Hochschober is the most beautiful mountain of the Schober Group, although it is not the highest one. This group stands south of Grossglockner Group. Its peaks are rocky and steep, but although many of them reach altitudes above 3000 meters, glaciers are rare. Hochschober is a pleasant exception. Its 500 meters high north slope is covered by a glacier, up to 45 degrees steep. The most beautiful view on it is from the north, from Lesachtal.

Today, probably the majority of mountaineers ascend Hochschober from the south, from Hochschober Huette (2322 m). The other possibility (with the previous one ideal for crossing) is by south-east slope and on the upper part SE ridge. Both these are in high summer covered by snow only on the upper part, so the ascent is a moderately difficult one. The third possibility for ascent is from Lesachtal, from where you reach Schobertoerl and then by a beautiful crossing of Kleinschober (3125 m) reach the main summit by its NE ridge. It is of course possible also to climb the summit directly over the north slope. The difficulty of this tour depends on snow conditions. In good conditions this is also a tour for good mountain skiers.

First ascent of the Hochschober mostly written as from Franz Keil (an artist well-known in his time for constructing reliefs of mountans!) with friends on August 18th 1855, directly from SW.
But perhaps the mountain had been climbed earlier by military mapmakers!
First ascent on todays normal route W-ridge by Ludwig Purtscheller on July 24th 1890.
First ascent of north flank by L. Bergmann and friends on July 25th 1928.

Getting There

For the south approach you use the Leibnitztal. If you drive through the valley of Isel (Lienz - Matrei) you turn in Ainet (10 km from Lienz) towards north and use a narrow but good road above the main valley which at last turns into the Leibnitztal. At the end of road there is a good parking place (1500 m). The road goes further up, but is closed for public traffic and you must use a marked path. From the parking place to Hochschober Huette you need 2 hours.

If you don't want to descend the same way it is better to leave your car at the Felbertauern road at the small village of St. Johann im Walde (Unterleibnig), between Huben and Ainet. There is a _very_ small cablecar that lifts you up to the village Oberleibnig (1247 m). From there it is 3 h walk to the Hochschober hut .

For the north approach you use the road from Iseltal to Kals (a renowned tourist resort south of Grossglockner), but in Lesach you turn right (towards the east). The road to Lesachalm (Mountain Hut) is closed for public traffic (but you can phone to the hut and ask for authorisation)..

The third possibility is the eastern approach. It uses the road through Debanttal (the entrance in this valley is from Lienz). It ends for public traffic on Seichenbrunn parking place, at about 1670 m. From there you proceed to Lienzer Huette (1977 m) and by the valley to Gartltoerl (2514 m) where the SE ascent begins. In this case you must return by the same route.

See also:
Peter Freiberger: Berge Tirols. Bruckmann, 2000.
Sepp Schnuerer: Hohe Tauern. BLV Verlagsgesellschaft. Muenchen, 1990.

One possible map: Kompass Wanderkarte, 1:50000.

You can see a detailed map (1:50000) on-line on:

http://www.austrianmap.at/.

The best map is Alpenvereinskarte (map of the german alpine club) Nr. 41 Schobergruppe 1:25.000, can be ordered at DAV Life Alpin (online shop) - click here.

Routes Overview

Summer routes

1. West Ridge - Over Staniska Scharte. The marked rote ascends from Hochschober Huette to Staniska-Scharte (2990 m) and then by the west ridge to the summit.
2. From Staniskatal. Staniska-Scharte can also be reached from the west through Staniskatal - 1900m of altitude difference!
3. South-east slope and on the upper part SE ridge. Either from Hochschober Huette or Lienzer Huette to Gartl and over the SE slope to the top. Marked.
4. From Schobertoerl over Kleinschober and the E ridge. Schobertoerl, 2905m, can be reached either from Lesachtal, from Debanttal (Lienzer Huette) or from Leibnitztal (Hochschober Huette). The part to Kleinschober is an easy rock climb (UIAA II), often icy, because of the N slope, from Kleinschober to the main summit easy snow ridge.
5. North face. Easy glacier tour, up to 45 degrees steep. The glacier is retreating in last years, so come early in the summer.

Ski tour

1. North face. See Herbert's excellent route description!

Red Tape

No limitations. The upper parts of mountain roads are closed for public traffic.

When To Climb

The best time is summer and autumn, July - October. For the North slope glacier ascent also spring (especially for skiing). In high summer you even will not use crampons, an ice-pix is useful. If the mountain is icy, you will need full equipment.

PeterCorneliusSpaeth: Once the north face was a nice little ice climb. As of now (post 2003) it is no more worth visiting. Lots of stones melting through and the ice is rapidly retreating.

Camping

Hochschober Huette, 2322 m, tel.: 0043 / (0)663 / 57722.
Peter Cornelius Spaeth Says: "Hochschober hut is a very recommandable, friendly place to stay. E.g. once I arrived near 10pm, they still cooked something for me."

Lesachalm, 1828 m.
Lienzer Huette, 1977 m.

Tourismusverband Iseltal, 9900 Oberlienz. Tel.: 0043 / (0)4852 / 64759.

External Links

Hochschober normal route
professional done trip report with pictures on the website of the Bergrettung Lienz (mountain rescue team from the town Lienz)

Images



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