{"id":1108,"date":"2011-10-18T10:47:49","date_gmt":"2011-10-18T16:47:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/?p=1108"},"modified":"2012-07-18T11:36:39","modified_gmt":"2012-07-18T17:36:39","slug":"triple-activation-oevb34-oevb366-oevb48","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/sota-trip-report\/triple-activation-oevb34-oevb366-oevb48\/","title":{"rendered":"Triple Activation: OE\/VB-34\u00d8, OE\/VB-366 and OE\/VB-4\u00d88"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>For the last day of my Austrian SOTA activation adventure I contemplated several options. I finally settled on a route suggested by Herbert (<a title=\"QRZ entry for OE9HRV\" href=\"http:\/\/www.qrz.com\/db\/OE9HRV\" target=\"_blank\">OE9HRV<\/a>), who was an incredible useful source for all my activations here in OE land (<a title=\"OE trip reports\" href=\"http:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/category\/sota-trip-report\/oe\/\">check out the other OE trip reports<\/a>). The route included three peaks,\u00a0<em>S\u00fcnser Spitze<\/em> (<a title=\"SOTAdata entry\" href=\"http:\/\/sotawatch.org\/summits.php?summit=OE\/VB-340\" target=\"_blank\">OE\/VB-34\u00d8<\/a>) &#8211; <em>Portlerhorn<\/em> (<a title=\"SOTAdata entry\" href=\"http:\/\/sotawatch.org\/summits.php?summit=OE\/VB-366\" target=\"_blank\">OE\/VB-366<\/a>) &#8211; <em>Portlerkopf<\/em> (<a title=\"SOTAdata entry\" href=\"http:\/\/sotawatch.org\/summits.php?summit=OE\/VB-408\" target=\"_blank\">OE\/VB-4\u00d88<\/a>), each awarding 8 points. This seemed to be an adequate finale for my time here. The weather forecast was excellent and I was joined by my wife and brother in law. The only caveat&#8230; we had to catch a train at 16:05 local time. To stay within this time-frame, the plan was to hike to the <em>S\u00fcnser Spitze<\/em> first (highest of the three peaks), activate this summit on my HT (VHF) to save some time (setup and break-down of HF equipment) and hike down and along the ridge to the remaining two summits for a VHF and HF activation and still catch the train.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1115\" style=\"width: 510px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/ElevationProfile_final.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1115\" class=\" wp-image-1115  \" title=\"Triple Activation:  Elevation Profile\" src=\"http:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/ElevationProfile_final-1024x231.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"112\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/ElevationProfile_final-1024x231.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/ElevationProfile_final-300x67.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/ElevationProfile_final.jpg 1642w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1115\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Elevation Profile (click for a larger view)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Trailhead: 5522 ft \/ 1683 m<br \/>\nSummit:\u00a0\u00a0 6765 ft \/ 2062 m<br \/>\nElev. gain: 1999 ft \/ 600 m<br \/>\nRoundtrip: 5.6 mi \/ 9 km<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a title=\"Summit Comparison\" href=\"http:\/\/schnizer.com\/SOTA\/\" target=\"_blank\">Compare this summit with my other activated summits<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>How to get there:<br \/>\n<\/strong>The shortest route from my temp. QTH was to take L51 west, from the medieval town of\u00a0<a title=\"Wikipedia info\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Feldkirch,_Vorarlberg\" target=\"_blank\">Feldkirch <\/a>towards the <em>Furka-Pass<\/em>. It&#8217;s a small winding road, single lane for the latter part, and going through some beautiful country side. The trail-head is shortly after the <em>Furkajoch<\/em>.\u00a0 We parked the car on a gravel\u00a0 strip on the right side of the road.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Parking\/Trailhead<br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/maps.google.com\/maps?f=q&amp;source=s_q&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=&amp;q=+47%C2%B016'34.60%22N+++9%C2%B050'13.21%22E&amp;aq=&amp;sll=37.0625,-95.677068&amp;sspn=68.218693,74.355469&amp;vpsrc=6&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;ll=47.276278,9.837003&amp;spn=0.007316,0.009077&amp;t=h&amp;z=14&amp;output=embed\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" width=\"425\" height=\"350\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<small><a style=\"color: #ffffff; text-align: left;\" href=\"http:\/\/maps.google.com\/maps?f=q&amp;source=embed&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=&amp;q=+47%C2%B016'34.60%22N+++9%C2%B050'13.21%22E&amp;aq=&amp;sll=37.0625,-95.677068&amp;sspn=68.218693,74.355469&amp;vpsrc=6&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;ll=47.276278,9.837003&amp;spn=0.007316,0.009077&amp;t=h&amp;z=14\">View Larger Map<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>Red Tape:<\/strong><br \/>\nThe road (L51) might be closed in winter.<br \/>\nThe gravel strip has room for approx. 10 cars.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>The Ascent:<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1125\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/20111018-IMG_3378.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1125\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-1125  \" title=\"At the TH of Suenser Spitze\" src=\"http:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/20111018-IMG_3378-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1125\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">At the TH<\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The ascent hast no big challenges. Like all the other trails around here, they are well marked with frequent signs leading you in the right direction. The first part led up to an alp over a dirt road. The trail went through a few buildings, which were abandoned for the upcoming winter season. Just an old Pinzgauer was sitting in front of one of the buildings. A short but steep section led us from the alp to a saddle from where we could see all three summits for the first time. From here you have two options to continue &#8211; we selected the trail splitting to the right, slightly uphills towards the ridge between the <em>Portlerhorn<\/em> and the <em>Portlerkopf<\/em>, to avoid loosing any altitude we already gained. We got great views looking back towards the <em>Furkapass<\/em> and the surrounding mountains. We reached the top of the ridge right at a small lake with the first summit in the background.