Ankogel Gruppe (1996)

In 1996 we (Walter, Jan) visited the Ankogel-Hochalmspitze area. We started in Mallnitz (1190m), which was easy to reach after 12 hours traveling by train: the station Mallnitz-Obervellach is quite near the village. We did find a room in Pension Hubertus (the last pension you see when going to the Hagener Ht). We had a nice week of walking. However, then the weather changed and we had to descend prematurely. Wet, we were glad to find the warmth of Pension Hubertus again.
Pension Hubertus I (Jan) visited before, in 1967 and 1969, when my parents introduced Austria to my brother and me. I still remember the first impressions of mountains from the beautiful traintrip between Salzburg and Bischofshofen and the panorama from the train over the Gasteiner valley. In Mallnitz we made our first small tours. Yes, it was a good feeling to be back again.

A Dance on Stepping Stones

• Arthur von Schmid Hs (2272m): we used a taxi to reach the (closed) Konrad Ht (1620m) at the end of the Dösener Tal. A 2h10 long ascend was sufficient to reach the hut at the Dösener See. There were many clouds after a day of big rains. However we had dry weather and even we did see sometimes the sun.
• Gießener Ht (2203m): via the Mallnitzer Scharte (2672m) and the Buderusweg. It was a beatiful morning. The sun was shining and the valley was cloudless. The Sauleck showed himself sharp against a blue skye. On the ascend we had to jump between several large stones. Also several snowfields we had to cross. From the Scharte we had a splendid view to the Groß Glockner in the west over several clouds. The east side of the Scharte showed a bottom of clouds at a level just above the Gießener Ht. At the first part of the descend we took the wrong option: together with many stones we reached the steep snowfield. Of course it was difficult to stay on your feet. After this the first part offered again a wild area of course stones. However the path improved because several flat stones were layed down that provided a nice path through the layer of clouds. Our comment: the Scharte can be done very well at good weather conditions, however at rainy or even snowy weather it is much more difficult to cross. Walking time: 5h26.
• Gmündner Ht (1185m): via a long descend along the Gößgraben valley to the Pfüglhof Hotel (ca 800m). It was very cloudy, but dry. Many warnings were found that warned for a waterflood (`Wasserschwall'). And yes, we saw the Milka cow. At the Pfüglhof the sun was shining and it was very hot: time for a cool beer and for ice! After this a very wet and sometimes slippery path was found to the Gmündner Ht, which hut is along the road in the Maltatal. We called it a rainforest trail, especially when the rain was coming after two hours walking. At the hut we were the only ones who stayed the night. Walking time: 5h.
• Kattowitzer Ht (2319m): via Sporthotel Maltatal at the Speicher Kölnbrein. The direct ascend appeared to be very slippery. Hence we decided to hitchhike to the Sporthotel (1931m) because the tunnels were forbidden for walkers. Already the first car took us along the sometimes narrow road and through all the tunnels. The path to the Kattowitzer Ht showed everything: stepping stones, course blocks, slippery roots, very wet places. The 400m we had to ascend appeared to be very hot. The hut has a famous view at the Hochalmspitze. However we found the area rather cloudy.
  Here we also met Joost de Wall from Rotterdam. This evening and the two next we talked a lot about mountain walking and about the pleasures of the Internet. When will we find mail facilities high in the mountains? (Walking time: 3h45)
• Osnabrücker Ht (2022m): via the Sporthotel and the path along the Kölnbrein Speicher and the Großelendbach. It was again very cloudy, but we had a dry and cool walk. The descend to the Hotel was much easier than the ascend of the day before. After a drink we continued our walk on the very easy path along the lake. We sat for a long time outside the hut looking to the icewalls of the Großelend Gletscher. Walking time: 5h06.
• Hannover Hs (2721m) at the Arnold Höhe: via the Großelendscharte (2675m) and the Goslarerweg, which is part of the Tauernhöhenweg. The Scharte (in english: Big Misery Pass) was our second critical cross over the mountains, back to the Mallnitz side again. However the weather was very good. The first part, along the waterfall, was slippery. Here also a copper memorial plate was found for one Gabrielle who falled death here several years ago. The last part to the Scharte appeared to be the most difficult one. In order to avoid the last gletscher part we had to cross a strip of large course stones at the left-hand side, a part that may have easily caused an avalanche of stones.
  The Goslarerweg appeared to be much easier, offering steppings stones again. But several parts required some attention. It was a nice höhenweg, that offered beautiful views to the west and over Mallnitz. It was also very warm. Hence the beer and the applejuice were welcomed very much when we reached the hut. There was much laughter when we discussed our heavy rucksacks (15kg). Walking time: 5h30.
• Mindener Ht (2428m): via the Göttingerweg, which is also part of the Tauernhöhenweg. We were warned that the afternoon promised thunder and that the next days should be rather different from the last ones. But in the morning the weather was still good and the Mindener Ht was not far away. Also the map showed a better path than that of yesterday. However, it appeared to be a path where easy parts, with stepping stones, alternate with parts that caused much more time to cross them. The path crossed the Lüggetörl and turned to the west just before reaching the Hohe Tauern Pass (Korntauern).
  The Mindener Ht was open for selfservice only. It showed a nice small room, two small lagers, good cooking options, a telephone, (solar) electricity. Drinking water was available ten meters outside the hut. We dropped our contribution for visiting the hut, wrote in the guestbook and took a copy of the mark. (walking time: 3h13).
  Because the weather conditions changed we decided to go down to Mallnitz by the Mindener Jubiläumsweg that reached the valley at Stocker Alm. Halfway we were got by the rain and when we reached the woods we heared the first thunders. Yes, it was still a long way through the woods and very slippery.
  We were soaked when finally we reached Pension Hubertus again. Additional walking time: 3h00.

Some related links

Alpengasthof (Almhütte) Hochalmblick - Mallnitz/Austria

Hütten der Sektion Hannover des Deutschen Alpenvereins

Jan ter Maten's Home Page