As I am writing this (November, 25th, 2011), I learned with great sadness that OE9GWI is now a silent key. Even-though I never met Gerhard personally, I had the pleasure working him on all my SOTA activations in Austria. He chased and spotted me on every activation – including this one. He was not only active in the the SOTA program but was also a fellow Buddipole user – I am sorry I could not share this trip report with him – I am sure he would have liked a report from a summit in his ‘back-yard’.

 

The rather nasty weather (for a Coloradoan anyway) gave me two days off from my activations. During these days, I exchanged a few e-mails with a local HAM – OE9HRV, Herbert – who was my first contact on the ‘Pfänder‘ (on my first activation in Austria). He not only knows his ‘Ländle’ but is also a very busy SOTA activator. He advised me on summits, routes and other local considerations and invited me for a joint activation of the ‘Galinakopf‘ for the next day. I accepted of course – no better way to activate a summit than with local knowledge. This summit is rather interesting and is part of the ‘Rätikon range‘ of the Eastern Alps. Since the border between Austria and the Principality of Liechtenstein goes right across the summit, it carries two SOTA designations – one for Austria (OE/VB-287) and one for Leichtenstein (HBØ/LI-ØØ7). According to the rules, you can activate this summit from both sides and claim the points twice. Since Liechtenstein is a rather small country (160 square kilometers or 62 sq mi and a population of about 35’000) it has only a few SOTA summits (11) and finding an SOTA activator in HBØ is therefore a rare opportunity for chasers everywhere. Unfortunately I did not research whether my radio-license is valid in Liechtenstein and therefore chose to activate the summit from the Austrian side only – just to be sure not to violate any rules/laws.

Trailhead: 5145 ft / 1568 m
Summit:   7211 ft / 2198 m
Elev. gain: 3271 ft / 997 m
Roundtrip: 9.3 mi / 14.9 km

Compare this summit with my other activated summits

How to get there:
Herbert (OE9HRV) provided full service and picked me up at my temporary QTH in Dornbirn. First we headed west into Switzerland and took E43 (N13) south until the exit of Buchs (SG). We continued to Sevelen where we crossed the bridge over the Rhein which brought us into Vaduz (Liechtenstein) and continued towards Malbun via Triesenberg und Steg. We drove in pretty thick fog until we reached Triesenberg at about 3000 ft or 1000 m AMSL. The views above the fog were just breathtaking and Herbert made a short detour to Gaflei to show me around. Just click on the pictures below to get a larger version and a better idea how it looked like.

There is a skiing area just shortly before arriving in Malbun with the necessary parking lots to accommodate all the cars in winter. That is were we parked the car at 9:30 and walked back down a few hundred yards to to the trail-head.

Parking/Trailhead

View Larger Map

Red Tape:
Make sure to carry your passport when traveling in this border region. You will slip in and out countries several times a day.

The Ascent:

The first section of the 9.3 mi or 14.9 km hike is quite steep over a well maintained forest road and gets your heart pumping for sure. Very soon we had to stop and take off some layers of clothing in order not to overheat. After ~1.2 miles or about 2 kilometers we reached  a wooden bench where we stopped for a drink of water and to catch our breath. This is where I heard DL9MDI calling me on the local 2m repeater we were monitoring. DL9MDI (Fred) had been helping me out prior to the trip and so far we only communicated via e-mail and SKYPE. It was a nice surprise and we chatted shortly… he wished us good luck and we were back on the trail. The trail gave away some of the elevation gains (~250 ft / 80 m) on our way towards our target. The trail lead into a large valley where we could finally see the summit.

We continued the hike parallel to a ridge (connecting the Gamsgrat, Ochsenkopf and Scheienkopf and finally the Galinakopf), which also represents the border of Austria/Liechtenstein, at moderate elevation gain. That changed quite a bit after finally reaching it. We followed the ridge/border to the north, heading directly towards the Galinakopf. The last mile (or 1.6 km) was very steep but offered excellent views to the west and south. The thick fog over the valley reminded me of a calm ocean, something you hardly see here in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. After reaching the summit, we spent the first few minutes taking pictures and videos, before setting up the equipment.

The Summit:

There is a big wooden cross at the very top with a register. The north side of the mountain is a big, steep and grassy slope – certainly a dangerous avalanche area in winter. The remaining sides are steep cliffs which should give me a nice take-off angle for my vertical Buddipole antenna. Herbert was setting up his double bazooka (for 40m) and J-pol (for 10m) antennas on an insanely tall fiberglass mast. I was setting up my vertical Buddipole close to the abyss.

Within a few minutes, we had our rigs going, Herbert his ICOM 706MK2G on a LIFEPO4 (12 Ah) and I my Yaesu FT-817ND with my foldable solar panel. Within minutes I experienced a pile-up using Herbert’s rig with 100 W on 40m,  something I had never experienced in previous WØ activations. I had my hands full answering the stations – the foreign call-signs did not make it any easier for me. After the first wave was over, I left Hebert take over his own rig and retreated to my 5 W rig.

Normally I operate on 20m but shortly before I left for Europe I talked to Chris (W6HFP) from Buddipole by phone who recommended to try the 10m band. So I tuned the antenna to 28.385 Mhz for the first time ever – not sure what to expect. My second CQ call was answered by VE2JCW – that’s over 6000 km (or close to 4000 miles). I was stunned and excited at the same time since I never expected such distances on just 5W. But it got even better… the next two QSOs were with N4EX and

WA2USA (two very active SOTA chasers in the US), both over 7000 km (or ~4500 miles) afar. It does not get better than that. It turned out to be a perfect day in every respect. With the day progressing, the light got better as well and offered lots of opportunities to take pictures of the 360 degrees of unobstructed mountain views with the thick  fog still hanging in the valley well below us – not really a motivator to leave this slice of heaven.

The Descent:

After spending four hours on the summit, it began to get colder and we still had quite a hike in front of us. At 16:30 we started to pack up our gear and headed down. Not paying attention, we made a unplanned detour on very steep ground just a few meters below the summit. After climbing back up, we started to pay closer attention to the trail and finally made it back to the car after a two hour hike. Herbert dropped me off at my QTH – just in time to have a shower and make my dinner appointment. It was an exceptional day… a great hike and amazing conditions for a SOTA activation – Thanks Herbert!

 Some video impressions:

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiEe9nKAneM

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!! WARNING !! There are old mountaineers, and bold mountaineers... there are no old-bold mountaineers. Hiking and mountain climbing are potentially hazardous activities particularly in Colorado with its extreme elevations. I am not accepting responsibility for any death or injury resulting from activations based on my trip reports. Proper training, experience, and personal capability assessment is required - enjoy!