Image: Paul Sodamin
The nonsense reached its peak in September of this year. At least that’s how many people who watched Stefan Müller saw it as he slowly got going. The 36-year-old Upper Carinthian from Millstatt strapped his bike to his back and set off towards the Großglockner.
At the summit, at 3,798 meters above sea level, he finally stood alone for almost 25 minutes. Then he carried his mountain bike from the highest point in Austria back into the valley. A successful marketing stunt, end of story.
Robert Miller, a dentist from Bad Goisern, his nephew Florian, now living in Salzzburg and employed by the professional fire department there, and the brothers Paul and Peter Sodamin from Trieben in Upper Styria wanted to do something meaningful.
It was supposed to be a sign of peace at a time when even the light that went with it didn’t live up to its name. Paul Sodamin, mountain guide and photographer, had already thought about a Christmas tree on the highest peak in Austria several times.
Dismantling in February at the latest
Two years ago he brought a Nordmann fir to the Dachstein summit in a Santa Claus costume.
And last year the weather didn’t allow the same tree on the summit of the Glockner to ring in Christmas.
That’s why Sodamin didn’t want to leave anything to chance this year: Christmas began for the four friends from Trieben, Salzburg and Bad Goisern on December 19th, the last day of stable weather before the storm from the Atlantic swept into Austria.
Florian Miller, who had driven directly from the night shift in Salzburg to Kals am Großglockner, shouldered a five-kilogram Styrian spruce and climbed into the bindings of his touring skis at the Lucknerhaus.
At the Adlersruhe (Erzherzog-Johann-Hütte), Austria’s highest refuge, there was a longer break so that we could climb the summit ridge together with the last rays of sunshine. At dusk, the four friends reached the highest point, put up the Christmas tree and attached a chain of lights they had brought with them. The peace light from Bethlehem also found a suitable place there.
Paul Sodamin says that he “buried the tree deep,” but it is questionable whether it survived the storm of the past few days. They want to bring the tree, including batteries and LED light chain, back to the valley by February at the latest. In the coming years, the alpinists could imagine similar projects, but then combined with an even better purpose: to collect donations for those who do not have a family to provide strong support at Christmas.
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Source: Nachrichten
