I had my very first SOTA QSO with Michael OE5HKT on Buschberg OE/NO-207 at 491m on June 14, 2025. Arnold OE1IAH took me and a few other newly licensed people under his wing that day, and we all felt the same way. Everyone shook and stuttered their way through the QSOs and was drenched in sweat afterwards.
Today, February 1st, 2026, I am starting my 48th SOTA activation with Christina OE8YYY with a lot more confidence. We trudge in the snow in a good mood at 8:31 a.m. from the parking lot next to the Alpengasthof Malle in Zell-Pfarre towards the Freiberg (Setice) OE/KT-106. We have 3 hours to go and so far it has only been activated by 5 radio operators, Sotlas tells us.
Christina and I also looked for each other and found each other. We both took our CEPT1 license exam at the same time in spring 2025 and complement each other perfectly. She is calm personified, and I run and talk like a startled hen. Christina wants to hike comfortably and enjoyably, and my ADHD drives me forward. But first we get lost after just 200 meters. Who comes up with the idea of running a hiking trail between two fences with a distance of 80cm?
After this initial irritation, we barely make any progress on the wide but extremely icy hiking trail. It is as smooth as glass and to make the challenge even greater, the ice is also covered by a very thin layer of snow. Christina wants to test her new hiking boots thoroughly and doesn’t wear her clothes. I only have one of my cheap Hofer spikes left because the other one has been stuck in the snow somewhere on the Dreimarkstein OE/ST-127 for two weeks. Fun fact: Christina’s hiking boots cost the same as my ICOM ID-52, which I recently purchased on a whim, which I’m of course continuing to test thoroughly today.
The weather leaves a lot to be desired. It’s below zero and foggy. Nevertheless, the climb is entertaining and fun. We slide, talk and laugh a lot and obviously scare away all the animals because we can’t see them. The fog is now getting even thicker and the snow is getting noticeably higher. The pessimist in me says that we will be stuck in the fog even at the summit. Christina is convinced of the opposite. The path becomes a little steeper and I slowly pull away from Christina. The path was initially well-trodden, but the traces of those who waded up the Freiberg to 1923m before us are becoming fewer and fewer. After 2 ½ hours the sun suddenly blinks through the fog, it gets brighter and I shout back to Christina that she was right.
The climb continues, now there are only traces of a single person in the snow. I’m grateful to step into these 30-50cm deep holes, because tracking is really strenuous and we have a total of 1000m to climb. 100m before the summit – I love the Outdooractive app – the last tracks suddenly end with a step into a 70cm deep hole. I stare briefly at the untouched, beautiful, white expanse of snow in front of me and check in the Outdooractive app where I actually have to go. So far we hardly had to pay attention to markings because there were traces.
Now my ambition has really been awakened and I’m setting off into the deep snow step by step. Once I sink so deep and hard, first with one leg and then with the other, that I briefly panic. I struggle to get out again and continue to work my way forward. It’s a good thing I have a bit of a lead on Christina, because this passage feels like it takes me forever and I’m panting from the effort.
At times I actually ask myself what I’m actually doing ramping up the mountain in the middle of winter. On the other hand, I just realized with the South Tyrolean OE1JLN that we are all “slightly strange” here and that I am in good company. Amateur radio is really a wonderful, colorful bunch of extraordinary people, and I’ve probably only gotten to know a fraction of them so far. What I now know is that some people sit on the mountain or in the park and activate and test their material. Some more, some less and some also 46 mountains in 3 weeks in Sardinia, 1 week of which was even sick, right Julian OE1JLN?
Others obviously radio from paragliders and God knows where everywhere over the decades, like radio operator veteran Martin OE8KKK. Still others (or do some fit into every category?) are sitting in their shack (the attic is wired and the roof has antennas), which technically leaves nothing to be desired and where you don’t even want to know how much everything may have cost. They tinker, solder, test, build, develop apps and tools and are constantly expanding and improving their (to me) technical marvels.
