Date: 23-03-2013 15:51-15:57 UTC
Today was the annual assembly of the Swiss SOTA Chapter (HB9SOTA). It was great for me to finally meet the persons behind the so well-known call signs and to exchange stories and tips about activations and equipment.
I planned to activate Würz (HB/AG-011) after the assembly, and sure enough, a number of fellow hams decided spontaneously to join in. In the end, a merry group of 5 operators (Hugo HB9AFH, Jürg HB9BIN, Hans HB9BQU, Paul HB9DST and myself) were on the way to the summit. It was only a short stroll from the parking, about 35 minutes, but just right for an mid-afternoon activation. The way up was quite muddy due to the just recently melted snow (you know the feeling when your boots get heavier and heavier due to collecting mud). On the summit, 4 stations were set up, 3 HF and one VHF, covering all bands from 40m to 2m. It was interesting to watch the colleagues in action, and many interesting conversation spun off. Only too soon we packed up and headed down to the car park. All agreed that such joint activations should be organized more often. A great day it was, indeed.
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Date: 16-03-2013 15:51-15:57 UTC
Second activation this day after Schlierengrat (HB/OW-021). Although there was a path on the map leading from Schlierengrat down to the valley (Schlierental), it was not visible due to high snow. I hoped to find some tracks from previous hikers, but there were none. So I used the GPS to descend as close to the original path as possible. Walking down the untouched snow surface with snowshoes was a great experience. Once down in the valley, I followed the main trail for about 1km to the south-west, before turning left to the path leading up to Jänzi. I was already quite exhausted from all the hiking, but fortunately the ascent was quite moderate. I reached Jänzi about 16:40 local time, so I had to hurry up (11 QSOs in 6 minutes) to make it back to the parking lot at Langis before dusk.
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Date: 16-03-2013 12:24-12:54 UTC
Still plenty of snow, so another opportunity for a snowshoe activation. Double activation together with Jänzi, HB/OW-022. Huge parking lot at Langis, however not free (CHF 1/hour). I underestimated the time required for the trip and paid for 5 hours only (it turned out to take 7 hours). Fortunately, there was no parking ticket waiting for me upon return. After the Andresenhütte, a medium steep ascent to the ridge (Schlierengrat) follows. Once on the ridge, the path slightly ascents along the ridge for about 2.5km, up to the final peak of Schlierengrat at 1748m.
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Date: 10-03-2013 12:08-13:21 UTC
Maybe the last opportunity this season to activate on snow shoes. Parking at the very top of the Ibergeregg pass requires a fee, there are however also some free parking spaces a few meters down the road. I missed the right path at the beginning, which required me to climb up a rather steep slope to get back to the correct route. See the first picture below for the correct entry point.
The snow was wet and heavy, temperature was about 7C at the parking. The main ascent started right at Ibergeregg up to Brünnelistock (1594m, abt. 150m up) and took me about 30min. From there the path follows the almost flat ridge for about 1.5km, ending in a short but steep ascent to the summit of Furggelenstock.
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Date: 02-03-2013 09:27-09:59 UTC
After our company sponsored winter sports event in Toggenburg, I took the opportunity to activate the highest (and easiest accessible) summit of the Churfirsten group: Hinterrugg. The summit next to Hinterrugg (Chäserrugg, not SOTA) is easily accessible from Unterwasser by a funicular to the intermediary station Iltios, followed by an aerial cableway up to Chäserrugg (2262m). On the way up, the fog layer was crossed and an amazingly beautiful WX and view presented itself. From Chäserrugg, it only took about 15min to the final summit using snow shoes. On the way up, a narrow ridge had to be passed.
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