With its elevation of 2963 m, the Zugspitze is Germany's highest mountain (although part of it belongs to Austria - the highest mountain that completely belongs to Germany is the Watzmann). I had climbed it via the famous Höllental route three times by then in summer time (with my personal record climbing time being 4.5 hours up and 3.5 hours down on 9 Aug 1993), but this time I was lazy and short of time, so I went up with the cog train and down with the cable car. Deceived by my recent experience on mount Wendelstein of the exceptionally warm weather in the last quarter of 2006, and drawn by the expectation of fantastic views from the summit of mount Zugspitze, I had set out for some high-elevation hiking, but ended up skiing! On arrival at the Zugspitzplatt (around 2600 m), I was slightly surprised to find myself in a winter wonderland, and immediately regretted that I did not bring my skis. Luckily, there is a ski rental, which asked 24€ for full equipment (but not the latest, which is even more expensive). All right, I accepted the deal, since the Zugspitzbahn ticket already included the use of the ski lifts (and moreover I had paid "only" 32€ for that, rather than the usual 37€, because there is a discount for people who go to Garmisch with the Deutsche Bahn). Surely I was not in great shape for skiing, but as a gentle introduction to this winter's season, the relatively easy slopes were a perfect fit, and since it was a normal work-day (Thursday), waiting time at the lifts was zero :-) In the early afternoon, I went up to the summit with the small Gletscherbahn cable car to enjoy the panoramic views, and two hours later I went there again for sunset. This is the only time of the year where the sun sets early enough before the last Eibseebahn cable car run forces day visitors to leave. As you can see on the pictures below, dusk at the summit was marvellous!
| regular train from Munich, cog train ride from Garmisch |  Hörnle |  Wetterstein, Ettaler Mandl |  Alpspitze |  Kramer, cog train |
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 Alpspitze, Zugspitze, Daniel |  Daniel |  cog railway |  4.5 km in an ascending tunnel! | |
| Zugspitzplatt |  |  |  |  |
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| summit in the afternoon |  summit and Jubiläumsgrat |  Münchner Haus |  |  |
 Eibsee |  Waxenstein-Riffelwand ridge |  Starnberger See, Munich |  summit | |
 Großvenediger |  Habicht |  Hoher Kamm |  Hochwanner, Hohe Munde | |
| sunset |  |  |  |  |
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| return |  Munich |  Austrian cable car route |  special material transport waggon |  train head |