A few days after the last Oktoberfest songs had been sung and the last tankards of beer had been emptied, the Oxford Society Munich gathered for a slightly more sober and sporty activity, to burn those calories from the previous weeks. On 13th October around about 20 Oxonians braved a7amstart on a Saturday to hike up to the Fockenstein, one ofMunich’s Hausberge (“home mountains”) at the nearby Tegernsee (“LakeTegern”). Despite a cold and rainy morning we were motivated by our secretary’s rally cry “that there is no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong gear”. Our courage was rewarded by a sudden change of weather that provided us on a blue-sky afternoon and a beautiful view over the Bavarian landscape from the 1564m high peak. After our uphill travails all the way from the lake (800m altitude) to the peak, we were greeted by the first 30cm of snow of the season, and an entertaining downhill descended that involved most of the group sledging down the mountain on their snow-soaked bottoms. Who said sledging was only for kids? In addition, Oxonians would not be Oxonians if the physical part of the day wasn’t topped off by some sort of banterous drinking activity. So on our way down we ran into an unexpected party by Radio Charivari, had free beer at the mountain hut “Aueralm” and were greeted by the generous hospitality of our committee member Leonie, who invited us for coffee and home-made cake to her parents house by the lake. Leonie, we really appreciated and enjoyed your family’s generosity. Overall, the Alpine Excursion was a fantastic day with many highlights and many of the qualities that madeOxfordspecial: motivation to make things happen, courage to overcome an initial challenge, and the esprit de corps of the dark blues. We are looking forward to our next event in the outdoors.