I’m back from France/Switzerland and here is a brief reprot from HB/VS-262, Bettmerhorn (2871 m), on Sunday 16. August.
Getting there was unusually easy: cabin lifts did most of the work, leaving us with only a little over 200 vertical metres ascent to the summit. The highlight on the way up was the view of the Aletsch Glacier and the surrounding Mountains.
For 2 m I had brought the Single Hourglass Antenna. I wasn’t sure how much space would be available at the summit or how crowded it would be, so I wanted something that could be set up quickly, occupied little space and was not more conspicuous than necessary. Although, admittedly, even the SHA attracts enough attention on a busy summit.
I started the activation at around 08:00 UTC. The Global Mountain Activity Contest was in progress, so there was certainly no shortage of signals on the band. I could hear several stations, but calling them resulted in zero replies.
At nearly 2900 metres a.s.l. one might expect an excellent VHF location, but Bettmerhorn is surrounded by considerably higher mountains, so the take-off is not nearly as good as the altitude might suggest.
Eventually I found an Italian station and was able to work him - the only QSO on 2m SSB in the log. But hey, one was enough and it was across 318 km 
So not exactly a big log, but I was very happy with it. Carrying the VHF equipment to the summit had definitely been worthwhile.
73,
Roman