Location: North 62.38100, East 007.49339 (GPS at the summit)
Austria
Climbed April 15, 2018
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Information:
How to get there:
Travel east on A1 (say from Linz), and exit south on Hwy. 25 in
Kemmelbach. Drive Hwy. 25, passing the small town Gaming.
Shortly after, Hwy. 25 climbs with wide curves to the top of a hill.
Here you will see signs for Ötscher 11 kilometer, fork left.
The road descends and soon you vill a small village where a new sign for
Ötscher points to your left. Drive this road and you will soon enter
a small downhill skiing community. Continue to the upper parking lot at
location N47.86398, E015.16445, elevation about 855 meter.
Route description:
From the large (upper) parking area, head directly up the obvious valley
that comes down from the col (1280m) between Ötscher (left) and Kleine Ötscher (right).
In 2018, there was still some snow most of the way in mid-April. You gain a bit more
than 400 vertical meter on this hill. Next, turn left and follow the ski-way as it
climbs to the top station of the chair lift (1430 m). (Obviously, if this lift is running one
saves quite a bit of the ascent.)
Continue uphill, staying left of the crest unless there is snow also higher. In mid April, 2018,
the upper part of this ridge was free of snow and one would need to carry the skis or simply complete
the ascent on foot. The terrain is straightforward.
Comments:
I started at 0815 and followed the downhill route that runs up the valley
between the large
Ötscher and the small Ötscher. Mostly old icy snow, I made the col
between the two summits in less than one hour. From here to the top
of the (now closed) lift was pretty easy. Next, a ski up among the small
pine trees, ending at close to 1750 meter where the snow ran out. I carried my skis
up to the main crest to check if one could ski onwwards. However, the snow was
indeed limited and I left my skis behind, deciding to do the last few hundred meter
on foot. This was easy and I arrived at the summit by 1030.
The visibility was
limited, but talking to some other parties as well as exploring the entire
summit plateau made the time run fast.
I left at 1100 and had a reasonable ski back down, arriiving my car at 1200.
