In between Italy with the fam, and my last push to finish the dissertation, we climbed the biggest mountain in Austria. It is 3,798m above sea level and requires a guide. It was a whole weekend adventure, starting with an overnight stay at a nearby lake, an early morning drive out to the trail head, and a one day hike up to the highest hut in Austria before the early morning summit on Sunday. As it turned out, right after we arrived at the hut on Saturday night, the windiest, fastest snowstorm moved in and quickly iced over the windows. We sat in the hut for hours eating and drinking and playing cards, and went to bed for an early wake up for the summit. About 5am, the guide came through and told us the weather didn't look good, and we could wait 1 hour to see if it cleared up. We waited and nervously listened to the howling wind. He came back and said it was a no go. I was secretly relieved, but Chad was really bummed. As we descended into the beautiful valley, it was a perfect summer day, and nobody could believe we were turned around from bad weather. We had to cheer ourselves up with recovery strudel at the lower hut, and despite the failed summit, had a great time overall.
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| Nils being outfitted by the guide |
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| Kira, Christoph (guide), and Chad |
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| The snowfield trek |
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| Climbing up to the hut |
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| Slumber party! |
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| The crew at the very foggy hut |
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| The walk down |
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| Nils enjoying the view |
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| View from the lower hut |
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