#35 Vorder Grauspitz - Liechtenstein High Point

About a three hour drive west of Ehrwald and the Zugspitze, we arrived in another ski resort village called Malbun, in the tiny country of Liechtenstein. We had never visited this double land locked country (meaning the border countries of Austria and Switzerland are also land locked).  The country has no army, no airport and a population of only around 40,000 people. 

We checked in to the beautiful and charming Hotel Turna for two nights, giving ourselves a full day to rest after the long day on the Zugspitze.  We took advantage of the continued perfect fall weather to go for an easy hike and get eyes on our planned climbing route for the Grauspitz, the 8,527 foot high point of Liechtenstein.  Helga had already climbed this peak as well, and we appreciated her willingness to do it again with us.  The summit ridge forms the border between Liechtenstein to the north and Switzerland to the south.  However, Helga had not climbed from the north, our intended route, which was very steep, but a shorter/direct route and convenient to where we were staying in Malbun.  Just like the Zugspitze, the north facing slopes were now covered in snow. Although we had crampons, we did not bring a rope, and after seeing the slope for ourselves, we decided it was not worth the risk to attempt this route. 

Fortunately we had another option, to drive down and around into Switzerland and hike the sunny southern facing side from Malans. This similar change of plans worked well for us two days prior on Zugspitze, so we figured it was our best chance to get to the top safely.  Again similar to the Zugspitze, this would be a longer route, almost 13 miles round trip and a longer day.  There was also a cable car, a shorter one than the Zugspitzbahn, near the base of the mountains in the tiny village of Malans. It's called the Älplibahn and it was built during World War II to transport and supply soldiers stationed on the border. Luckily for us, it would shave a few miles and some vertical feet of climbing and descent from an already long day. 

The Vorder Grauspitz is not a commonly climbed peak and we only encountered one other person on the trail all day. As such, navigating the route is not exactly easy and none of the trail signs we encountered actually referenced the Grauspitz.  Luckily we had a GPS track to follow and of course Helga, who had been here before. 

Vorder Grauspitz high above (peak on the left)

Along the way we passed through some incredibly picturesque and peaceful valleys with a few farmhouses scattered throughout. The other unique aspect of this Swiss route was a long tunnel bored through the mountain, which was likely an old trade route and now used mainly by hikers and shepherds. 

Almost at summit ridge, Hinter Grauspitz (lower of two peaks) in background 

After five hours of hiking at a fairly fast pace, we finally made it to the summit ridge. This knife-edged ridge delineates the border between Liechtenstein and Switzerland and the views on this crystal clear autumn day were spectacular.  It wasn't difficult climbing but there were extremely steep slopes on both sides, so we took great care to stay focused and make sure each step was well placed and secure. Our summit celebration was brief and subdued, since all three of us wanted to get back down the exposed ridge and safely return to the trail below.  We also needed to get back to the Älplibahn station before the last cable car down at 5:00, and eventually to a cold beer and warm meal upon our return. 

We did make it back in time and Helga even organized a dinner party at her home near Munich with some climbing friends two days later.  Among other fun conversations, were ideas and plans for other mountains to climb next year...

Peter, Mary, Robert, Helga & two Bavarians

 

#34 Zugspitze! Germany High Point

Returning to Germany for a fourth time was not a difficult decision for us, considering the many good friends we wanted to visit. We also had some unfinished business with the Zugspitze.  During our 2011 trip to Germany we made an attempt to climb to the 9,718 foot summit of Zugspitze. As things sometimes go in the mountains, we were unable to make it all the way to the top, so we decided to turn around and we would have to visit again someday to finish the task of climbing to the summit. 

Fourteen years later, the best part of returning was getting to attempt the Zugspitze once again with our good friend Helga Hengge.  We first met Helga in 2009 while climbing the Vinson Massif in Antarctica, and over the years we have now climbed together to the highest peaks in eight countries and four continents.  Helga has also climbed all of the Seven Summits including Everest, and is the first German woman to do so.  She is a highly sought after public speaker and has written several books about climbing. We think the stories we share from our adventures together with Helga could fill their own book - albeit the stories might only be entertaining for a small group of characters and mostly the three of us.

This story of the Zugspitze, as with many tales in the mountains, was influenced  by snow and the weather.  We had a good plan and route figured out in advance, and less than a week before our scheduled date to climb the Zugspitze on Oct. 11th, an early season snowstorm dropped nearly two feet of snow in the Alps. Luckily for us Helga is a local and knows several guides in the area who were able to share firsthand knowledge of the snow conditions on the routes.  Most importantly they said the via ferrata cables on our planned route the Stopselzieher, or 'Corkscrew' were covered by snow and it would be dangerous to attempt it without that protection. Thanks to their good recommendation, we took the Gatterl Route from the Austrian / southern side of the mountain instead, which is longer but gets more sun and therefore most of the snow had already melted off in the days after the storm.  We started early from the Ehrwald Albahn, and for the first hour we hiked in chilly and cloudy weather with a brisk morning wind.  Luckily we quickly climbed up and out of the clouds into a beautiful clear day with sunshine, blue skies and almost zero wind for the rest of the day. It was fun to hike up through the ski resort while daydreaming of the upcoming ski season back home at Powder Mountain. The fact that the Zugspitze is a ski area and has a cable car practically all the way to its 9,718 foot summit, also gave us something to look forward to in a quick and easy descent back to the valley floor after our work going up the mountain was complete.  

