This is one of the most difficult Klettersteig in Hochkönig and maybe the longest in Salzburg. The iron way was opened in 2001. It covers about 1700 meters of climbing (700 m on via ferratta, and another 1.000 metres hiking) at The Devil Horns, The Kummetstein High and ends on The head. It overcomes small and large spectacular gorges (Virgin jump, Devils Gorge and on the Flying Fox Sallerriss). On fine days, the panorama is unbeatable.
Márti walking on the edge
Kind of gentiana
Getting There
From Salzburg in the north going south by train (timetable query, Austrian railways) or highway to Werfen. Mühlbach, Dienten and Hinterthal can be reached from Bischofshofen, the convenient center south of Werfen, over small and narrow streets. Some cards are available under the Matrashaus-Webpage.
Gee traversing a vietnamese bridge
Climbers just started the last section, the Hoher Kopf
Matrashaus as seen from the top of Hoher Kopf
Stormy clouds approaching from South
Evening lights above the remains of the gletscher between the Hoher Kopf and Hochkönig
Essential Gear
Equipment to secure yourself on the cable (harness and klettersteig set). A helmet is an absolute must. Wear the right shoes with decent rigid sole.
At beginning of ferrata there is a sign warning the following: The route is not recommended for children and beginners. If you can't start climbing at least at 11 am, or the weather conditions are bad, better you should turn back.
Dawn
Just started the way down from Birgkar
The "Flying Fox"
The "Flying Fox"
Route Description
From the parking place Dientner Sattel (Lat/Lon: 47.391588°N / 13.048840°E, alt. 1342 m) following a dirt road you can reach the Erichhütte (Lat/Lon: 47.400499°N / 13.039634°E, alt. 1540 m) in apr. 20-25 minutes. At the Hütte you have to turn right on the marked trail No. 432. At the next junction of 432/437 turn left and not to far from here you will reach the crags. You are about the alt. of 1.700 metres and still have to climb some hundred of metres to the starting point of the via ferratta (on the whole from the parking place to the via ferratta takes about 2,5-3 hours). Here is the first emergency exit, you can turn back to the valley the way you hiked up (this is the easier solution), or to the righ there is another path, a litte bit more exposed. The second possibility to leave the ferrata is at the foot of Kummetstein (about halfway), at the second 1- part of the route.
Total lenght of the ferrata: 1.700 m, time: 4-6 hours
The tour from the parking place back to the parking place takes about 11-12 hours Königsjodler topo
Thanks for your advice: I should attach it as child or related to the Berchtesgaden Alps (Mountains and rocks), but at the moment I have no idea how to do it. May be I will ask the owner to help me or to attach it to its page.
All the best from Budapest, István.
It's very simple ! On top of all pages that belong to you, you've got a yellow stripe with :
"Editor Options: View Main Page | Edit Page | Change Privileges | Attach/Detach | View History | Delete This Page"
Click on Attach/Detach, and type a peak name into the field. If the peak exists on SP attach it to it "as parent", if not attach it to the region, that how it works most of the time.
All the interest of Summitpost is to have a coherent structure in order that everyone is able to find pages related to a place, or (in the opposite way) when reading your route, to recognize where it is.
According to the GPS position I think it needs to be attached to one of the three (I think about Hochkönig in first):
- http://www.summitpost.org/hochk-ouml-nig/152119
- http://www.summitpost.org/taghaube/297768
- http://www.summitpost.org/grandlspitz/296991
The flying fox section used to be equipped with a pulley, but it has been gone for some time now. Make sure to bring one with you for the fun factor (the wire is 12 mm thick). (This section can also be skipped by downclimbing and climbing up on the other side.)
I did it today, without the pulley. I just used a locking carabiner on a sling, wrapped my feet around the cable (to keep weight off the carabiner so it could move) and went across. Gorgeous route!
There is a direct route of descent leading back to the start, but it is quite exposed/dangerous (I think 2 people died there in 2010), so we opted for a 4-hour detour to reach Arthurhaus. This version also took a lot of our energy in concentration, and our feet and knees were also aching by the end. I am not sure which descent I would choose next time.
The direct route is okay as long as there isn't fresh snow, the weather is good, and it's also good to have hiking poles. It was the first time I ever descended a marked route where it was expected you would "scree ski." This was only in the upper part though. It is long and exposed, and I'm saddened though not completely surprised that serious accidents occured.
Parents refers to a larger category under which an object falls. For example, theAconcagua mountain page has the 'Aconcagua Group' and the 'Seven Summits' asparents and is a parent itself to many routes, photos, and Trip Reports.
visentin - Sep 14, 2011 10:03 am - Voted 10/10
attachmentyour (nice) route page isn't attached to anything, isn't there any mountain on which it belongs, in the other case a region where to attach it ?
yxygan - Sep 14, 2011 12:28 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: attachmentThanks for your advice: I should attach it as child or related to the Berchtesgaden Alps (Mountains and rocks), but at the moment I have no idea how to do it. May be I will ask the owner to help me or to attach it to its page. All the best from Budapest, István.
visentin - Sep 15, 2011 2:28 am - Voted 10/10
Re: attachmentIt's very simple ! On top of all pages that belong to you, you've got a yellow stripe with : "Editor Options: View Main Page | Edit Page | Change Privileges | Attach/Detach | View History | Delete This Page" Click on Attach/Detach, and type a peak name into the field. If the peak exists on SP attach it to it "as parent", if not attach it to the region, that how it works most of the time. All the interest of Summitpost is to have a coherent structure in order that everyone is able to find pages related to a place, or (in the opposite way) when reading your route, to recognize where it is.
visentin - Sep 15, 2011 2:34 am - Voted 10/10
Re: attachmentAccording to the GPS position I think it needs to be attached to one of the three (I think about Hochkönig in first): - http://www.summitpost.org/hochk-ouml-nig/152119 - http://www.summitpost.org/taghaube/297768 - http://www.summitpost.org/grandlspitz/296991
dmiki - Sep 16, 2011 10:26 am - Voted 10/10
videoA nice video about the route in Hungarian (but I think you will appreciate it even if you don't speak the language): http://index.hu/video/2011/08/28/kiralyi_jodli_az_egi_vas-uton/
dmiki - Sep 16, 2011 10:30 am - Voted 10/10
flying fox - pulley missingThe flying fox section used to be equipped with a pulley, but it has been gone for some time now. Make sure to bring one with you for the fun factor (the wire is 12 mm thick). (This section can also be skipped by downclimbing and climbing up on the other side.)
mvs - Sep 29, 2019 12:13 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: flying fox - pulley missingI did it today, without the pulley. I just used a locking carabiner on a sling, wrapped my feet around the cable (to keep weight off the carabiner so it could move) and went across. Gorgeous route!
dmiki - Sep 16, 2011 10:32 am - Voted 10/10
descent routeThere is a direct route of descent leading back to the start, but it is quite exposed/dangerous (I think 2 people died there in 2010), so we opted for a 4-hour detour to reach Arthurhaus. This version also took a lot of our energy in concentration, and our feet and knees were also aching by the end. I am not sure which descent I would choose next time.
mvs - Sep 29, 2019 12:15 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: descent routeThe direct route is okay as long as there isn't fresh snow, the weather is good, and it's also good to have hiking poles. It was the first time I ever descended a marked route where it was expected you would "scree ski." This was only in the upper part though. It is long and exposed, and I'm saddened though not completely surprised that serious accidents occured.