Ski tours on the Grossglockner
Grossglockner, Goldberg and Schober groups
Dream ski tours in the heart of the Hohe Tauern
Glittering powder snow, glistening firn, alpine challenge, peace and solitude, authentic sports experience in the high mountains, fantastic mountain panorama and summit happiness on one of the countless 3000-meter peaks in our region - these are just a few reasons that attract ski tourers and ski mountaineers from all over the world to us in the Hohe Tauern National Park. Because our holiday region Heiligenblut-Grossglockner is not only a first-class downhill ski area, but also one of the most beautiful, most varied, but also most challenging touring ski areas in the Alps.
Late winter and spring in particular, the months of March to May, offer the ideal conditions for ski touring. The days are already long, the temperatures are no longer extreme, but due to the altitude of between 2,000 and 3,500 meters, the snow conditions on the mountain are still perfect.
Our Upper Mölltal is surrounded by three mighty mountain ranges in a very small area, which couldn't be more different in terms of ski touring:
- In the west, the mystical Schober Group, practically deserted in winter, with rugged peaks and challenging tours, a paradise for experienced and extreme mountaineering enthusiasts.
- In the east, the Goldberg Group, at the foot of which our chalet is located, with a wide range of options for every taste and ability, from beginners to experienced leisure tourers.
- And in the north, the majestic massif of the Grossglockner, Austria's highest mountain at 3,798 meters. With guaranteed snow until the end of May, there are tours here with long, enjoyable glacier descents in the 3000m region, which can also be done by experienced beginners.
The Schober Group: wild, mystical, secluded
If you meet another person in the Schober Group in winter, it's worth an entry in the tour book. But seriously: There are few ski touring regions in the high Alps that are as rarely visited as the rugged and wildly romantic 3000m peaks of the Schober massif. The ski tours there are unique experiences, mountain adventures in the truest sense of the word, with challenges both on the ascent and on the descent. Depending on the snow conditions and route, doable until the end of April, a tour in the Schober Group is a real insider experience, an alpine success far off the beaten track.
The long and challenging tours in steep and rocky terrain make the Schober Group an El Dorado for experienced ski tourers and well-trained professionals. For example, the tour to the Grosser Hornkopf (3,251 m) is an extreme adventure for ski mountaineers at the highest level of difficulty (descent Traynard Scale S5.2, ascent AD+), and the tour to the Grosser Petzeck (3,283 m) is hardly inferior. Careful tour planning is essential, also because in an emergency there are no roads and very few winter shelters, and mobile phone reception is also lost in large areas. This area is definitely not for beginners.
The tour to the Keeskopf (3,081 m) is a very beautiful, moderately difficult tour with around 5 to 6 hours of ascent, which can also be managed by averagely experienced ski tourers. The Keeskopf is considered to be the easiest 3000m peak in the Schober Group to reach, but it rewards you with a wonderful panoramic view all around. The starting point in the Gradental can be reached from us in 20 minutes by car, and after successfully conquering the summit, the highly recommendable traditional Gradenwirt inn awaits you at the bottom of the valley for a well-deserved refreshment.
The Großglockner massif: majestic peaks, enjoyable descents, guaranteed snow until May
Every mountain hiker and alpinist knows the Großglockner and its glaciers. Also because with the construction of the Großglockner High Alpine Road, which opened in 1935, this majestic mountain region became accessible to everyone. Today, the pass road makes it possible to reach the starting points of the most beautiful ski tours that our region has to offer in spring without long and strenuous climbs into the valley: the glacier and firn tours in the Grossglockner massif. Depending on the weather, the mountain road will be opened around May 1st.
And in May, the very best ski touring conditions still prevail around the peaks of the Grossglockner, the Johannisberg or the Bärenkopf, at a touring altitude of 2,500 to 3,500 meters above sea level. Many of these tours offer long, enjoyable descents over sunny, rock-free and forest-free high mountain slopes. For alpine sports enthusiasts with good fitness and experience, a ski mountaineering tour to the Glockner summit, at an altitude of 3,798 m, is even possible at this time.
The ascent to the Johannisberg (3,453 m) over the Pasterze glacier, the Mittlere Bärenkopf 3,359 m and the tour to the 3,425 m high Klockerin are some of the wonderful pleasure tours over wide snow fields with incomparable views. All of these tours are guaranteed to have snow until the end of May and offer long, wonderful descents over glaciated, snow-covered slopes with the unique panorama of the ice giants of the Großglockner massif. Provided the weather conditions are good, they make the mountain experience of a truly high alpine ski tour accessible even to normal, sporty ski tourers.
The starting point is always the Franz-Josefs-Höhe at almost 2,400 meters above sea level. Access is via the toll road over the pass, but parking in the large parking garage there is free. With the Carinthia Card, which is included for our guests, you can get a reduced ticket at the toll station. From our Almchalet it is around 30 minutes by car to Franz-Josefs-Höhe.
Something very special is the freerider and touring area Viehbühel - Hochtor - Schareck, above Heiligenblut. The routes there can be reached directly with the Heiligenblut-Grossglockner cable car, and the ski tour can be perfectly combined with turns on the slopes and a long valley run down to the village. You can get to the ski area from us very easily with the free ski bus. The lifts usually operate until the end of March / beginning of April. But the ski tours there aren't much fun for much longer, because they soon become bare due to their southwest exposure and intense sun exposure.