As I am particularly technically gifted myself, I would very gratefully accept any help in this regard. I soldered something for the first time in my life in the Eisvogelgasse in the club in Vienna, and I am fascinated by radio operators like Kurt OE1KBC, whose commitment and endless passion for amateur radio means that new radio operators are becoming part of the radio world. The same applies to Gerhard OE6PGM. Without him, I wouldn’t have a license or a handheld radio in my backpack. Together with him I was also able to activate my local mountain in Carinthia, the Mödringberg OE/KT-354, for the first time. Here again was my first QSO with Matthias OE8MPR, who has now become a good radio friend, as has Michi OE8YML, who even made a HF antenna for Christina and me and gave it to us. Since I am the proud owner of the ICOM ID-52, I can also ask Alex OE8HAM, who can provide the most professional information about this.
The last “Gupf” is steeper and the snow is therefore less deep. With a sigh of relief, things get easier again, and when I see the summit cross, nothing can hold me back. I turn around again briefly, look for and see Christina further down. I hear her cursing and I’m proud of her as she fights her way up through the snow.
It’s a bit windier at the summit and unfortunately the sun doesn’t really show up. A few photos are quickly taken and the location is checked to see where the best spot to activate would be. I make a hole in the snow right next to the summit cross, and in no time my J-pole antenna is mounted on the pole and the cable is plugged in. It’s like you’re sleeping now. If anyone else got good vibes from me in 2025, then it was definitely Manfred OE5MBP, who made and gave me this small and fine wire antenna at the DX radio camp in Döbriach in the summer.
The pole is leaning against the summit cross, I sit down in my puddled snow hole and listen to the S20, 21 and 22. On the ICOM waterfall I see a signal on the 145.525, where 3 Slovenians are currently activating the Slavnik S5/BR-012. I work all three, and when I’m finished, Christina is already there. She doesn’t look at all exhausted and is even glowing. I continue to transmit feverishly on the free frequency 145.550 and some good soul places a spot for us. Christina doesn’t allow herself to be stressed, sits down next to me and eats in peace.
My “normal” friends keep asking me who I’m talking to on the mountain. Of course, I only know the voice of most of the other stations, and now there are the usual suspects in Carinthia with whom you can chat regularly and whom I look forward to every time, as well as a few hard-working Slovenian stations.
The handheld radio now moves from one to the other. I type everything directly into the PoLo app, the Ham2K Portable Logger, on my phone with the stylus (thanks Matthias!), and Christina writes everything down by hand in “old school” style.
We certainly cause confusion among the opposite stations because we probably have similar voices. As a result, our operating technology is not that professional today, but no one will certainly hold that against us. The modulation is not comparable to that of my previous Tidradio-H8, which provided me with excellent service for 6 months with its 10 watts. Now I would like to give everyone the Rapport 59 because the signal is almost consistently loud, clear and noise-free. After 40 minutes and a sensational 24 QSOs in the log, I realized how cold I actually was.
After we’ve done the QRT and before I’m pretty frozen trying to get up from the snow, I ask Christina to take a quick photo of me. She laughs loudly because she has already made some from all sides. I obviously forget the world around me when I’m radioing.
Everything is quickly packed up again, I stuff 2 dates into my mouth and postpone snacking until later. We are both happy and 8 “sparks” + 3 well-deserved bonus sparks richer in our Sotlas account.
I hop and jump forward downhill. Christina takes things more comfortably again and is visibly more aware of her surroundings.
At 2:44 p.m. I stop recording the track, which I upload to Sotlas that evening via Sotamaps. Another cool tool that Joe OE5JFE explained to me.
A wonderful day on the mountain comes to an end – our guardian angels obviously didn’t collapse from sheer exhaustion today – and I keep shaking my head as I realize how much the spark has enriched my life in the last few months.
I sometimes feel a bit stupid, because my WhatsApp chat history seems to only consist of radio conversations, I’m increasingly holding the handheld radio in my hand instead of my cell phone, and the Sotlas page is already open day and night anyway.
Just a year ago I didn’t have the slightest idea of the complexity of amateur radio. Now I can’t imagine my world without QSOs.
So who is surprised that I spark, glow and spray for this new and beloved hobby!
73 de OE1YLS
Sigrid Magdalena