Stubaier Höhenweg 2023 - First time hiking in the Alps (4K)

We went hiking (and backpacking) for the very first time (ever) in the mountains and traveled to Stubai in Austria to walk part of the Stubaier High trail.
00:00 Intro
00:19 Day one: Dresdner Hütte - Sulzenauhütte
06:46 Day two: Sulzenauhütte - Nürnberger Hütte
14:17 Day three: Nürnberger Hütte - Bremer Hütte
21:19 Bremer Hütte - Laponesalm in Gschnitztal
Day one: We took the cable car up from the Neustift Valley and walked from the Dresdner Hütte to the Sulzenauhütte over the Peiljoch (2676m) and had a lovely view of the Sulzenauer glacier. Since the weather allowed it, we took a detour to the Blaue Lacke on our way to the Sulzenauhütte.
Day two: We walked from the Sulzenauhütte to the Nürnberger Hütte over the Mairspitze (2781m). The view over the valley was impressive and we could look back at our entire route from the Peiljoch to the Sulzenauhütte the day before.
Day three: Our hike took us from the Nürnberger Hütte to the Bremer Hütte over the Simmingjöchl (2754m). It was quite a tough climb to get to the lovely "Paradies" before we would start our steep climb/walk to the little hut used by the border police in the old days on top of the mountain ridge. Followed by a steep climb down, we reached the Bremer Hütte and could enjoy a lovely sunset at the end of the day.
Day four: We descended from the Bremer Hütte (2413m) to Gschnitztal (+/- 1200m). Bye lovely 20°C and hello smothering 30°C. We had a delicious Apfelstrüdel at the Laponesalm before walking to the hotel we booked over at the Gschnitz Valley where we happily crashed into our beds.
Filming Equipment:
- GoPro Hero 11
- Canon R50 + Canon RF-S 18-45mm f/4.5-6.3 + Canon EF-S 24mm f/2.8
- Joby GorillaPod 3K Kit
DISCLAIMER: We would certainly not recommend the Stubaier Höhenweg if it is your first time hiking in the mountains (especially if you're from the flattest country on this planet like we are. ;-). We were incredibly lucky with the weather so clear skies and no rain/thunderstorms to mess things up and this meant we could really take our time. The time estimations on the signs were way too optimistic for us - we already took that into account while planning this trip and we deliberately picked the three shortest stages of the Stubai High Trail. We go bouldering at our local gym twice a week and that really helped us through the tough parts of this hike since there are a lot of parts that require quite some scrambling. We have no regrets because it was incredible, but we do want to "warn" anybody who is considering this trail for their very first hike.

[@tubbatravels]

This is a really beautiful film with great detail especially the tricky (scary) bits. You filmed and edited it really well. I think you walked it like experts and didn't 'stumble' along at all. Great job well done. (liked and subbed for your next hiking adventure.)

[@RachelKremer]

Ah, thanks! 😊

[@jeroenvandenhark1480]

Hi, friend of Jeroen Driehuis here. 👋 As a regular visitor to the alps myself, I really enjoyed your video, and well done on completing such a vertiginous hike! Looks like you really lucked out with the weather, too. For first-time backpackers, it certainly looks like you have all the gear. Can you talk a little about your equipment (shoes, rucksacks, clothes etc.)?

[@RachelKremer]

Thank you so much, I'm glad you liked it. 😄 We definitely lucked out with the weather, I think we wouldn't have completed the hike otherwise. Since we knew this was a serious hike and we were inexperienced, we did a lot of research. We ended up buying the 50-liter backpacks from Decathlon, which are excellent for their price, highly recommended! We packed as light as possible (12-13 kg of weight) and the backpacks never were an issue/struggle at all. It turned out Decathlon had a ton of great gear for a great price, so we also ended up buying our trousers (long and zip-off), walking sticks, hats, water bottles, and rain gear there. We mostly bought the Merino wool products in other places like shirts (Dilling), socks, and buffs (Stoic). We even took enough climbing slings and carabiners to make a simple safety harness to snap onto a steel cable beside the path if we felt we would need it, but we didn't use them in the end. We didn't have "real" and expensive walking shoes - I had a pair of Ecco ULT-TRN shoes which were very nice and light! If you're interested in a more detailed list, let me know. 👍

[@jankremer6731]

Indrukwekkend!!!!!

[@equilibrium576]

Seeing you stumble along that hiking trail, it has obviously been sheer luck, that you didn't injure yourself. Just because it's one of the most touristy high hiking trails, doesn't mean, it is suitable for everybody....

[@RachelKremer]

We were very very lucky with the weather, yes, else we wouldn't have done it. There's a disclaimer in the description of the video stating that we know this is no beginner's route and we warn others if they consider the trail. I wouldn't say we were in any danger though, we did our research, had the gear and deliberatly picked the short trails so we could take our time, we were very careful and years of bouldering experienced definitely helped. But we agree that this trail is marketed as very do-able and even suitable for beginners on some websites and that's potentially dangerous.