The weather forecast for today was not too good. Therefore I was looking for another SOTA peak nearby. The ‘Geißkopf’,or OE/VB-5Ø4, fit the bill. The ‘Geißkopf’ is part of the ‘Bödele‘, the landmark mountain of Dornbirn, the largest city in the state of Vorarlberg (Austria). There is a great public transportation system which can get you up there. Since SOTA rules demand that I get to the summit human powered (at least the last 150 ft of elvation), I started out well before the ‘Bödele Pass – 3789 ft / 1155 m‘. Even-though there is a bus stop at the pass, that might not result in the required elevation gain from here. Three bus stops (Dornbirn Langwies) before the pass seemed to be a good fit and served as my trail-head. From here it is possible to hike through the woods for the most part and avoid the busy road. Due to the foggy weather, I have only limited pictures/videos.

Trailhead: 3030 ft / 924 m
Summit:   3930 ft / 1198 m
Elev. gain: 1447 ft / 441 m
Roundtrip: 4.2 mi / 6.7 km

Compare this summit with my other activated summits

How to get there:
As mentioned earlier you have choices, take a car or take public transportation.

Take the ‘Bödele-Strasse’ (or L48 ) from Dornbirn or take the Bus line 38 (Dornbirn -Bödele – Schwarzenberg – Bezau) which leaves every 30 minutes, starting at the Dornbirn Railway Station. Park or get out of the Bus at ‘Dornbirn Langwies‘. The trail you are looking for is just a few feet behind the bus-stop – leading south and finally parallels the road.

Parking/Trailhead

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Red Tape:
This area is a popular local recreation area and finding a parking spot might be difficult, specially on week-ends and/or sunny weather.

The Ascent:
There is not a lot to report. It’s a very moderate trail leading directly to the Bödele-Pass (yes, there is a Restaurant). Cross the road to the parking lot. On the north side starts the trail down through a moor and then up through some settlements to the Geißkopf (which you can see from the parking lot). There are no challenges along the way, its a well established trail and there are no doubts when it comes to navigating the area.

The Summit:
There is a wooden cross at the highest point (as on most summits in this area) with a wooden bench. Nice for a picnic or to setup your radio. Since the weather was kind of foggy/cloudy (hard to say where the fog stopped and the clouds started) nobody else claimed the summit or the bench. Setting up the antenna for 20 m was easy with the soft, grassy ground (for the pegs) and the available topography. There is enough space for several antennas, in case you are looking for joint activation. Shortly after the antenna was

up and tuned, the fog rolled in heavily, resulting in chilly temperatures. The scarce sun-rays could not penetrate the fog anymore. My first QSO was DH3RB (Ruediker), a station at the Danish/German border, using a Buddipole configuration as well. Apparently he had seen some of my Youtube videos before and was quite excited to catch me on the air. The remaining QSO’s were with stations in Austria, Greece, England, Bulgaria, Finland and Spain. After 16 QSOs in ~30 minutes, I was happy go pack up my gear due to the chilly temperatures. I am not used to this kind of cold in high humidity.

The Descent:
It was a quick descent down the same trail, through the moor and to a nearby parking lot where I had a pick-up shuttle, getting me down to the valley for a nice glass (or two) of ‘Glühwein‘ and cookies.

Some video impressions:

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nLgDlCQtbM

If you would like to leave questions or comments, please do so through Youtube.

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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!