Schladminger Tauern Höhenweg
The Schladminger Tauern is one of the most water-rich areas in Austria. This area therefore has the most mountain lakes in the Eastern Alps. As a result, you will encounter several streams, waterfalls and mountain lakes every day. This tour takes you past small and cosy mountain huts and the mountains are teeming with glaciers. The tour lasts a total of five days and is a round through the Schladminger Tauern with both the village of Schladming as starting and finishing point.
Number of days: 5
Starting point: Schladming
End point: Schladming
Severity: Medium
Characteristic: Lakes and streams
What is the character of the trek?
Characterised by many mountain lakes and waterfalls among the dark rock.
What are the highlights of the hike?
Highlight of the trek is on the 2nd day: the Klafferkessel. This is a high cirque with 30 larger and smaller mountain lakes together. It is a relic of the ice age. After walking past these lakes, you climb the Greifenberg for a beautiful view of the Klafferkesel from above.
How tough is the hike?
It is described as a relaxed trek and is suitable for the experienced hiker. The daily stages vary between 5 and 7 hours of hiking. The trails are well maintained and the signage is very clear. Occasionally there is a narrow path and you are guided by steel cables, but basically this is an easy trek. It is possible to shorten the trek or split some stages into two.
What are the hut facilities like?
The huts during the Schladminger Tauern Höhenweg are quality! Each hut has an extensive menu of tasty meals both at lunchtime and in the evening. Each hut has flushing toilets and hot water for the showers (though for a fee). The special thing is that all the mountain huts are fantastically located with beautiful views.
Do you need to make reservations for the huts?
All huts are owned by OAV. We walked in high season and had not made reservations for the huts. This turned out to be really necessary afterwards. We ended up getting a place to sleep every time, but either in the corridor or on an extra mattress. So booking is really necessary in high season!
Reservations can be made via:
Ignaz-Mattis Hütte
Giglachseehütte
Keinprechthütte
Landawirseehütte
Gollinghütte
Preintalerhütte
What is the suitable period?
The huts are often open between mid-June and mid-September. July and August are by far the busiest months, but it will never be really busy on the trails. There is a chance of residual snow at the beginning and end of the season.
How to get to Schladming?
By car it is 1,000 km from Utrecht and this will take you about 11 hours. By Nightjet you can travel from Utrecht to Kufstein and from here continue by train to Schladming in about 14 hours.
Another option is to fly to Munich or Innsbrück and then 3.5 hours by train to Schladming.
Day programme
The trek is a round trip and can therefore be walked both ways. The most common route starts at the Hochwurzen Hütte. However, we walked it in the opposite direction and started at the Planai cable car.
Version 1: Start at the Hochwurzen Hütte
Day 1: Hochwurzen → Giglachseehütte
6 hours; 850m ascent; 700m descent
The trek starts with a ride on the Hochwurzen Gipfelbahn and from there you walk along the Hochwurzen Höhenweg. This is largely over a ridge with stunning views.
Day 2: Giglachseehütte → Keinprechthütte
6 hours; 600m ascent; 650m descent
Via the Giglach lakes you hike to the Duisitzkarsee. After this, the trail ascends to the Rotmandlspitze at 2453m with grandiose views.
Day 3: Keinprechthütte → Gollinghütte
5.5 hours; 975m ascent; 1180m descent
It starts as a 'flat' stage, after which you pass the Landawirseehütte. Here you can have a delicious lunch and then continue on to the Gollinghütte. This is via a steep climb with steel cables.
Day 4: Gollinghütte → Preintalerhütte
5.5 hours; 1000m ascent; 1000m descent
The king stage! Today's stage passes one of the highlights: the Klafferkessel. This is a valley full of mountain lakes. But first, a steep climb with steel cables to the Greifenberg at 2618 metres. Here you already have great views of the Klafferkessel.
Day 5: Preintalerhütte → Schladming
5.5 hours; 350m ascent; 1240m descent
Via the green mountain lake Riesachsee you walk down through Alpine meadows.
Version 2: Start at Planai
Day 1: Planai → Preintalerhütte (6 hours)
The first day starts in Schladming at the Planai cable car. This opens at 9am. The route starts quite tough with a steep climb, but is very beautiful through the alpine meadows and past sheep. 6 hours later we arrived at the Preintalerhütte, a very cosy and lively hut.
Day 2: Preintalerhütte → Gollinghütte (6 hours)
The second day is a trek over the Greifenberg to the Gollinghütte. A bit of a monotonous route, first climbing 1000m and then descending 1000m, but with very nice views. Just before the Greifenberg, you walk through the Klafferkessel. Just before arriving at the hut, the path is secured with steel cables. The combination of slippery stones and a loose steel cable caused me to fly ten metres down the path with a somersault. Apart from quite a scare and some scrapes, fortunately nothing was wrong. The more delicious the schnitzel in the Gollinghütte tasted.
Day 3: Gollinghütte → Landawirseehütte (3.5 hours)
The third day is something of a rest day. The hike is only 3.5 hours to Landawirseehütte. Halfway, you hike to the top of the Rotmandlspitze with great views!
Day 4: Landawirseehütte → Ignaz Mattis Hütte (6 hours)
From here, the trek continues to the Ignaz Mattis Hütte in 6 hours. Meanwhile, the route passes the Keinprechthütte, where you can have a nice lunch. After this hut, it does take a tough climb to the Rotmandlspitze, but the views are worth it.
Day 5: Ignaz Mattis Hütte → Schladming (6 hours)
The last day is very tiring we found, but a beautiful stage. The end point of the hike is the Hochwurzenlift, which takes you back down to Schladming. After a 3-hour walk, you can already see the cable car, but then it takes another 3 hours before you actually reach it. This route is very beautiful, perhaps the most beautiful of all days. Very beautiful alpine meadows with stunning views.