Nature: Climbing into the Sky

So I am stoked about this weekend engagement topic on nature. I love mountains and nothing excites me more than climbing mountains. There is just no feeling like being in nature, scaling this impressive mountain. I love the silence up there as well, especially with climbing it can get lovely quiet up there by yourself. So I want to share one of my most epic climbs with you: to the top of Zugspitze, the highest mountain of Germany.

Zugspitze

With two friends we decided that we wanted to climb Zugspitze in the summer of 2019. I was just recovering from shattering my ankle the year before and I wanted a big challenge on the horizon to go back into the mountains. We trained lots, did lots of climbing in Belgium and indoors (no mountains in the Netherlands haha) and went to Austria a week before to scale some lesser mountains as a warm up.

From the campsite we could see Zugspitze so that was a good reminder of our goal! There are five different routes up the mountain and we decided to take the Höllental or Devil's Valley route, which is a tough one. It takes about ten hours, involves climbing and crossing a glacier. The main issue was going to be the gap between the glacier and the climb, falling down there would mean serious injury and it was the part of the route we were most worried about before we left.

The Climb

We left at 4 am from the campsite, crammed as much food as we could in our mouths and backpacks. It was a tight squeeze to put the crampons, climbing gear, food and water in our day packs. We started walking in the dark with our torches for the first part in the forest up to the tree line. By the time the light came we were in a beautiful canyon on our way to the hut which is placed before the climbing section and which is the finish point for most people on that route.

At the hut we drank as much water as we could and got ready for the climbing section. From this part the route becomes 'real' and we were now warmed up. The rest of the route would be: a climbing section, a scramble through a boulder field, some nasty scree, the glacier with the much feared gap and then the final climb, a pretty steep piece on the mountain.

We finally started climbing! This is the part I love, as soon as you gear up, leave the tourists behind and get into that focus. You stare at the rock, feel the rock, place your feet and take the leap. This is what adventure for me is all about. The first climbing section went really easily and we were in great moods. Then we got to the scree and glacier bit. It was getting super warm and super sunny (not ideal) and the landscape turned tricky. Lots of loose gravel meant you really had to be careful where to place your feet.

This is the view in the gravel pit looking at the glacier. For the glacier you need crampons and then it's fine, but the end of the glacier meant the gap was coming soon, the thing we had worried about most during our preparation. We knew that the hotter it was the bigger the gap would be. This gap is the hole between the glacier and the rock. If you fall you can fall down really far and will definitely have to be rescued. When we got there it was a decent gap and it meant a jump from the glacier straight onto the rock and hoping you will stick to the rock. Downside is you have wet shoes, so sticking is made a bit harder.

I don't know why but I was chosen to be the first to make the jump (thanks guys) and managed to stick it. I think that gave the boys some courage to go after me. After that is the main climbing part, with this beautiful view.

The Summit

We were getting tired, but mostly we got hot. The sun had been shining on us relentlessly for hours and I think we all got a bit dehydrated and overheated. The last climb required all our focus. I had the problem that I really had to pee so had to do a climbers pee, since I am a girl I do have to take off my climbing harness, so we found a nice ledge, tied my ankle to the wall and had a pee, luckily it went well!

After ten hours from the start we finally made it to the top! Here are our excited faces!

Zugspitze is still one of the coolest climbs I did, not technically but it is a long day with lots of different parts and it was awesome to make it to the summit from the climb!

I hope I showed you a bit of my excitement for mountains, looking forward to hearing your stories!