Top of Germany

Today was one of those days which will live in the memory for a long time. It was a fine morning, blue sky with light cloud cover. That was our signal to head Up – the top of Germany awaited! At 2962 metres, the Zugspitze is Germany’s tallest peak (well technically it also belongs to Austria, as it straddles the border). It is host to three glaciers, a unique 360 degree panorama, and views of more than 400 Alpine peaks in four different countries (ok I stole that last sentence from the brochure).

The Germans have made their mountain very accessible. From Garmisch, you head to the railway station and catch train no 1. This is a small train running on regular rail, and takes you up the valley to Grainau, after several stops at interim stations. At Grainau, you pile off this train and onto train 2, switching across to cog rail. This is your chance to grab a window seat (we weren’t quick enough when we boarded train 1). Train 2 continues through alpine meadows, pine forest and tiny villages, gradually climbing until it reaches Eibsee.

Train to the Alps

At this point, route choice is required. To continue your journey up the mountain, you can remain on the train, or alight and take the new cable car. Being lazy, we took the first option and stayed put, knowing we could take the cable car on the downward leg. From Eibsee, the train climbed steeply, almost groaning with the effort. We passed some hikers doing it the hard way, and wondered how long it would take them to reach the top. Tomorrow perhaps? The train and cable crossed paths right at the point where the train took to a tunnel, and we spent the last 10-15 minutes inside rock. We pulled in at the Schneeferner Glacier station, which at 2600 metres is about 300 metres below the summit.

Here you can go for a walk and explore the glacier (almost non existent after such a hot summer), see the ski runs, and build a troll rock tower.

Troll towers

Master builder at work

Mine’s bigger than yours

The views are breathtaking, and you realise how dramatic the ridgelines are. There is also quite a lot of infrastructure – this is not a pretty mountain by any means. The snow was negligible, though Ian managed to rustle up a snowball to pitch at me (he missed).

Mountaineer

Snowball? Me?

Where’s the snow?

Not a pretty mountain

Global warming?

After about an hour we realised the sky was starting to close in, and it was time to head up to the top. The Gletscher cable car took us smoothly upwards to the massive viewing platform sitting just below the official summit point. From here, on a clear day you can see Germany, Austria, Italy and Switzerland. We didn’t have perfect conditions, but we could certainly see a lot of the Alps stretching away into the distance.

400 alpine peaks can be seen

To stand on the actual summit, you have to scramble across a small saddle, shimmy up a ladder, and haul yourself up with ropes. Ian tackled this while I bravely took responsibility for the photos from the safety of terra firma. Ian said afterwards that it was all very slippery and quite dangerous.

En route to the official summit

At the top!

Everyone else at the top

Eventually we realised that the furthest part of the viewing platform was actually in Austria! The border was marked by souvenir shops and a Bunnings-like sausage sizzle. We duly made the first of several international border crossings as we admired the views on the Austrian side. We even scored a “passport stamp”.

But the fun wasn’t over yet. It was time to descend via the cable car. Opened last December, and holding 120 passengers per cabin, it holds three records – the highest pylon for an aerial tramway; the world’s biggest total height difference in one section; and the world’s longest unsupported span. It was a dramatic glide down the rock face, then a swing up and over the pylon section, before descending gently over the trees to the lakeside at Eibsee.

World’s highest cable car pylon

At the bottom

The final leg involved a bunfight to get onto the train, but before too long we were retracing our steps to GaPa, after a wonderful day.

The 2.15 from Zugspitze

I topped it off with a late afternoon stroll down the beautiful Ludwigstrasse, the historic part of Partenkirchen, lined with gloriously painted and adorned traditional buildings. Another swim, followed by local white sausage (delicious), and we are ready for another day in Bavaria.