Four hours walking time – is written on the signpost that I saw behind Obergurgl. Probably it is meant for hikers not carrying a heavy rucksack. To the right of the bridle path majestic rock walls lead up to dizzy heights, to the left the terrain drops precipitously towards a huge ravine down to Gurgler Ferner – the famous Glacier where Switzerland’s professor Auguste Piccard made an emergency landing in his stratosphere balloon on 28 May 1931. A historical fact that made the secluded mountain village famous overnight: Obergurgl, Tirol’s highest parish village, is in sight – even from Ramolhaus. Rolling thunder is coming nearer and nearer. My heart is scared, my feet feel like lead on the long and winding path covering 7.5 kilometers and almost 1100 meters of altitude gain – from 1927 to 3006 m above sea level. Scenic Ramolhaus is run by “Sektion Hamburg und Niederelbe e.V.” of the German Alpine Club (DAV). A strenuous climb that makes you sweat on the narrow footpath winding its way through the high Alpine landscape. There is no further climbing experience required but a very good physical shape to reach Hamburg’s highest house in the Alpine Mountains.