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1129\" style=\"width: 810px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/20111018-Pano-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1129\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1129\" title=\"Suenser Spitze: Lake with Lake with Suenser Spitze in background\" src=\"http:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/20111018-Pano-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"353\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/20111018-Pano-1.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/20111018-Pano-1-300x132.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1129\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lake with S\u00fcnser Spitze<\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Continuing along the ridge, we reached another signpost before tackling a pretty steep section up to the ridge between the\u00a0 <em>S\u00fcnser Spitze<\/em> and the <em>Ragazer Blanken<\/em>.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1145\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/20111018-IMG_3420.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1145\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-1145 \" title=\"Suenser Spitze:  The final steps to the summit\" src=\"http:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/20111018-IMG_3420-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1145\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The final steps to the summit<\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Towards the <em style=\"text-align: left;\"><\/em> east we could see the summit-station of the ski-area of <em>Dam\u00fcls<\/em> and towards the west we enjoyed the snow-covered Swiss-Alps. At this point we had made most of the elevation gain towards this summit. The rest of the trail followed very closely the top of the ridge before a last steep section left us breathless reaching the summit. I am claiming that the views were responsible for being out of breath &#8211; others disagree. <a title=\"Wikipedia info\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Lake_Constance\" target=\"_blank\">Lake Constance<\/a> was clearly visible to the north-west of us. At the south end of the lake&#8230; the town of <a title=\"Wikipedia info\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Bregenz\" target=\"_blank\">Bregenz<\/a>. This was my best bet on getting my contacts quickly on 2m .<\/p>\n<div class=\"mceTemp\">\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>The Summit:<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1136\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/20111018-IMG_3438.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1136\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-1136  \" title=\"Suenser Spitze: Calling CQ on 2m\" src=\"http:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/20111018-IMG_3438-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1136\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">K\u00d8MOS on the summit<\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The summit has a sharp drop-off towards the north and the usual wooden cross with the summit register. It was still chilly, mainly due to the stiff breeze from the north. My call on 145.5 MHz was quickly answered by OE9GWI (Gerhard). His spot on SOTAwatch drummed up all the support I needed for this summit, including a contact with a Swiss station (HB9AGH &#8211; Ambrosi). It was a nice and unexpected contact with a station in Z\u00fcrich where I had lived and worked for over 10 years. The activation lasted only 20 minutes and we could move on to the next summit but not before taking some snapshots and\u00a0 enjoying some warm tea out of the thermos.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1138\" style=\"width: 810px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/20111018-Pano-2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1138\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1138\" title=\"Suenser Spitze: The view towards Switzerland\" src=\"http:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/20111018-Pano-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"407\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/20111018-Pano-2.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/20111018-Pano-2-300x152.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1138\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The view towards Switzerland<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_1154\" style=\"width: 810px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/20111018-IMG_3439.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1154\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1154\" title=\"Suenser Spitze - Group photo\" src=\"http:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/20111018-IMG_3439.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/20111018-IMG_3439.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/20111018-IMG_3439-300x168.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1154\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">S\u00fcnser Spitze - Group photo<\/p><\/div>\n<p>We followed the same trail back to the mentioned sign-post, but instead of traversing the ridge we followed the ridge to the <em>Potlerhorn<\/em>. It took us a little more than an hour to get to the second summit, staying close to my timetable. This time we had to share the summit with two other parties. Not a problem since the summit is basically a hump in the ridge and thus provided enough space for my antenna.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1140\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/20111018-IMG_3458.