Grossglockner Ascent

Meeting at the foot of the mountain 

Early in the afternoon, you meet your guide and fellow teammates for the climb in Hinterbichl, which is a little village at the foot of the Grossvenediger.

After breakfast, you can “cheat” the first half of the long hike up by taking the “Venediger Taxi” – a van service most climbers resort to – up to Johannishütte at 2121 metres. On this day there’ll be no glacier walking.

From Johannishütte it’s a pretty walk up on the alpine hillside. The hike is moderately difficult; you should make it to Defreggerhaus in 2.5-3 hours. We’ll do an ice basics course and test our equipment on the glacier.

You will get up at dawn and you will need to ascent 700 vertical metres to reach Austria’s 4^th highest peak.

We begin our ascent with head torches on in the dark on a rocky trail. After about 30 minutes, you enter the glacier. Your mountain guide will rope you up and you will put your crampons on. However, you may start to feel fatigue, because you’re above 3000 metres. Don’t be afraid if you experience a small headache – it’s normal, but tell your mountain guide about it.

After a 2.5-3 hour climb, you’re on a narrow ridge leading to the summit. You are on the region’s second tallest mountain, topped only by Grossglockner – you have an awesome view of Grossglockner to the east and it is our next target after this peak. After summiting, you descend to Defreggerhaus for a rest. It’s quite likely that you’ll be in time to walk back to Johannishütte (1-1.5 hour walk down) which is more comfy than Defregger with better food and the chance of a hot shower.

We shall get up at around 8-8:30 and take the taxi down to the valley to say goodbye to these magnificent mountains. You will sleep in or around Kals.

You should get up at 8:00 and take a drive up to the parking space of Lücknerhaus. You’ll start walking at 2,200 met and will need to tackle a vertical of 600 meters to get to one of the most modern huts in the Alps. This will take you about 1.5-2.5 hours. An indoor climbing wall and great cuisine await you at the hut. Do go to bed early, as the morning sees you leaving quite early. Please note that we cannot guarantee that you’ll have accommodation in Stüdlhütte. You need to book very early (at least 2 months in advance) to make sure you do. Still, if there are no free beds at Stüdlhütte, we can sleep at another hut closeby, Adlersruhe.

You have a thousand metres of vertical to tackle before standing on the summit, so it’ll be an early rise around 6 am. Starting out on a winding trail among rocks, you soon come to the edge of the glacier, where you rope up and put the crampons on. The first challenge comes after stepping off the glacier. Here, you have a section of via ferrata-like wires aiding the traverse up the rock to Adlershütte, otherwise known as Erzherzog-Johanneshütte at just over 3,500 m. This is the highest standing mountain hut in the country, by the way.

Now comes the tougher part. Soon after leaving the hut, you’re looking at a 40 degree snow slope about 50-100 metres in length depending on conditions. After that it’s easy rock. After easy rock, it’s tougher rock climbing, but won’t exceed Grade II which means there’s no experience needed, you’ve done this sort of stuff as a kid. But, the belaying by your guide will come in handy and make you feel safe. You first ascend Kleinglockner and descend a bit lower to the saddle between Kleinglockner and Grossglockner, called Glocknerscharte. It’s quite exposed – and crowded. Count on a small queue building up here.

After crossing the Scharte, you’re pretty much on Grade II rock all the way to the summit. Take some pics from the “roof of the country” and try to take in the views. The descent is the same way you came up. Celebrate at the hut in the evening!

Walk back down to the parking lot – it shouldn’t take much longer than an hour. On your way down, your mind involuntarily begins to plan your next ascent of a 4000er. May we suggest Mont Blanc? You’re definitely fit for it after successfully summiting the Grossglockner.

Depart for the airport and your flight home.