Overview
Geographical Classification : Eastern Alps > Carnic Alps > Carnic Alps Main Ridge (West) > Hochalpl / Monte Oregone
From three directions Hochalpl doesn't look like an impressive mountain. It rather seems to be a hill to the east of Hochalpl Pass, which is so easy to reach that we (gf and I ) climbed it by accident. Having been to Peralba and back and not knowing what to do we somehow found ourselves on Hochalpl, enjoying its views.
Though dwarved by the neighbouring mountains
Peralba,
Weissteinspitze, Raudenspitze, Chiadenis and Avanza, it is located roughly in the center of a high plateau with all these peaks at your fingertips. The views might not be far reaching but impressive nonetheless.
As you might have noticed, I left out the fourth direction in my comments of the first paragraph. For a good reason! Seen from the north-east Hochalpl shows a beautiful vertical limestone face, which is home to one of the toughest climbing routes in the whole Carnic Alps. With 250m in length and an UIAA grade of VII+ the east face seem overly impressive but the pitches are so long that from the 4th pitch upwards rapelling isn't possible anymore. Make it or break it...
The location on the high plateau between Raudenspitze, Chiadenis and Avanza was of strategical importance during World War I. Thus Hochalpl is criss-crossed by many war trenches, there are old artillery positions up there and to the west of the mountain you can find an old Italian fort of that time. You can find more information on this aspect in a trip report I wrote for the Peralba page:
Along the trenches of World War I
Route Overview - Climbing Hochalpl
As said in the overview section, the north-easter part of Hochalpl shows a beautiful limestone face. There are four classical routes to be found there. Again I refer to the following (German) book for more informations:
P.Holl: Karnischer Hauptkamm, Rother Verlag, ISBN: 3-7633-1254-4.
- North-East Face
Rated: IV
First Climbed: 1967 (Unterluggauer, Salcher)
Length: 120m
- North-East Face, "Nobody"
Rated: V+
First Climbed: 1985 (Ortner)
Length: 150m
- North-East Face, "Estherhasi"
Rated: VIII, A0,
First Climbed: 2003 (Lugger, Winkler)
Length: 200m
- East Face, "Geier Sturzflug"
Rated: VII+
First Climbed: 1986 (Ponholzer, Ortner)
Length: 250m
7 long pitches, one of the toughest climbs of the Carnic Alps
Summit views
Due to the location above the high plateau between Raudenspitze and Chiadenis there are quite a number of good views to be found here.
Getting There