Zwiesel may come in different forms. Red wine glasses, white wine glasses and a mountain in the South of Bad Tölz, Bavaria.

Being a smart person means to chose the easiest of all ski tours from Rother Skitourenführer Bayerische Alpen. After 15 tours on slopes of all kind, I move on into the wild and, smart as hell, go for the Zwieselberg.

Being adventurous brings in some spice. Especially when following obvious ski traces and realizing too late that they lead into the wrong direction (option A, remediated by a 10 minutes uphill intermezzo) or into a steep hiking path in the forest (option B). Due to my book, there must be a third option, but that one did not cross my path.

On my way up, everything is fine for the time being: Unpredicted sun shines on corn snow, few other hikers or ski tourers are around and the storm has not yet reached it’s full strength.

When I reach the cross of Zwieselberg, a half dozen of hikers lingers around the peak and reacts slightly irritated when seeing my skis. The few (4, in total) other ski tourers that passed my by (full-speed) in the lower areas are long gone now, and rather sooner than later I will wonder where they managed their descent.

Now, being all back and safe, I can confirm that I have special skills in getting stuck between two conifer trees. And I am for sure one of very, very rare persons who succeeded the trial path on the way down. Then, after what felt like 200m altitude difference on steep terrain with tight trees, I sincerely regret not having taken a picture of the steel staircase. Like the cherry on the cake, just when the trial path hits the creek, a staircase with icy steps marks an ultimate end to my skiing abilities. Where are the paparazzi when the situation would lure into a perfect snapshot of unperfect mountain sports?

Further down, I meet two hikers with stunned looks when noticing my skis and the direction I come from. Due to them, I must have been the first crazy freak who tried the toughest way down. However, later today, I have found out that there even is a recommendation by “planet outdoor” for this route, mentioning nonchalant “carry the skis over the metal stairs”.

Taking all possibilities into consideration, I am not convinced of Zwieselberg being a ski tour-paradise. The joyful passages on snowy meadows make a mere 10% of the entire descent, at least from a timing perspective.

Still, I am happy about my Sunday adventure and will certainly try out further ski tours into the wild “Voralpen”!

620m altit. difference

some km

4h (up: 2h)

challenging