Hintere Goinger Halt through Steinerne Rinne

Rating the Route (With Hiking Standards)

The grading system for hiking and scrambling routes is here.

0. General: You ascend from 988 m to 2192 m, exposition of slopes is N and W. Gear: only good shoes and poles are sufficient. In the gorge a helm can be very useful too. By the Swiss Scale for grading hikes, the difficulty would be T4, by the Austrian scale for ferratas, the rating is A-B. Best time: from July till October.

1. Effort: 1220 m, 3 h 45 min for ascent.

2. Power: 2 - easy, mostly walk up.

3. Psyche: 3 - medium.

4. Orientation: 1 - no difficulties, well marked all the time.

Overview

Wilder Kaiser is a mountain area for climbers. Its wild towers and vertical walls have played a key role in the history of this sport. The big majority of summist is hardly reachable, but as always, also here are some exceptions. To ascend Hintere Goinger Halt you need only some basic skills in overcoming rocks and moving in a steep and exposed terrain. The overall difficulty is around UIAA I and the route is also well marked.

The summit is rising just above the distinct saddle, called Ellmauer Tor. It divides Wilder Kaiser on the eastern and western part and at the same time offers a passage which connects the northern valleys with the southern side of the group. From Ellmauer Tor the mighty Steinerne Rinne descends towards the north. The ascent through it is really a great experience. You comfortably climb up a deep gorge above which vertical walls are towering on both sides.

Getting There

You start the tour on Grieseneralm, 988 m. See the main page of Wilder kaiser how to get there. From St. Johanna you drive around Wilder Kaiser by its eastern side and then deter west into the valley. The road is payable.

Route Description

From Grieseneralm, 988 m, you continue walking up the valley. This path is at the same time the path on Stripsenjoch, where the famous Stripsenjochhuette stands. Already when approaching the valley end, left above us Steinerne Rinne is opening. But the direct entry into the gorge is quite demanding (UIAA II), so the marked path for hikers (called also Eggersteig) makes a detour. It deters into the gorge only when we are already on the slopes towards Stripsenjoch. The entry uses a very exposed passage, called Wildanger and is well protected with a cable. The passage goes first by a narrow ledge, later even descends slightly over slabs into the gorge of Steinerne Rinne.

The continuation goes all the time by the middle of the big channel. We mostly climb up in turns, following steel cables. The path is not very steep, but on some places rocks are polished and protection is needed. Otherwise this part is not demanding or exposed and in normal conditions we quickly gain altitude. In the middle part, there are however a few more steep and exposed parts on the route.

If in summer the ascent through Steinerne Rinne is not hard, it can be very different if there is snow in the gorge. And due to the northern orientation of the channel, that can be some times also in summer.

When it looks that we are already on the upper exit of the gorge, the terrain gets less steep, but to the saddle there is still some more ascent. Finally the southern views open.

To ascend Hintere Goinger Halt, we deter on the saddle of Ellmauer Tor towards the left (to the east). A good marked path continues in turns up, aiming the lowest part of the ridge, which connects Hintere and Vordere Goinger Halt. Later, the path crosses the steep slopes towards the north, going close to the ridge. In the upper part we need to climb over a few rocks, some passages are also protected. Some obvious care is need on the very top, where the ridge is narrow and falls almost vertically on both sides.

External Links

Eggersteig (in German)

Images

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