No, we are not professional SOTA activators. So Carine, HB9FZC and I are all the more amazed that we climbed and activated peaks no. 99 + no. 100 in 2023 on the 2nd last day of the year 
After a short car journey from Entlebuch to Gitziloch above FlĂŒhli in the central part of Switzerland, we put on our snowshoes and set off on the ascent towards âBleikenchopfâ on perfect ground⊠The winter fairytale landscape soon presents itself in the most beautiful sunshine 
We are the first to cross the Bleikengrat since the big snowfall - a real big fun with the compact base 
The solitude in the fairytale landscape has a touch of Canadian wilderness 
We are at the foot of the âHaglerenâ summit, HB/OW-025, and one last steep climb separates us from our 1st summit goal today - done! With a bright blue sky and breathtaking panoramic views, the small KH1 from ELECRAFT is set up in a matter of seconds, and just a few minutes later we have a total of 17 CW-QSOs in our logs 
As the saying goes: âYou should stop when itâs at its bestâ, and after all, thereâs another item on our agenda today
We enjoy the descent back to the Gitziloch and get into the car. As we also need our smartphone for logging on the 2nd summit, Carine plugs the device into the car chargerâŠSmoke signals? HmmmâŠ
Has our smartphone just gone off? Yes, it has 
At least it can no longer be recharged, and the battery level no longer allows a 2nd activation to be logged 
A new smartphone is needed, as the 100th summit is to be logged today. The odyssey begins⊠While the Handy-Shop in Langnau (we had to drive both 45min to there and 45min back to the starting-point for the 2nd summit) prepares a new mobile phone for us with the data from the old one, we start looking for headlamps 
Finally, all the stumbling blocks seem to be out of the way and we set off on the journey to Heiligkreuz⊠4.15pm: We strap on our backpacks and, after a quick headlamp check, set off in the dusk towards âFarnereâ, HB/LU-010⊠Somehow we had an ascent of around 200 metres in mind - a glance at the signpost with the altitude in Heiligkreuz resulted in a brief empty swallow: 472 metres are still waiting for us 
We put our legs under our arms and step on the gas
1h 5min later weâre standing on the summit - itâs almost pitch black We start up the KH1 and when we switch it on, the thought hits us like lightning: short skip in the 20m band only works in daylight, and DXing with 5 watts and a telescopic antenna⊠Carine gets to work: âCQ SOTA de HB9FZC/P K âŠâ. And again, and again, âŠThere, a quiet signal - Carine gives:â?â- âW2WCâ comes back. WOW, indeed: an American Carine continues, and continues, and continues⊠Either everyone is at dinner, or the propagation conditions are really playing tricks on us After a lot of hanging around, there are 3 QSOs in the log - one too few for a successful activation
Shift change is imminent, because I donât have a single QSO in the log yet I hit the button for all Iâm worth, for minutes on end⊠After 2 logged QSOs, Iâm shivering from the cold so much that I canât give my callsign cleanly - abort!
We still have one option: 2m in FM 
The Yaesu FT-5DE is pulled out, but oh dear: the battery is flashing With short calls, âCQ SOTAâ is hammered out at a high cadence on 145.500, and the missing connections are actually logged in flash QSOs - many thanks to HB9CTU and HB9FMG Relaxation spreads: Summit no. 100 this year is in the bag Now pack up, mount headlamps, a short photo shoot in the dark of night, and off we go on the descent through the forest back to Heiligkreuz, where we get into our car shortly before 8pm 18.2km of walking in total, 1â230m ascent and the same amount of descent in total and 5h 20min. pure walking time in total.
That was really an awesome experience, and the Pizza and beer were well deserved
Thanks to all of our chasers and HNY to you all
vy 73 de René, HB9NBG + 73/88 de Carine, HB9FZC
We ever use the AXE1 + AX1 on the BNC-socket for activations below 20m with the KX2 - thatâs why I didnât even think about 30 metres. But on the other side we hope, that weâll arrive before nighttime on our next summits 