Paweł suggested a snowshoe tour up the Gross Aubrig at the Wägitalersee. It was meant as a warm-up trip for him to get back into the mountains after surgery and for me after not doing much at all for three months because of all the nice germs Leonie is bringing into our family (babies should really be bootstrapped with a fully working immune system!). Thus he picked a relatively modest mountain with a planned elevation gain of just 800 meters. It turned out to be the perfect choice.
It was overcast and cold in the valley. We hiked through a mysterious frozen winter wonderland. Absolutely beautiful under trees covered in hoar. The first few hundred meters we were following someone's footsteps in the snow, but we quickly passed their turnaround point and had the entire mountain to ourselves. Eventually we broke through the clouds and enjoyed blue skies over a sea of clouds.
The top section of the mountain is significantly steeper than the lower parts and we crossed a few avalanche debris fields. And while the sun was beautiful and warm it also turned the snow into heavy sticky stuff. This made for a rather uncomfortable descent where we carefully retraced our steps going down backwards, facing the mountain. Slippery, with too many slides ending in vertical drops. Anyway, we made it back down safely and could look back at a perfect trip in gorgeous weather. Thanks for organizing Paweł!
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