Rewarding and scenic, not difficult tours include the Brennkogel (3,018 m) and the Magrötzkopf (2,735 m), for which the starting point is the mountain station of the Viehbühel lift at an altitude of 2,420 m. They are typical half-day tours and can then be supplemented with a few freerider descents in the ski area. And the Lacknerberg (2,329 m) is considered an absolute beginner's tour (according to the ski tour guide "E: The difficulty corresponds to a hike"), but is also appreciated by locals as a leisurely afternoon tour.
1,400 hectares of official freerider area in the Heiligenblut-Großglockner ski area - your freedom off-piste! This is what you can expect as an off-piste fan, off-piste skier and ski tourer on your winter holiday with us. The great thing is that you can easily reach the Heiligenblut freerider area using the cable car and lifts, without any strenuous ascent.
The Goldberg Group: versatile, sunny, with great views
The mighty Goldberg Group, at the foot of which our mountain lodge is located and from which its name is derived, is an extremely versatile touring area and offers ski tours for every ability level, from December to May. Most tours are in the easy to moderate range. And some of the most beautiful tours, from the Astental to our "local mountain" Mohar (2,604 m), a panoramic summit par excellence, the 2,579 m high Kluidhöhe or the Hilmersberg (2,673 m), are really easy and also well suited for ski touring beginners. The beautiful Sadninghaus, an Alpine Club house that is also open in mid-winter, serves as a starting point and for refreshment after the ski tour.
But more demanding day tours, such as the Hocharn, the highest peak in the Goldberg group at 3,252 meters, or the Tauern classic on the Alteck (2,942 m) also offer interesting options for athletically trained ski tourers. We benefit from the fact that our Upper Mölltal is practically "at the end of the world" in winter because the Grossglockner road is closed in winter, and day tourists rarely come to us. This means that our routes to popular ski tour destinations such as Hocharn or Hoher Sonnblick are not overcrowded even in high season, because most tourers climb from the north, from the Salzburg side.
What our peaks in the Goldberg group have in common is the magnificent view, in good weather as far as the South Tyrolean Dolomites, and the breathtaking panoramic view of the surrounding 3000m peaks of the wild and romantic Schober group and the Grossglockner massif. These are postcard motifs that can be described as "kitschy beautiful", as shown in the picture above by the view from the 2852m high Stellkopf. The Stellkopf can be easily reached from the Sadninghaus in around 3 hours and offers a descent over wonderful open ski terrain until April.
The Astental is also a beautiful and snow-sure high alpine snowshoe hiking area. The Mohar, the Kluidhöhe and the Hilmersberg are very easy to reach with snowshoes. The name "Goldberg" comes from the intensive gold and silver mining that was carried out here in the Middle Ages and continued until the 19th century.
Your base camp is a stately, beautifully situated mountain chalet, with perfect comfort, big enough for a winter holiday with family and friends. A former mountain farmhouse, built in healthy solid wood construction, located at 1,300 meters above sea level in an absolutely quiet, sunny location. Here you can experience hut romance with chalet comfort. With 3 full bedrooms, a perfectly equipped country kitchen, the rustic, wood-paneled farmhouse parlor and the hunting room with valuable antiques, paintings and trophies, it offers plenty of space for 5 people.
A little luxury is good for even the toughest athlete. A warm bath in the bathtub, with a good, muscle-relaxing bath salt, is a real treat after a strenuous winter tour. Any physiotherapist will confirm this. Because it gives you strength and regeneration for the next mountain adventure.
Our mountain house is ideally located for ski tours. Because Großkirchheim is located exactly in the center of our alpine region, and no starting point for the ski tours described here is more than 30 minutes by car from the chalet. And if you don't want to cook for yourself, we'll be happy to spoil you with our alpine house cuisine, from down-to-earth to exquisite gourmet.
And if you've never skied off-piste before: an introductory course with our ski school and our mountain guides. What has been in our blood since childhood may be a tricky adventure for many ski enthusiasts from the lowlands. But don't worry: a professional introductory course with experienced ski guides from the region will show you how it's done, what to look out for and what's important on a ski tour. You can also rent the equipment from the sports shop in the valley for the time being. But be careful: you could be infected with the "Alpine high-altitude tour virus" afterwards... 
Experience the adventure of snowshoe hiking and the mountain winter in a very original way! Hiking with snowshoes takes you on untouched, rarely used paths, where you are alone with nature and the landscape of our mountains. You don't need any special training or athletic skills to go snowshoe hiking. Anyone who can walk can hike with snowshoes. You don't need to buy or rent expensive equipment either.
As a guest in our Almchalet, we will provide you with snowshoes and poles, in professional quality and free of charge for the duration of your holiday. And you get an introduction to the basics of this gentle winter sport for free.
As an official partner of the Hohe Tauern National Park, we know many tours ourselves and can always rely on the professional know-how of the national park rangers if you have a question. We are also happy to organize the off-road vehicle transfer to the entry point at a fair special price, if desired.
Book recommendation: Skialpinismus in den Hohen Tauern Süd, ISBN 978-88-85475-502, by Robert Zink, Stefan Lieb-Lind and Hannes Haberl.
141 tours in the Hohe Tauern Carinthia National Park region, in German. 568 pages, published in 2019 by Versante Sud, Milan
The authoritative "tour bible" for ski tours in the Carinthian part of the Hohe Tauern National Park. Available in good bookstores. Available in our hut library as a reference work on site.
