I headed up to the Zugspitze solo on Friday to explore & get some good
snowboarding in. It was phenomenal. When my girlfriend came with me on Saturday, she didn't even snowboard. She just hung out. The snow over Friday night into Saturday made it a phenomenal boarding trip. Even if you aren't a winter sports fan, a trip to the top of Germany is worth your time.

Went to the top on a beautiful, sunny day in April. Outstanding views and still very chilly. Definitely worth the trip!

How can I begin to describe the experience of the Zugspitze? When I took video clips at the summit, I used quotes from the movie "Contact"... "no words.. " "they should have sent a poet". You don't find this view on the East coast of the States!! The train to get to the summit of the mountain is very easy to get to. A friend of mine and I had stayed in a hotel across from the train station in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The mountain train runs out of that station as well! The fare to scale the mountain was reasonable... again, especially considering the incredible view!! The mountain train first takes you through a farming type village, with views of Bavarian architecture.. and then beautiful natural views.. You see more and more the looming mountain. You begin to scale the heights. You see this incredibly beautiful lake in the valley. The mountain train is very interesting because then you go underground for the rest of the journey. That type of traversal up the mountain has it's pluses and minuses. If you're claustrophobic or hate tunnels, I might not recommend the journey. You're in the tunnel for about 20 - 30 minutes. The positive side of that is that you don't have super scary views to contend with as you get higher up the mountain. There is a safety movie and a discussion of the history of the mountain shown on the train.

Then you step out from the train at the 2600M station... and in to breathtaking vistas. There are lovely facilities at 2600 M... skiing, restaurant, gift shop, rest room facilities, and a gondola to take you to the summit facilities. While my friend and I had lunch at the 2600 M facility restaurant, I could not stop looking out the window!!

The gondola from 2600M to 2960M is a short, and also breathtaking ride. It is a very steady gondola.. not a lot of swaying. Yes, for those sensitive to heights.... it is not for the fainthearted. Again, however, the views are so beautiful.

There are more facilities at the 2960M point... a small bar/snack cafe, with views all around the top through the windows. (on a number of windows are indicators of distances to various places around the world from each point) There is also a small gift store, the "highest beer garden" (bier garten) in Germany, and a platform that feels completely on the top of the world. You can see the marker where the true summit is. Apparently, you can hike to the true summit. I know no details about that! I saw signs at the summit facility that you actually can see several countries on a perfectly clear day (Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy!) I believe it... We had some haze in the air, but we were so fortunate that the summit was NOT socked in with clouds!! We definitely could see around for kilometers and kilometers!!!!! Beautiful beautiful snow topped mountains and lovely valleys with villages (which you could *sort* of see with a zoomed in camera lens. ;-) ) Again, if you're sensitive to heights.. some places may be scarier than others. But it's so very worth the trip!

We started our trip off the mountain as the sun was setting. The colors and angles of the light throughout the day was a photographers' (amateur and pro) dream. I took so many pictures that day.

To summarize:

1.) Train trip interesting.. partly underground, tunnel sensitive and claustrophobic sensitive folks be aware

2.) Gondola trip interesting... height sensitive folks be aware!

3.) Views beautiful

4.) Ski and many other facilities available

5.) WORTH IT.. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED EXPERIENCE!

My first visit to Zugspitze's summit was as a 21-year old Airman, stationed in Bavaria. Having climbed in Oregon's Cascades, I was eager for the Bavarian Alps. One early, hot August Saturday I climbed through the Hoellental, spent the night at th Alpenverein hut, and climbed to the summit the next day. The route has a good deal of exposure (it's steep!), but is protected by cables (in Italian, a "via ferrato"). Even with the cables this ascent of the Zugspitze should not be undertaken by the inexperienced, the unprepared, or the solitary (I was all of these.). Nonetheless, for those knowing what they're about, it's very enjoyable