Summiteers A.B.

People, what a day! Today we have completed the most strenuous but exciting tour, and be sure, the photos can't even capture a fraction of the experiences.

We first took the Grasjochbahn up into the Montafon mountain world and then went a bit further up with the Hochalpilabahn to the highest peak. We were already at the very beginning, where we 'simply' hiked back down to the cable car.

Today everything was different. From a distance we could already see the summit cross of the Zamangspitze, the path to it - the so-called Panoramaweg - was classified as 'moderate' according to the app. But right from the beginning, it went over a relatively narrow path with rocks and scree, it wound its way through nature with a gentle ascent and after a few meters it revealed its full magnitude! In reality, we were walking on a mountain ridge, where it went really steep downhill on both sides. Occasionally we had to hold the poles in one hand to support ourselves with the other hand for the next step. At some point hikers came from behind and also from the opposite direction, so we squeezed ourselves into a corner on the left and let everyone pass. The path continued around the mountain peak, but the conditions did not improve. In terms of altitude, it wasn't a big up or downhill, it was just climbing over rocks on the edge of the mountain. I can't tell you much about the Panoramaweg or panoramic view, I didn't dare to look to the left, right or up. I only focused on the next steps and not slipping or falling. André just loved it!

The app had recommended not taking the alpine trail up to the summit if you have no experience or are not sure-footed and free from vertigo, but rather to walk around the mountain once and take the easier path there. Well... think about it for a moment!

At some point, after about 1 hour of extreme sports, we reached the spot that was declared the easier path to the Zamangspitze. Uh... no thanks. Not with me. But André really wanted to take his first 'real' summit cross, so I stayed back at that spot, André took off his backpack and poles and took the chance. He really dared to climb up there! After about 20 minutes he reached the goal at an altitude of 2386m and asked a lady to photograph him at the cross. Then he came back to me so happily, proudly and joyfully, he was over the moon! I genuinely wished him that, even though I was just too afraid. My knees were still trembling from the path up to here.

But that was only the first stage of our hike today. The next goal was the Zamangalpe, which was supposed to be only 45 minutes away. It remained a narrow path over rocks and stones, but no longer at the edge of the cliffs, but curvy and steep downhill. We now trudged about 500m downhill from the peak, through a botanical area, which could have been a beautifully landscaped park (if everything was flat). Left turn, right turn, scree fields in between... but nowhere to see an Alpe. But my fitness tracker said that was a good thing, because the further we went, the more the bar for fat burning went up 🤭.

After over 1 hour we finally saw the Alpe, still at an altitude of 1860m. However, the timings on the signpost and the hiking app did not match our walking speed at all, so we asked the nice waitress somewhat anxiously how far the way to the Grasjochbahn would realistically be, since the last cable car down to the valley eventually leaves and we didn't want to get stuck on the mountain. But she reassured us and said that now we would go up the road in about 45 minutes, the last meters comfortably. Phew, thanks, that gives us courage.

With the final destination in sight, we wanted to start walking with high motivation, but then we encountered the next adventure. The farmer from the Alpe brought his cows down from the mountain and they came straight towards us in a parade, with the farmer following behind. We couldn't go anywhere, there was no place for us to move aside, so we started walking and passed the seemingly endless line of cows. André counted exactly 52 animals, and the farmer said, that would be all of them.

The last 2 kilometers went uphill on the promised serpentine road, which strangely didn't bother me at all, only André struggled a bit and jumped from rut to rut. At the end, I sprinted again and waited for André at the top.

Goal reached, 7km covered in 4.5 hours, and after a well-deserved BIG Radler, we took one of the last cable cars back down to the valley.

It was exciting, exhausting, and eventful, but nothing gives you a happier feeling than having accomplished it together! It was once again very beautiful 😊

Stay cheerful

Tina & André