The first part was about how to get to the start of the ridge climb, after sleeping in the Wiener Neustädter Hütte we ascented in the morning (6:00-8:00 including breakfast) to the Zugspitze summit and from there the actual climb on the Jubiläumsgrat (shorter nickname: Jubi) starts. That is the disadvantage of sleeping on 2200 m, starting at 6, it took around 1.5 h, official estimation 2.5 h. Breakfast at the hut we skipped, because that early there was not much to choose from and we had enough bread with us, the terrace of the cable car seemed as the perfect spot to have it. There we had breakfast and a toilet break. Toilets were already open around 8, best chance to refill water as well, at the huts around they all charge you for it, but at the cable car toilets it's for free.
Around 8 we started first for a quick stop at the summit, few minutes later the ridge climb started.
It is constant I and II climbing, some parts for downclimbing up to III, but rather well secured. Iron rings would offer options for abseiling, but no one did this and time wise it would not work, so safe downclimbing is needed. Finding the way is not always obvious, some searching was needed. Mostly it follows the logical line along the ridge, which means in exchange nice exposure to both directions, where the face is going down several hundreds of meters. With this climbing it just continues for around 4 h till the biwak box, this is approximately halfway. Afterwards it continues similarly, more rope security and more ferrata parts just to Alpspitze. A topo can be found here.
At 6:00 we left the Wiener Neustädter Hütte, at 8:00 the Zugspitze summit terrace and at 17:15 we reached the Alpsitze cable car. Nearly 12 h with only shorter breaks pay its tribute, I would characterize us as fit and experienced and we also needed as long as it was estimated. The ridge itself is more than 4 km long and it sums up to a climbing distance of over 8 km.
No headlamp needed anymore at 6 am, path clearly visible. It leads to the left of the wall and via the darker coulouir/gully it leads to the old cable car station (darker spot in the middle). No one dares to blow it up, because either it will be too little or too much power and more than planned would collapse. Like this it stays as a reminder for the previous cable car station and the terrace is used for biwaking. The path is not always 100 % easy to find, so especially when you know that it will be dark make sure not to loose it and rather check more often. The hut owner told us that people get stuck and cannot continue, because instead of following a curve, they continue straight ahead and especially with bad weather it might be not possible to continue from there.
The old cable car station, first people waking up and packing their belongings.
As an alternative to the Wiener Neustädter Hütte, you can try getting a spot straight in the Müncher Haus but it is very much booked out in advance. More people tented and biwaked around it, with advance notifaction it should also be possible to get dinner and breakfast at the hut. Without notifaction at least coffee and a banana for breakfast.
The Zugspitze summit cross, short ladder leading from the cable car terrace to the top. Advantage of having the station there was, that we had really nice toilets before the real adventure started.
Here we go. To the left the Höllental.
First harder climbing. Not secured, difficulty III- and always well exposed with faces on both sides going down.
No fear of heights and a certain level of fitness and experience are the minimum to have.
Biwak box Jubiläumsgrathütte is time wise exactly half way the climb. The second half gets more difficult, although more parts are rope secured, but it is harder and way finding also sometimes trickier, usually very logical just along the top of the ridge though. The box can get very crowded on days with good weather windows.
Central peak in the middle the Zugspitze, where all the fun started. Bit lower the Höllentalferner, usually light crampons/Grödel are sufficient, due to bare ice this year real crampons were recommended from the Alpenverein and that was one of the reasons we decided to go via the Wiener Neustädter Hütte to avoid carrying around heaver shoes and crampons with axis. From the reports of others it was still well doable with Grödel, but as always it depends on experience and the level of risk someone wants to take.
From the Alpspitze there is another A/B ferrata going for the cable car station. Our initial plan was to walk the remaining 2 h down, but when approaching I was happy to catch the last cable car at 17:30 (times vary depending on season and can be found here) and not to do that much more. From the cable car to the parking lot next to the Olympic stadium we just walked around 40 min and stopped at the Rießersee for a refreshing "shower". Dinner in the town, 10 min walking from the car and we chose a good pizzeria.