Life is not a Practice

After getting the generator nearly all the way to the station yesterday, we today set out on phase two.

Last night we agreed that Klaus from the mountain rescue would accompany me today. Once I explained my problem to Max he said "me too!".


(Photo by Max. Sunrise and I am on the way up the ridge)

Max organised rental snow shoes and sticks and this morning we left at 05:45. Drove to work to pack the petrol, the charger, the cable and everything else and then on to Oberstdorf to pick up Klaus.


(I felt as tired as I look after 2 days of deep steep snow.)

Back up the Riedbergerpass (snow covered and icy but no tourists driving at 5 km/h) to the ski lifts. We met Tom there with the tracked quad and he drove us up to the top of the ski lift from where we once again set off up the ridge. There was no trace of the tracks from yesterday so Klaus broke the trail, Max followed and I came last feeling done in from yesterday.

At the top we stopped for a very short rest (-15°C and a wind are not conducive to long stops) and then carried on down to where I had left the generator yesterday.


(The vegetation in this picture is the tops of stunted trees. This is a small forest and the snow has filled up the space between the trees.)

We broke a trail to the mast and then Max returned and carried the 21kg generator up to the mast without a carrying frame. (Hero).

We now drank tea, ate cake, put on more clothes, fueled the generator and started it, connected the charger to the batteries and generator and left it running. Gave Tom a ring and he confirmed that it was charging.

Set off back across the pass and up to the Riedbergerhorn then Tom rang to say it was no longer working. Turned round in the biting wind and walked back. A red light was on. Stopped generator, started it, stopped, started. Got it running with no red light. Waited 10 minutes to be sure and then walked back down.

One of Max's snow shoes broke on the way up and one of mine on the way down. That just added to the fun.

Klaus had gone ahead with his touring skis and was waiting with the mountain rescue skidoo at the top of the lift to take us back down.

And the batteries are now charged up.

Pictures at https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/103827427036815679772/albums/6097506762533868817

Max's blog is at http://maxhogarth.blogspot.de/ and his (as always amazing) pictures are at https://plus.google.com/photos/102257273463070793435/albums/6077174649141629985/6098356433116069202?pid=6098356433116069202&oid=102257273463070793435

Yesterday my partner told me that the station on top of the Grauen Stein had electrical problems and would soon run out of battery power. No sun is forecast for the solar panels so some one needed to get a generator up to the mast.

I picked up the generator from a hoillock near Isny (using the amazing 4 wheel drive capabilities of my Skoda Yeti). I then drove "round the back" through Austria and up the snow covered pass - overtaking all those stuck in the snow and ice :-)

Tom had not yet arrived with the tracked quad so I attached the generator to a carrying frame and got the mountain rescue to take it up to the top of the ski lift on their skidoo. I used the lift. From the top of the lift I used my touring skis and carried the generator up the snow covered ridge to the top of the Riedbergerhorn. From there I carried on back down to the pass between the two mountains. By now visibility was really bad due to the mist and blizzard and I was worried about getting back in daylight so I left the generator and climbed back up to the top of the Riedbergerhorn.


(this picture was taken a day later. On this day there was no view and I had no time to even think about photos.)

I took the skins off my skis and started to ski down. The snow was very deep so I pointed steep downhill off the ridge (bad idea) and skied down in to the valley.

I crossed a bush covered ravine and disappeared through the snow into the bushes below. I was hanging in small trees but under the snow. I managed to get out but lost a ski and a stick so I stood the other ski up as a marker and attached the carrying frame to it. I then started "swimming" and "crawling" through the deep snow until I fell in to another ravine. I once again escaped and worked my way up to a small hillock from where I could see some skiers far below me on the piste. After a lot of arm waving and shouting "help" they got the message and disappeared. I was now really cold so I kept on moving towards a nearby sheep hut where I huddled feeling cold and frightened.

Apparently the mountain rescue tried to reach me with skidoos but they could not get through the snow either - I later saw one completely bogged in. They called up a pisten bully and together eventually managed to reach me and took me back down the mountain.

So I was safe and very thankful to all those who rescued me but had no touring skis and still the problem of a mast running out of power.

But tomorrow is another day.