It was hard work at times, especially the steep upper section of the mountain which fortunately had exposed via ferrata cables to clip into for safety. All in all it was an enjoyable, picture perfect day for hiking and catching up with Helga along the trail with stunning peaks of the Bavarian Alps as a backdrop.  After capturing the essence of the day with a few pics on the summit, it was time for the cable car ride back down.  The Zugspitzbahn has the distinction as the cable car with the greatest elevation gain in the world: 6,419 feet!  What took us almost 7 hours to climb up, took only a matter of minutes to get back down.  

And now that the unfinished business with the Zugspitze was complete, we were off with Helga to the next country high point of our trip...

#33 Mt. Fuji - Climb & Ski Descent

We've done some pretty neat adventures in our lives but this one was truly unique and super cool.  Visiting Japan and climbing Mt. Fuji had been high on our list for a very long time, but dealing with the huge crowds was always a deterrent. Considered a sacred place by the Japanese, well over 200,000 people make the journey up Fujisan every year, the vast majority in July and August when the mountain is actually "open" for hiking. In order to avoid sharing the trails with hoards of 3,000+ people per day (and to have some fun skiing on the way down) we decided to go in May before the official season begins and the very best month of the year for this kind of endeavor. The timing needs to be just right and having the proper gear is a must.  Japan also had an excellent snow year this winter so everything was shaping up quite nicely for a longer than usual ski descent.

6:15 AM at trailhead ~7,800' with Kenichi Minegishi

We found a terrific ski/mountain guide named Kenichi Minegishi who speaks very good 'Engrish' and whom we highly recommend (Instagram: @guide_kintoun and email: coastmountain72@gmail.com). Kenichi picked us up at our hotel in Hakone Gora (a beautiful mountain resort area only ~2 hours from Tokyo by train including a bullet train segment) at 4:30 AM and we drove 90 minutes to the trailhead of the Fujinomiya Route. We parked at about 7,800' and after getting our skis strapped onto our packs, we started hiking at 6:15.  The weather was perfect with clear skies, mild Spring temps and low winds. Kenichi had attempted to summit Fuji twice this season but in both cases he was turned around by harsh conditions.  Just three days prior to our attempt, he encountered a snowstorm and 75+ mph winds and only got about halfway up.

We were grateful for our ideal conditions, and after an hour and a half and about 1,000 vertical feet of hiking, the trail became steeper and now entirely covered in snow.  At this point we swapped our trail shoes for ski boots and crampons and continued up.  Along the way we saw the various mountain "stations" which were all closed and partially buried in snow.  At these outposts you can buy hot ramen and stay overnight in July and August when the mountain is technically open.

Torii gate just below the crater rim ~12:30 PM

After about 4 1/2 hours of climbing from our boot/crampon spot, we reached the iconic torii gate just below the crater rim.  Climbing for another 15 mins and about 200 vertical feet to 12,389', we reached the summit of Mt. Fuji!

It was now 12:45, time for a small sandwich, photos, and the super fun part - clicking into our bindings for the ski descent!  Kenichi is an excellent skier and guide in Hokkaido and the Japan Alps for powder hounds seeking the famous JAPOW in January and February.  He has also climbed and skied a surprisingly long list of the same mountains around the world that we have climbed and/or skied as well (Denali, Elbrus, Kilimanjaro and skiing in Switzerland, Chamonix, Whistler & Utah to name a few).

...back to the top of Mt. Fuji, the conditions were ripe so I knew Kenichi would be up for doing something I thought would make an already unique experience even more extraordinary- skiing down INTO the crater of Mt. Fuji!  The last time this volcano erupted was 318 years ago, so we should be good I figured.  Kenichi needed absolutely no convincing.  The drop in from the crater rim near the summit was steeper than I'm used to skiing at Powder Mountain, and falling would be suboptimal, but it was too good of an opportunity to pass up.  Luckily there were no mishaps and I didn't even mind the extra climbing required to get back up and out of the crater.  It was already a long day with over 4,500 vertical feet of climbing, so we didn't ski all the way down into the depths of the crater.  But we did ski enough turns to crank up the Fuji fun factor. It was well worth it and Kenichi was stoked too. 

Me and Kenichi getting psyched up to drop into the crater!

Then we hiked back up to the crater rim and completed the requisite fist bump. Now it was time for the true reward for hauling all of our gear to the top of Mt. Fuji.  A 3,000+ vertical foot descent on skis taking a fraction of the time and effort required to hike back down. We still had to hike down the last ~1,000 or so vertical feet carrying our skis and we returned to the trailhead around 4:30, only ~10 hours round trip.  With thanks to Kenichi and the weather gods, a bucket list adventure to climb and ski Mt. Fuji, while reaching our 33rd country high-point, is now complete.

