On December 27th 2025, I and a group of fellow hams went to Parque Natural do Alvão to activate one of its highest peaks, Vaqueiro, 1311m ASL. The weather conditions were rough, with lots of snow and wind. The team was composed by myself, CT1ETE, CT2IWW (Paulo), CT7ALW (Rui) and CR7BWZ (Henrique).

Map of Vaqueiro

The journey began early in the morning with a car trip of about 50km to the destination park. We then took a 6km walk to the peak, followed by a 10km descent thru the other side of the mountain in order to facilitate the walk over plenty of ice and snow.

It was my first winter SOTA activation, so I was prepared with a big amount of apparel.

During the pathway, we found a very happy snowman.

When we got to the peak, the team deployed a tent to protect the operators from the strong wind and cold. I was so tired that I layed down and rested for about 15 minutes before doing anything.

My gud buddy Paulo, CT2IWW, did some footage of our journey.

During the descent, I took a picture of a landscape detail.

I only made 4 QSos, due to the tough conditions and to allow other operators to validate the operation as well.

Thanks to EA4R, CT2IUV, CT1HIX/P and EA2ETB for the 7MHz SSB contacts.

73 & hpe cuagn.