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| Schesaplana   | 
| Page Type: Mountain/Rock Location: Vorarlberg/Praettigau, Austria, Europe Lat/Lon: 47.05410°N / 9.70750°E Activities: Hiking, Mountaineering, Skiing Season: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter Elevation: 9724 ft / 2964 m | Page By: Vid Pogachnik Created/Edited: Jul 23, 2005 / Mar 22, 2006 Object ID: 154384 Hits: 3144 Loading... Page Score: 90.53% - 26 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
What's New On This Page? July 23rd, 2005 - Initial setup of the page.
Overview  Schesaplana above Brandner Glacier
Schesaplana is the highest peak of Raetikon, a beautiful, small group on the border of Switzerland, Austria and Liechtenstein. The highest and also the most visited. But unlike other important summits of Raetikon, which are at the same time goals also for the hardest climbs, Schesaplana is primarilly a mountain for experienced hikers. Its walls and ridges are also wild, but in them there are not many long climbing routes. It is also a nice ski tour goal.
The summit stands on the main ridge of Raetikon. The ridge has besides Schesaplana also many less important peaks and is sending rocky walls towards south, but is also quite comfortably crossed over some passes. From the summit a strong and wild NE ridge goes, reaching first the Felsenkopf, 2835m, then Zirmenkopf, 2806m and then branching on two strong ridges, one going towards E, to Seekopf, 2698m, and the other one towards N. Towards N and NW some 300m below the main summit a small glacier is stretching. Brandner glacier is flat, easy to cross and has not a high crevasses danger. On the eastern side of the mountain lies Luener See, an artificial one and one of the biggest in the broad surroundings.
The summit can be reached from all sides. The most frequented is the E ascent, using the cable car to Luener See, while also many routes from the SW, W and NW (over Brandner glacier) join just below the summit on Schesaplanasattel, 2739m. The popularity of the mountain is shown also by the fact that around it five mountain huts are standing, supporting all sorts of outdoor activities. In summer on Brandner glacier there are also opportunities for easy tour skiing. Also no need to say that being in the middle of Alps and the highest in the group, Schesaplana offers a great panorama. Sensational is in a clear day the view from the Wallis Alps over the groups of Ortler and Bernina to the Oetztal Alps and a thousand more peaks and towers more close to us.
Schesaplana was first time ascended (recorded) already in 1610 by David Pappus and Christa Barball and Claus Manall, which was one of the earliest ascents on the main summits of European Alps.
Getting ThereFrom the north, from Austrian side, the main road goes from the Arlberg pass (East) down to Bludenz and further on to Feldkirchen. From Bludenz you can drive through Brandner Tal towards S and SW to Brand and further to the big parking place of the Luener See cable-car, 1566m. By the cable-car (or by a good marked path below it) you reach the upper station at Luener See damm, 1980m. There's also the Douglas hut.
The other valley from the N is Gamperdonatal. The road through it is closed for public traffic (?), but in Nenzing, a few kilometers below Bludenz, you can get a Jeep-taxi, which brings you to Nenzinger Himmel, 1370m.
From the south, from Switzerland, you can reach Raetikon by the highway Chur - Liechtenstein. In Landquart you deter towards east, drive by a regional road a few km and soon, just before Gruesch deter again north and drive to Seewis, 947m, where the public road ends.
Maps. Swiss land maps:
LK 1:25000 Nr. 1156 Schesaplana
LK 1:50000 Nr. 238 T Wanderkarte Montafon
You can see a detailed Austrian on-line map on: http://www.austrianmap.at/,
And a good Swiss map in any resolution on Swissgeo.
Routes Overviews
Schesaplana and some of its (marked) routes
1. Along the main ridge goes the Lichtensteiner Hoehenweg - a long-distance hiking path, which has on a few places some climbing details. You reach the main ridge and the path from Nenzinger Himmel, 1370m (Jeep-taxi from Nenzing), then go by it to Schaflochsattel, 2713m and over Brandner glacier (or directly by the ridge) to the summit. In fog take care on Brandner glacier (strong tracks in summer).
2. From NW, from Mannheimer Huette, 2679m. You cross the Brandner glacier to the SW summit ridge and from there to the top. 1h 30min. In fog take care on Brandner glacier (strong tracks in summer).
3. From SW, from Schesaplanahaus, 1908m. One ascent goes from the hut towards the East, up on the main ridge, which is reached on Gamsluggen, 2383m, then we cross the totalp plateau towards NW again and below the summit join the route from the Totalphuette. The route is a medium hard hike, it requires some mountaineering experience. Take care on Totalp plateau if fog! 4h 30min. The other option from Schesaplanahaus is over the Schweizerweg, with the same difficulties, but shorter (3h).
Schesaplanahaus is also a fine mountain bike goal. From Seewis we drive up first 3km by a good asphalt road (closed for public traffic), then by a cart-road through nice forrests and by nice creeks 11km to the hut.
4. From E, from Doughashuette and Totalphuette. From Douglashuette you go along the Luener See, ascend Totalphuette, continue towards the W and finally over the SE summit slopes to the top. From Douglashuette 3h 30min, from Totalphuette 2h. Because of the cable-car this is the most visited route to the top. It is also a nice ski tour.
Other Places To See
Luener See is a nice, big, lake, which because of its big dam looks artificial. But it's not . According to Klaus's information it is situated in a large glacial basin. Before dam construction the lake was about 112m deep and the largest natural high alpine lake of Austria. In the mid 50´s a dam increased the lake volume and pushed up the lake level for 27m. The 232 megawatt power station, which uses its water, is in Latschau above Tschagguns, its regular working capacity is 371 million KWh.Red TapeNo limitations.
When To ClimbThe summit can be reached virtually any time of the year, but in winter ascents are long. For summer ascents the best months are July to October.
Camping Doughashuette, 1976m, 170 places, opened June to October. Tel.: 0043/5559/206. Approach: From Brand you drive to the cable-car parking place, 1566m. Then take a cable-car or go by a good path (over Boese Tritt), 1h 15min.
Totalphuette, 2381m, opened from July to mid October. From the upper station of cable-car you can reach the hut in less than 1h 30min.
Oberzalimhuette, 1889m. It stands above Brand, half way to Mannheimer huette.
Mannheimer Huette, 2679m, 176 places, opened July to end September. Tel.: 0043/663/50278. The hut can be reached from Brand (marked path) or from Nenzinger Himmel (marked too (?), a little harder).
Schesaplanahaus, 1908m, 100 places, opened June to mid October. Tel.: 0041/81/521163, mobile: 41 79 647 6680. From Seewis a 4h walk.
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