#32 Pico de Orizaba, Mexico High Point

The third highest peak in North America is Mexico's highest at 18,491 feet - the volcano Pico de Orizaba or Citlaltépetl meaning Star Mountain.  It's also the highest peak I have ever climbed on my birthday, and doing so seemed like a good way to commemorate another year marker.  ...although I think there are plenty of more relaxing options to celebrate a birthday than this one! 😜 

Before tackling Orizaba, my 32nd country high point climbed so far, we hiked the 14,636 foot La Malinche volcano, in order to acclimate to the high altitude.  La Malinche is located just over 2 1/2 hours east of Mexico City, north of the town of Puebla.  Fun fact, on May 5, 1862 the Pueblan's defeated a French invasion of the town and Cinco de Mayo is now celebrated in recognition of this occasion.  

I celebrated on the summit of Malinche after climbing 4,400 vertical feet in about 4 hours 45 minutes, to an altitude higher than Mt. Whitney, the highest point in the contiguous U.S.  Most importantly, I managed well at that altitude without any notable effects. 

We descended to the trailhead at just above 10,000 feet, and made our way by car to the tiny mountain town of San Miguel Zoapan for the night.  Our guide Lalo Mora Prieto, who I highly recommend @lalomoraprieto, is from this town on the slopes of Orizaba, and lives around the corner from the Orizaba Mountain Guides hostel and base. The next morning on Nov. 20th, we organized our gear making sure we had all of the necessary safety equipment including crampons, ice axes, harness and helmet, and made our way up by a 4WD truck to our base camp near the Piedre Grande hut at 14,000 feet.  After dinner and a few hours of 'attempted' sleep, the alarm sounded at midnight.  My tent mates all wished me a happy birthday, we ate breakfast, got ready, and started climbing in the dark at 1:20 AM.  Unfortunately it was raining lightly when we began so we got a bit damp, which wasn't the best way to start out a cold birthday climb to high altitude.  Luckily as we gained altitude and temperatures dropped, the rain and heavy mist turned to a light snow and eventually we climbed our way up and above the clouds.  

2:52 AM clouds clear and reveal route above

Nov. 21st at 6:23 AM nearing crater rim

It was a long and physically taxing day, but after just over 7 hours of climbing, mostly in the dark, at around 8:30 AM we reached the summit!  Luckily Lalo and I, along with 25 year-old  Christoph from Germany who is half my age, were fast and fit enough to pass all of the other rope teams on the mountain in order to be the very first group on the top.  The wind had died down almost completely and the sunshine was warming our bodies.  Looking across the horizon with the cloud cover below us, we enjoyed a surreal quiet and calm summit experience all to ourselves.  It gave me an opportunity to reflect and appreciate life and my ability to do something unique and physically demanding like this.  Through the meaningful work of the Challenged Athletes Foundation and Ogden Valley Adaptive Sports, my birthday wish from the top of Orizaba, is to help remove as many barriers as possible for those with disabilities so they can also enjoy outdoor sports and recreation opportunities and live life to the fullest! 

#31 Volcán Tajumulco, Guatemala High Point

At 13,845 feet tall, Tajumulco is not only the highest mountain in Guatemala but also the highest in all of Central America. Because if its remote location near the the country's western border with Mexico, lack of tourist infrastructure, and perhaps State Department advisories warning against travel to the San Marcos District of Guatemala due to crime, relatively few people climb Tajumulco. On the contrary we felt very safe and welcomed by every local we crossed paths with on our journey and experienced a level of courtesy and outwardly warm and friendly greetings on streets unlike in most places in the U.S. This was true of our entire time spent in both Guatemala and short time earlier in El Salvador. Nonetheless we prearranged a local guide for the hike to have some extra reassurance and to eliminate any need for route finding along the way. Wilman De Leòn Pèrez came recommended to us and his lack of English gave us a good opportunity to practice our Spanish during our seven-hour round trip hike from the trailhead to the summit and back. 

After a not-so-much fun hour-long drive on dark winding mountain roads from the town of San Marcos to our meeting point with Wilman (we love Google Maps but don't enjoy yet again being re-routed onto barely navigable and closed roads) we safely parked at the trailhead at 6 AM. Here at an elevation of ~10,000 feet, strong winds attempted to rip the doors off our rental car as we greeted the cold, cloudy and wet conditions we were about to subject ourselves to. The beginning part of the trail is a steep mountain road leading to a handful of ramshackle farmers' dwellings where a pack of aggressive dogs charged us, snarled and showed their teeth but we kept them at bay with our trekking poles until we exited their territory. 

 

Not long thereafter we entered a protected reserve and enjoyed lots of greenery as the vegetation changed from tropical to alpine forest as we ascended higher. Above the tree line the foggy cloud cover remained as we encountered a series of Catholic monuments depicting Jesus bearing the weight of a cross. They were emblematic of the arduous pilgrimage to the top and also served nicely as trail markers.

As we climbed higher nearing the crater rim around 9:30 AM, as if by divine intervention, the clouds parted and blue skies and bright sunshine emerged. The wind was powerful but we were happy to have a clear view atop Tajumulco the highest point in Central America. 

Tajumulco Summit 13,845' Nov. 12 ~10AM