Tag: #difficult

A Pretty Perfect Sunday Morning on the Rax – via the Reisstalersteig to the Heukuppe

How could one spend a Sunday morning better than on the Rax? – that’s what Gina and I thought, so this time we started from the Preiner Gscheid and went straight up to the Heukuppe via the Reisstalersteig.

The trail itself is no joke: partly exposed, partly secured with ropes (via ferrata A/B), and therefore suitable only for sure-footed and experienced hikers. Without kids along, we could fully enjoy the silence, the sunshine, and the clear day. Up on the mountain, you can already feel that autumn is knocking – the air is fresh, and a chilly wind was blowing on top. 🥶

From the Heukuppe we moved on quickly down on the Schlangenweg – almost like a “Hungarian trail run” or a “Carinthian hike.” In any case, briskly downhill. At the Waxriegelhaus we treated ourselves to a little refreshment and even caught a glimpse of the celebration of Waxwirt Martin’s 15th anniversary. Congratulations and many thanks for the warm hospitality! Afterwards, the way back led us to the Preiner Gscheid – this time with some South Tyrolean company. And what counts as a comfortable hiking pace for a South Tyrolean is often called a trail run in Vienna or Hungary.

Our route: Preiner Gscheid – Reisstalersteig – Heukuppe – Karl-Ludwig-Haus – Schlangenweg – Waxriegelhaus – back to Preiner Gscheid

⏱️ Distance: about 10 km / 950 m elevation gain

🗺️ Time: ascent around 2 hours (including raspberry breaks, but brisk), descent about 1:20 h – let’s just call it trail running 😉

An all-around perfect Sunday – friends, sunshine, mountain air, and a touch of autumn.

Carinthian Style Comfort: 700 m Elevation for Warm-Up – or 3 Via Ferratas in the August Heat

The plan was actually to do the Alpenvereinsteig today. Luckily (or not), we had a Carinthian with us again, who suggested we could skip the “boring hike” and take another route instead – “just a little longer.” As we all know: in Carinthia, elevation gain and steep hills simply don’t count as such.

So we ended up climbing about 700 meters on the Wachthüttelkammsteig, only to descend again via the Teufelbadstubensteig (we’d rather not dwell on those 430 m down). Once at the bottom, the real goal started: the Alpenvereinsteig – another 800 meters up, and we (almost) enjoyed every step of it.

At the top, we split up: Chris ran back to the car through the Kesselgraben, Zita took the cable car to wave at the kids (of course, they didn’t see her…) and then slid her way down the Gsolhirnsteig. The “remaining” men stayed at the mountain station (and later at the valley station), balancing out their electrolyte levels with one (two, three…) large beers.

Summary:

• Distance: 17 km

• Elevation: 1540 m up, 1590 m down

• Time: 7h 30min (including breaks, pretty brisk!)

• Route: Wachthüttelkammsteig ⬆️ – Teufelbadstubensteig ⬇️ – Alpenvereinsteig ⬆️ – Höllentalaussicht – Bergstation – Gsolhirnsteig ⬇️ – Hirschwang