First of all thank you for your interest and for your kind words.
Brian, @G8ADD
I also get inspired so often by other reports so it’s just reasonable to give something back. But, as you know, photos can act only as a poor copy of the real scenery.
Ed, @DD5LP, & David, @M0YDH,
I included the info about the soon deletion of the SOTA references, in case someone, who is reading this report next year, wonders why I’ve activated invalid references.
Fortunately not all is lost: The summit “Scharfreuter” has a prominence of more than 560hm (see “Schartenhöhe” in Wikipedia Schafreuter) and it is also, as I’ve mentioned in my report, a border summit with two SOTA references and therefore will loose one of it’s refs, in this case the OE/TI-reference. The second SOTA reference DL/KW-035 will still exist in the future.
The Delpsjoch will definitely lose its one and only SOTA reference, because its prominence does not fulfill the p150 rule. Even it would be debatable whether the conflict to the p150 rule can be proven within the accuracy of the SRTM-1 data: The height of the summit is 1945m ASL (Wikipedia Delpsjoch) the nearest known reference point is the “Tölzer Hütte” (Wikipedia Tölzer Hütte) at a height of 1825m ASL. And you still have to descend at least abt. 20 to 30 hm down in order to reach the saddle point between the “Tölzer Hütte” and the “Delpsjoch”.
But it is out of discussion for me, because I’ve confidence in the good work of Sylvia and her helpers and their efforts to not carelessly dismiss any summit.
Ron, @VK3AFW
The best answer has been already given by Sylvia. I just can add my point of view. Nowadays the summit crosses are mainly maintained (I guess claimed would be not the correct word) by organizations of very different interests. That could be veterans who want to keep up the remembrance to the fallen; or mountain rescue organizations that dedicate it as symbol for the hard work that is done by their comrades; or simply tourist organizations that want to provide some kind of “decoration” in order to increase the attractiveness; or many others.
Nevertheless those summit crosses are very helpful for SOTA activators, as they most often indicate the highest point of a summit and they are often visible from far distance and therefore facilitate orientation.
Christian @OE5HCE maintains an impressive list of summit crosses. It’s really worth to take a look: Panoramio OE5HCE Gipfelkreuz
Ignacio, @EA2BD
Of course, especially at this summit “Scharfreiter” I experienced in the past already several times that “nature is setting the rules”, as the winterly conditions forced me to abandon my ascent. So I’m used to return without summit success; which isn’t too drastic as the mountains will still be available for a next try under better conditions.
Recently I’ve heard a meaningful saying: “If someone leaves for a mountaineering tour, the summit is not the destination, the real destination is your home”
73 Stephan, DM1LE