Tschigat / Cigot

Overview

Tschigat is a popular peak in the Texel Group, with several fine scrambling routes on mostly good granite to the summit. If the weather is good, the views must be awesome, but I have to admit that I didn't see anything myself from the top. That is, I still had a pretty good view as I was hiking up the talus to get to the base of the east face, but by the time the real climbing started, I was enveloped in clouds, and unfortunately there were no views until I got well below the summit again on the other side. But even from high on the eastern slopes, I could see the city of Meran way, way down, and on other occasions I had looked up at Tschigat from the nearby valleys, so this time I could live with not having a view.

Ridges

Two clearly defined ridges come together on the summit: one to the WNW and one from the NE.

From the summit, the WNW ridge, usually simply called the west ridge, descends to the Halsljoch (2808m), a high alpine saddle with a hiking trail crossing it. On the other side of the saddle starts the SE ridge of the Lazinser Rötlspitze (3037m), Tschigat's parent peak, giving it a prominence of 190 m.

The NE ridge first descends to the Milchseescharte (2707m), another high alpine crossing, and then eventually to the Spronser Joch (2581m).

The Halsljoch and Milchseescharte are connected by a difficult hiking trail traversing the northern slopes. This can be useful as an alternative for a traverse when the weather is too poor or the routes are out of shape, and convenient if you want to traverse the mountain and then return to wherever you started.

There are several other, less clearly defined ridges, including a much steeper one to the south.

Faces

The mountain is steep on all sides - too steep for hikers that is. Overall, the north face is the least steep though, and I imagine that an expert skier could get down there in winter - slowly though, to find a safe route. The north as well as the somewhat steeper east face offer a way up for scramblers. The southwest and south side are much steeper still, and I don't know about any routes up there.

The north face used to be the home of a tiny glacier, and even some relatively recent maps still show it, but it's been gone for some years now. Still, with snow on the mountain, you can imagine what it would have looked like.

The summit is small, but not too small to have a massive summit cross. You can see it from far away.

What's in a name

Tschigat lies in Süd-Tirol, a relatively autonomous region in Italy these days. The main language is German. In earlier days, that was different: German was suppressed, and all geographical features received Italian names. In Italian, the mountain is called Cigot.

A note on the elevation

While most sources give Tschigat an elevation of 2998 m, some maps and books say 3000 m. In fact, many peaks in the area show some variation in height across different maps, so it doesn't come as a surprise that there isn't only one value for Tschigat either. But this round value makes me suspicious. Maybe I'm wrong, and it was really measured as 3000 m some time ago, but I can't shake the thought that that someone decided that crossing the 3000 m mark made it a more important peak, and so, whatever the measurement was, it was rounded up a bit. Until the local geographical institute measures it accurately again, I'll stick with 2998.

Getting There

Getting to the area

The nearest city is Meran, a pleasant place southeast of the Texel Group. In summer, the area attracts a lot of visitors and for a small city it is well connected.

By car

• From the north there are three options:
  
  • Along the provincial road over the Reschenpass via Nauders and then down the Vinschgau valley;
    
  • Via the mountain road over the Timmelsjoch (closed in winter) and then down the Passeiertal;
    
  • Over the Brenner motorway via Sterzing, and then also down the Passeiertal.
  
  
• From the south, the only way is by the motorway from Bolzano.
  
  
• From Switzerland, in the west, the Ofenpass and then down the Vinschgau valley is the most logical route.
  

By public transport

Meran has regular train connections with Bozen / Bolzano, which is well connected to the rest of the Italian rail network as well as to Austria and Germany to the north. In addition, a regional train heads up the Vinschgau valley, west of Meran, as far as the small village of Mals.

From the north, from Austria, regular buses come over the Reschenpass to Mals. And likewise, from the west, from Switzerland, regular buses come over the Ofenpass to Mals.

Trailheads

From the north

The most convenient trailhead is the village of Pfelders (1628m). The Pfelderer valley is a side valley of the Passeier valley north of Meran. Pfelders can be reached by bus, and there is ample parking space.

From the east or southeast, via the Spronser Lakes

On this side there are two good options to save some energy. The shortest approach is from the southeast by taking the lift from the village of Vellau (908m), west of Meran, up to the Leiter Alm (1550m). There is parking space at the base station of the lift, or you can get there by bus or by yet another lift from Algund. Alternatively, from Dorf Tirol (573m), a village just north of Meran, a cable car can quickly whisk you up to Hochmuth (1361m). Again you can park at the cable car station, or take the bus from Meran.

If you don't want to use the cable car, in the vicinity of Meran the highest place to park your car is at Gasthof Walde (1310m), just above the hamlet of Vernuer, north of Meran. However, from there the trail starts downhill and you'll loose about 250 m before going up again.

From the south, via the Lodnerhütte

For a multi-day trip, the Lodnerhütte is conveniently located in the center of the Texel Group, only a few kilometers west of the Halsljoch. Of the many ways to get there, the shortest one is from the south, hiking up the Zieltal. From the Birkenwald car park (980m), still fairly low in the Zieltal above the village of Partschins, it's about 4 hours to the refuge. Early on you'll pass by the impressive Partschinser Falls.

Alternatively, to save an hour and some energy, you can start by taking the Texelbahn cable car from Partschins up to the Giggelberg (1544m) and hike north on the Meraner Höhenweg to the Nassereithhütte (1523m) and from there up the Zieltal to the Lodnerhütte.

Routes

West ridge, UIAA grade I

The normal route is a scramble up the WNW ridge, or simply called the west ridge, from the Halsljoch. The ridge is clearly defined and as if that's not enough, there are paint marks along the route, so even in poor visibility it's virtually impossible to get lost. Higher up, there are some steel cables - but their rusty appearence doesn't inspire a lot of confidence. Still, they also point out where to go.

The route is UIAA grade I, which means it's an easy scramble. However, most hikers will find the exposure and the occasional climbing moves too much for comfort.

From the saddle the climb takes about an hour. Going down isn't all that much faster.

Images

View Tschigat / Cigot Image Gallery - 52 Images