Gartnerwand

Overview

South slopes of Gartnerwand

Gartnerwand is a long ridge at the eastern ed of the Lechtal Alps. The ridge has a length of about 3.5km and consists of three major peaks Alpschrofen (2303m/7556ft), Gartnerwand (2376m/7796ft) and Grubigstein (2233m/7326ft). The eye-catcher of this mountain is its up to 500m high north face with is very beautiful. Quite in contrast to the north side, the south side has a lot of gras on it and provides a splendid trail to traverse Gartnerwand.

Since the ascent to Gartnerwand can be eased by using the cable cars of the ski area Lermoos/Grubigstein, Gartnerwand is a popular mountain and therefore visited very often. Because of that, all exposed parts of the trails are well secured with chains. Most people traverse Gartnerwand starting at Grubigstein. But I recommend to chose either the north ridge or Bichlbächler Jöchle as ascent route, because if you do so you' ll be quite alone during your ascent. The place gets more and more crowded, the closer you get to Grubigstein. The descent via the ski-area is not very splendid but doesn' t take long. I think the descent via Gertner Alpe (1399m4590ft) is the better choice but I haven' t done this.

The views from Gartnerwand are breath taking. You have a perfect view of Mieming Range and Wetterstein with Zugspitze from a quite unusual perspective. Through the Gaistal you look straight into the Karwendel. To the south you have a splendid view of Stubai Alps and the Öztal Alps. But you don' t have to look far, because Gartnerwand itself provides impressive views of its north face all along the traverse.

Maps and routes overview

The final ascent.

Maps:

• KOMPASS #5 - Wettersteingebirge Zugspitzgebiet (1:50000)
  Gartnerwand is located at the west end of this map, but it is sufficent even if you intend to do the traverse.
• KOMPASS #24 - Lechtaler Alpen Hornbachkette (1:50000)
  This map cuts everything east of Grubigsteinhut.


Alpschrofen

Routes:
There are mainly four different approaches to Gartnerwand:

• From Lermoos via Grubigstein
  Ascent one of the routes to Grubigsteinhut (I recommend trail 601A which isn' t that crowded). After that follow trail 11 up to Grubigstein and further up to Gartnerwand. There are some places secured by fixwed ropes. Since the terrain isn' t very difficult a fall may be fatal because of the steepness of the south slope of Gartnerwand.
• From Sommerbergjöchle
  Ascent to Sommerbergjöchle either from Bichlbach via Bichlbächle or from Lermoos via Gartner Alm. The north ridge of Gartnerwand starts at the Sommerbergjöchle. There are some fixed ropes but the trail shouldn' t be too difficult. But it has to be more exposed than the other routes.
• Via Alpschrofen
  After ascending to Bichlbächler Jöchle from Bichlbach via the steep Stockachtal an easy trail leads up the steep west slope of Alpschrofen. From there an easy trail with some fixed ropes leads up to the summit of Gartnerwand.
• From Fernpass
  From the Hotel Fernpass a trail leads up to Bichlbächler Jöchle. From there via Alpschrofen to the summit of Gartnerwand.

Getting There

Lermoos belongs to the touristic area around Ehrwald and can be reached quite easily.

Red Tape

There are no permits, fees or seasonal closures.

There are several parking lots in Lermoos. Since some are without a fee some may have one so take a look to avoid paying an extra charge...

For more information about prices of the cable cars of the ski area Lermoos/Grubigstein visit their homepage http://www.langes.at/front_content.php?idcatart=495&changelang=29.

Mountain conditions

Sun on gartnerwand

Weather:

• www.wetter.com
  Precise, but sometimes inaccurate weather forecast for the city of Seefeld.
• ZAMG
  Not as detailed as the link above, but quite accurate forecasts.
• OEAV weather forecast
  Weather forecast especially for mountaineering porpuses. Unfortunately this page is available in german only.
• Avalanche report (Tyrol/Austria)
  As noted before, this german internet page offers the current avalanche report for Tyrol.

Webcams:

• http://panpic2.feratel.at/panpic2/index.jsp?ID=5615&stream=on&weatherData=on
  Webcam at about 1700m within the ski area Lermoos/Grubigstein.

Camping

There are no hut where you can stay for a night, but the area around Ehrwald offers many places to stay, since the area is very touristic.

When To Climb

Grubistein is climbed all the year. During the winter months the avalanche report of Tyrol may be of interrest for you depending on the route you' ve chosen. The final slope during the ascent via Grubigsteinhut (2028m/6654ft) is nearly avalanche save since the is the ski area at the bottom of it.