As changeable as the weather
There is nothing more treacherous than the weather in the mountains. One moment you have brilliantly beautiful weather, the sun shining in the sky as if nothing is wrong, the next moment a pitch-black sky appears from behind a mountain and the lightning flies around your ears. Yes that's the weather in the mountains.
Let someone know where you are
If you decide to go into the mountains, it is important to always let someone know. Of course, you assume nothing will happen and it is not meant to happen, but if something does happen, at least someone will know you are still out there somewhere.
Mountain thunderstorms
A few years ago, I visited Krimml at the highest waterfall in Europe. It was a very nice day so we decided to hike to the top of the waterfall. Once at the top, we walked a little further into the valley. At one point, it widens a little and you come across some alms where you can eat something. We decided to sit down somewhere and enjoy a tasty käsebrot. We are not even 5 minutes in and we see that it is getting dark at the very back of the valley and it starts raining and thundering over there. I can tell you, you don't sit very comfortably when that is the case. In a hurry, we wolfed down the bread and walked as fast as we could towards the waterfall.
Changeable
The big disadvantage of bad weather, however, is that it can change very quickly. From the alm to the waterfall was at least another hour's walk, and the bad weather was approaching us very fast. The only choice we had was to walk very fast. Nowhere was there any protection in sight. Slowly we felt the rain on our necks. Fortunately, just before the bad weather reached us, we had reached the top of the waterfall. The crazy thing then was that it seemed like the thunderstorm did not dare to go over the edge. As we walked quickly down, it got sunnier and sunnier. Halfway down, you no longer noticed the bad weather at the top of the waterfall. Down below, everyone was still enjoying the sun while we were very happy to leave the dark clouds behind.
Prepare yourself
It is of course best to prepare yourself first.Check in the morning what the weather is going to be like. Keep a close eye on the sky and know that thunderstorms in the mountains generally happen in the afternoon. So go up the mountain in the morning and make sure you are back down in the afternoon. If you find that you cannot stay ahead of the bad weather, find shelter. If there are no shelters nearby and you run into a thunderstorm, crouch down. Stay away from water and very tall trees. Mountain thunderstorms are wonderful to see but only from your hotel room or appartment.
