Kleiner Beil

Overview

Kleiner Beil, the little brother of Großer Beil sits on the connecting ridge Lämpersberg – Großer Beil, which offers a nice traverse of these summits; this is, in my opinion, the main reason of visiting Kleiner Beil. Kleiner Beil is a long rock and meadow ridge, the northern end, which drops about 100 m down to a notch between Lämpersberg and our summit, bearing the summit cross, the southern end is called sometimes Seekopf, in my opinion not a summit of its own: it is only 30 m higher than the connecting notch to Großer Beil. Two other route opportunities can be recommended: The east ridge from the summit to Seefeldalm is an easy, unmarked footpath with some scrambling and a nice alternative if you come from Lämpersberg and don´t want to do the whole traverse to Großer Beil to return to Schönangeralm. The only ski route to Kleiner Beil from Inneralpbach via Stadelkehralm is for sure one of the more lonely ski routes within Kitzbüheler Alps.

Getting There

Main trailheads for Kleiner Beil are:

Inneralpbach / Alpbachtal (only when traversing from Lämpersberg or for ski route)

Schwarzenau and Schönangeralm / Wildschönau

by car The general accesses to the valleys are described on the Kitzbüheler Alpen main page.

Alpbachtal starts at Brixlegg / Kramsach - Inntal valley. Follow road number L 5 to Inneralpbach parking facilities.

For Schwarzenau and Schönangeralm follow road number L 3 from Wörgl to Niederau and Auffach / Wildschönau.

Alternatively follow road number L 41 from Hopfgarten to Niederau, follow L 3 to Auffach. Follow the valley road to the parking facilities.

Kleiner Beil and Großer Beil behind as seen from Lämpersberg summit

Kleiner Beil and, behind, Lämpersberg as seen from Großer Beil

by train and bus

The nearest railway station for Wildschönau is Hopfgarten. Bus number 4064 goes to Auffach (bus stop “Schwarzenau” for Schwarzenau trailheads; no bus to Schönangeralm!).

The nearest railway station for Alpbach valley is Brixlegg / Inntal valley. Bus number 4074 goes to Inneralpbach.

Please note that the frequency of these busses per day is not very high (about once every hour).

Routes Overview

Routes Overview Lämpersberg and Kleiner Beil

On the trail down to Schönanger Alm with Feldalphorn and Schwaiberghorn

East slopes and east ridge of Kleiner Beil

From Wildschönau: Schönangeralm – Farnkaseralm – Seefeldalm – direct ascent via the unmarked east ridge (narrow trail) to the summit. Traverse Lämpersberg – Kleiner Beil – Seekopf – Großer Beil. For the routes to Lämpersberg and Großer Beil see these pages.

On the east ridge of Kleiner Beil

Kleiner Beil north ridge; on the right hand the ski slopes to Alpbach valley

Ski route: Inneralpbach – Stadelkehralm – west slopes of Kleiner Beil to summit

Red Tape & Accommodation

Red Tape There are no restrictions or regulations, as far as I know. Parking is free within the marked areas. Accommodation Wildschönau Alpbachtal Hopfgarten Schönangeralm at the end of Wildschönau valley is a mountain inn with a genuine cheese dairy in summer - don´t miss that!

Gear & Mountain Condition

Kleiner Beil is an all - season mountain. In the hiking season you need full hiking gear and good shoes. The unmarked east ridge from Seefeldalm and the traverse Lämpersberg - Großer Beil do need some easy rock scramble. The traverses Lämpersberg - Großer Beil do need some easy rock scramble, too, and, with low visibility, a knack for orientation. The ski route from Inneralpbach is rather steep and more demanding as those of neighbouring Lämpersberg. Full ski and avalanche gear is required. Check the Tirol avalanche bulletin here.

Kleiner Beil summit with the traverse to Großer Beil

Summit view with Schafsiedel range in the foreground and Großglockner group in the background

Current Weather:

Maps & Guide Books

Maps

Alpenvereinskarte Kitzbüheler Alpen West, scale 1 : 50:000, number 34/1, trails, Deutscher Alpenverein, 2010

Alpenvereinskarte Kitzbüheler Alpen West, scale 1 : 50:000, number 34/1, ski routes, Deutscher Alpenverein, 2010

Österreichische Karte 1 : 50.000 - UTM (ÖK50), map number 3213, Wörgl

Guide Books Available only antiquarian but an indispensable mountain guide book:

Georg Bleier / Kurt Kettner: Alpenvereinsführer Kitzbüheler Alpen, Bergverlag Rudolf Rother, München, 1984

Horst Höfler, Kurt Kettner: Kitzbüheler Alpen. Mit Skirouten. Führer für Täler, Hütten und Berge, Bergverlag Rudolf Rother, München, 1976

R. Weiss: Skitouren Kitzbüheler Alpen mit angrenzendem Salzburger Anteil am Nationalpark Hohe Tauern, Gebietsführer, Steiger Verlag Innsbruck, 2000 (there is an antiquarian edition from 1985 with only Kitzbüheler Alpen, too)

Images

View Kleiner Beil Image Gallery - 12 Images