meters of elevation gain and was really emotional when i finally finished it. The slippery gravel path added to the exhaustion and fatigque build up. Short breaks were not enough to recover, and longer breaks weren’t possible because I would cool down too fast. Nonetheless, at some point I felt so tired, i even had to take a short powernap (happened two times hehe). The exhaustion added up and i started to develop tunnel vision. Unfortunately, the snow starting at around 1800 meter, didn’t improve the situation either.
Luckily, by the time we reached the hut at 2000 meter, it was already quite morningish and one of the employees was already preparing for the day. We asked for some water and she kindly told us, that we could refill it at the toilet. A short moment of ease and rest. I probably drank like 1 liter and refilled that amount as well, but ironically from that point onward I didn’t even use one drop of water anymore.
We continued our ascend, pushing through the night, my tunnel vision gradually getting worse and the sun still not fully up yet. The only anchor point in the darkness, was the soundbox on my partner’s backpack. Even though I wasn’t able to look up anymore, I just dilligently followed the music ahead of me. The snow grew thicker, but with my partner leading and evening out the way, it actually provided more stability than the slippery gravel. The wind on the other hand blew cold and more sturdy and I was very happy about my newly purchased patagonia hard shell. Eventually, we arrived at the hut at 2500 m.
Afer some evaluation, and not only because of my fading stamina, we decided it would be best to use the gondola for the remaining 400 meter of elevation. The snowy wind was thick and only my friend had gear to climb up the path if its frosted. It turned out to be the corret decision. When we arrived at the top, we couldn’t even see 3 meters ahead of us. Still with the last bit of energy, we did what any reasonable sane people would do and … undressed, changed into bathing trunks and took some photos at the top of Germany. Luckily, because it was just so snowy and because we were some of the first visiters, there was literally no queue and we had the summit for ourselves.
When we finally descended with the gondola, we realized how much the sky had cleared up. The weather was actually pretty decent, except for that small patch of clouds at the summit, right where we had just been.
Conclusion
In the end, i learned, that I should actually dress more lightly and not too warm. The sweat cooled me down brutally fast the instance I just took a short break. I believe, that might also why the tour felt way harder to me than it had to be. Though this blog post sounds like a rant, in better weather, with real recovery breaks, I definetely think this route would be doable and even enjoyable. Looking back, I do regret not literally looking back more often. Especially the morning view of the snowy Zugspitze is probably something I won’t get to see again that soon.