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1140\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-1140 \" title=\"Potlerhorn: Getting ready for HF\" src=\"http:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/20111018-IMG_3458-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1140\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Getting ready for HF<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Before setting up the HF equipment, I tried the HT on 2M again to see whether I would be possible to get any contacts on this peak as well. The line-of-sight towards Bregenz was clearly blocked by the previously activated <em>S\u00fcnser Spitze<\/em>. Never-theless, OE9HRV (Herbert) answered my call. I could even get in contact again with HB9AGH in Z\u00fcrich&#8230; it took a few tries but after finding the sweet spot on the mountain, we could exchange the necessary info.\u00a0 All in all I made 15 contacts with stations in England, Sweden, Austria, Hungary, Germany, Poland, Denmark and Switzerland before we moved on to the last summit.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1147\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/20111018-IMG_3482.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1147\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-1147 \" title=\"Potlerhorn: Off to the last summit\" src=\"http:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/20111018-IMG_3482-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1147\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Off to the last summit<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Again it was easy to find the way to the last summit. We just followed the trail along the ridge connecting the two summits. The down-climb to the saddle was quite steep and we encountered several more hikers coming up. From the saddle to the summit, the trail was clearly less traveled than before. It followed the ridge-line very closely, sometimes crossing over to the other side only to cross again a little later. Both sides of the ridge\u00a0 drop off sharply and if you suffer from fear of heights you shouldnt look down too much. It was only 3\/4 of a mile to the last summit<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1149\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/20111018-IMG_3495.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1149\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-1149 \" title=\"Potlerkopf: Antenna witg flags\" src=\"http:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/20111018-IMG_3495-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1149\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Antenna on Portlerkopf<\/p><\/div>\n<p>but I started to feel the impact on my knees. I was setting up the antenna for the last time on this trip and thought it might be appropriate to fly the Austrian flag I got from OE9HRV. This time I had no luck on 2m, but Herbert (OE9HRV) was already waiting for me on 20m. Within no-time I had 15 contacts with stations in Austria, Germany, England, Poland, Lithuania, Spain and even Canada (VE1WT) &#8211; making this my longest distance contact of the day (approx. 5400 km or 3400 mi).<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Descent:<\/strong><br \/>\nIt&#8217;s only a short distance from the last summit to the trail-head;\u00a0 approximately another 3\/4 of a mile. We had to backtrack on the same trail for a while until we could get down from the steep ridge. Needless to say that we missed the train by about five minutes &#8211; but in Europe, with its highly developed public transportation system, there is always another train.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Some video impressions:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=2WOvWI-XsAI\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1298\" title=\"TripleActivation-YoutubePicture\" src=\"http:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/Capture.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"856\" height=\"509\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/Capture.jpg 856w, https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/Capture-300x178.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 856px) 100vw, 856px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>If you would like to leave questions or comments, please do so through <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=2WOvWI-XsAI\" target=\"_blank\">Youtube<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<HR>\n<p style=\"font-size:10px\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/d\/dd\/Achtung.svg\/877px-Achtung.svg.png\" alt=\"ATTENTION\" style=\"float:left\" height=\"41\" width=\"41\"> \n\n!! WARNING !! There are <b>old<\/b> mountaineers, and \n<b>bold<\/b> mountaineers... there are no old-bold mountaineers. \nHiking 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!\n<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For the last day of my Austrian SOTA activation adventure I contemplated several options. I finally settled on a route suggested by Herbert (OE9HRV), who was an incredible useful source for all my activations here in OE land (check out &hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/sota-trip-report\/triple-activation-oevb34-oevb366-oevb48\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,3],"tags":[25,17,30,28,49,7,6,22,21,8,18,60,61,62,19,51,52,24,50,29],"class_list":["post-1108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-oe","category-sota-trip-report","tag-activation","tag-amateur-radio","tag-austria","tag-buddipole-antenna","tag-feldkirch","tag-ham","tag-hiking","tag-k0mos","tag-mountain","tag-mountain-topping","tag-nature","tag-oevb-340","tag-oevb-366","tag-oevb-408","tag-outdoors","tag-portlerhorn","tag-portlerkopf","tag-summits-on-the-air","tag-sunser-spitze","tag-trail-description"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1108"}],"version-history":[{"count":50,"href":"https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1212,"href":"https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1108\/revisions\/1212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}