Crossing Mountains - Transalpine is coming!

2 months ago I received an email in my inbox asking whether I wanted to partner with a German girl, Gine,  for the Transalpine race at the beginning of September. Gine is on the Salomon Germany team, and was looking for another girl to race with and somehow through the Salomon community our paths crossed and we found each other! 

Partnering with someone and sharing an 8 day race is daunting. Partnering with someone you don't know, well, this brought many considerations: Would we get along? Are we a similar speed? Do we share the same goals and attitude to being in the mountains? Through some honest Skype discussions we could establish some common ground, and in the end decided to go for it! That's how I have found myself on the edge of the German Alps, deep in Bavaria, sharing some wonderful new trails with Gine and dicovering that trail runners, and generally people who just like to get out, share the same positivity the world over.

The last week I have been visiting Gine so we could really get to know each other and to plan for our race, so where better than on a couple of 8 hour hike/run/climbs on the mountain trails! 

Zwiesel Crossing

Our first trip together - 2400m+ over 35km, and 8 hours of running, power hiking, climbing and scrambling. We started in the small town of Marzoll, running along the Saalach river, and then crossing over 4 peaks: Fuderheuberg, Hochstaufen (1771m), Zwiesel Mountain (1782), and Gamskogel - all part of the Chiemgauer Alps, and each summit marked with a 'gipfel,' a cross.

  

 

Gine on the first peak - Fuderheuberg, marked with a cross: 

  

 

Trail running often includes rock scrambling and climbing! 

 

Team mates: 

 

Gine on the summit of Hochstaufen: 

  

On the summit of Zwiesel Mountain, the box containing the summit book to record your name in: 

 

Gine descending onto lovely long ridge leading to Gamskogel: 

 

The cross on Gamskogel peak just visible at the edge of the ridge: 

Playing in the German Alps

The last couple of months have been a hectic kaleidoscope of work in the hospital, establishing my business - Summit Sisters, and trying to fit in time for training, and with family and friends! I hardly had time to dwell on the fact that I had a trip to Europe booked.
I had initially planned to race the Ultra Trail Mont Blanc again, but an opportunity arose to partner with a Salomon German runner, Gine, in the TransAlpine race! The event has been on my bucket list for a while, but finding another girl to partner with, and finding the funds for the start fee made entry more difficult. I didn't hesitate when the chance presented itself! The race itself is also a completely new experience: 8 days of running through the Alps, starting in Germany and finishing in Italy, 250km of trails through 4 countries and about 15000m of elevation gain. Racing in a team is also a first for me, and I am looking forward to the shared experience of working together with a partner, of sharing the ups and downs, the challenges, and the emotions that are sure to come (sounds like a relationship!).

I decided to start my trip in the German Alps, an area I have never explored despite spending lots of time in the country. Bavaria is a culture and country unto itself, and what better area to train for big hills than in the shadow of the beautiful Neuschwanstein Castle and Tegelberg mountain.

The pictures are from my first trip up into the mountains - the trails literally starting as I step out of the campground I am based in. I did a loop, covering  the 1703m Schoenleitenschrofen, Tegelberg, and up to the 1880m Branderschrofen. On the run down back to camp I ran with a couple from the area. The woman, Monica, had already cycled 60km that day and shared her belief that 'sport keeps you young - not only the body, but also the mind.' Finishing our run together, sitting out in the fading summer sun, and enjoying a big Bavarian beer, I am feeling very young!