I went up Klingenstock (near Stoos) in two stages: by funicular and by ski benches. A funicular is when cars on rails are pulled by a cable. And if the cabins hang on cables, that's a cable car. It can be more substantial, with closed gondolas of various sizes, or it can be the kind where there's just a bench and you plop your ass down almost on the go.
I didn't risk sitting down right away, even though some young Chinese guys were calling me over. First, I just stood there gawking at how they do it. It's not rocket science — you walk up, take off your backpack, and fall backward onto the bench. It's moving and sliding at the time, but very slowly, so there are no difficulties. Though there are surely some neurotics (in the terminology of my friend from Switzerland) who will think the bench is going to push them off the wooden platform onto the grass. Not the worst thing that could happen in life, let's be honest.
Riding on a seat like this is more interesting than in a closed gondola. If the weather is good, you don't have to pull down the protective hood. You look around, breathe the fresh air, listen to the cowbells ringing. Eventually, that sound will annoy the hell out of you: it's everywhere. The animals graze quite high up, at least up to two kilometers, and there are a lot of them. So, when a famous chocolate brand draws Alpine cows on its packaging, there isn't actually that much exaggeration in it. I don't know what it's like to ride on a chair if you are really terrified of heights, but I felt comfortable. It's not that far off the ground. And my head only spins if I see kilometer-deep abysses all around me. Especially if there are such steep slopes nearby that there's nothing to grab onto if you fall. I was afraid that exactly this was waiting for me at the final point of the ascent, because my path lay from Klingenstock to Fronalpstock along the ridge of a mountain range at an altitude of two kilometers. This is usually not enough for altitude sickness, but I'm getting older, and I share genes with my sister. Our experience in the Dolomites in Italy showed that it starts messing her up from as low as two km. My ascent in the same place says that I can handle three with minimal discomfort, except maybe the panoramas make me a bit woozy.
After about forty minutes in total, I made it to the top. It turned out that although the track is narrow, the slopes don't look all that threatening, and they're even covered in grass. I stood there for a bit to adapt and trudged forward.
Ascent to Klingenstock
