Page Type:
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Route |
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Lat/Lon:
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46.95510°N / 11.16570°E |
Route Type:
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Basic Snow and Scramble |
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Time Required:
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Half a day |
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Difficulty:
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UIAA II |
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Approach
You reach the Siegerlandhütte from Sölden in the Ötztal (valley)
Route Description
The rocky part of the trail is marked and the path is easily found. From the Siegerland-Hütte keep northeastwards first over polished rocks and then over a steep slope to reach a flat level at about 3000 m. The marks lead to a significant rock (a cubus with lateral length of over 10 m!). Head southeastwards to reach a gap in the ridge on 3080 m. (Don't mismatch with a gap higher on the ridge. It is reach over significantly more difficult polished rocks.) The ridge is now very sharp and somewhat difficult (solid rock, but UIAA II). After about 100 vertical meters the crux is reached which is easily (but very steep) mastered by means of a solid fixed rope. Please note that the ridge up to this point might be very dangerous when the rock is wet or snow-covered. The difficulties are now finished. The ascent goes now over a flat ridge covered with crumbled rock and snow. The southeast ridge leading from the Sonklarspitze to the Schwarzwandspitze is reached at a point called Hohes Eis at about 3380 m (This point is said to be a summit, but is in fact not or at least it is no significant summit). Now change to the east side of the ridge (crevasses) and bypass the rocky ridge. Alternatively keep on the ridge (if not snow-covered not more difficult than the ridge before but occasionally more loose rocks). Head towards the highest point, the snow-covered summit of the Sonklarspitze. Mind the cornices towards east! Please not that even the flat snow-covered ridge is covered with some small crevasses.
Descent: Either as described above or – if you feel that the difficulties are too high in descent – use the old trail through a couloir. For this keep on a significant snow ridge heading westnorthwest between 3340 and 3300 m. Go down the snow-covered west slope (about 120 m) to reach a rocky slope heading in a small couloir. This couloir is no longer used as ascent since it is filled with loose rocks in all sizes. If more than one person is descending at a time the chance to get hit by a melon-big rock loosened by the upper person is about 100%! This descent is technically simple and fast even at wet conditions but significantly more dangerous. The couloir should - to mention it once again - only be climbed by one person at a time and the lower persons should be in a save position before the next person goes down. This couloir is not useful for an ascent in summer (possibly useful and even better than the normal route in winter or spring) since the loose, muddy and crumbly couloir is to steep to get up. From the bottom of the couloir the significant rock (vide supra) is seen and easily reached. If you consider to use this ascent you can see it during ascent and can be checked (from a far distance). cf. the attached picture,
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Essential Gear
Essential gear: Crampons, Ice axe, harness, rope. A helmet might be useful for the couloir.
Miscellaneous Info
If you have information about this route that doesn't pertain to any of the other sections, please add it here.
reinhard2 - Sep 26, 2007 1:16 pm - Hasn't voted
WarningThis image shows the whole of the upper SW cirque, where both the old and the new route start, marked in blue resp. red. Beware - the lower 70 m of altitude of the access to the newer route (SW ridge) are the worst ever gravel jumping I have made. Blocks of 1-4m size with mostly nothing in between have to be "walked" over. This bone-breaking path - dangerous especially when wet or under snow - I've called, for obvious reasons, "Rent a Helicopter". You can look here and here for images from the 1st flat point on the ridge, about 50m above the beginning, looking up resp. down.