Dösner Alm - Säuleck (Klettersteig)

Access to the starting point:
From Ljubljana through the Caravan Tunnel to Spittal. Continue to Lienz, but only as far as Möllbrücke. In this village you will see signs for Mallnitz and the Alpine road to Großglockner. Follow this road to Obervellach, where the signs for Mallnitz point to the right. After the village, the road starts to climb steeply and after a few kilometres of climbing, it leads to the alpine town of Mallnitz. Just before the train station in the town, the road to the right branches off in the direction of mountain pasture Dösner Alm. A steep and narrow road leads higher up to a less well-marked crossroads, where you continue along the dirt road below. Continue through a pasture fence and just a little further on you reach a parking area, where you park.

Path description:
From the parking lot, continue along the macadam road, which after a few dozen steps leads to a crossroads. Continue left along the wide cart track which, after a short climb, leads to the mountain pasture Dösner Alm.
At mountain pasture, we return to the road, which continues to climb upwards in a subtle way along the edge of mountain pasture. The road climbs slightly further and leads to hut Konradhütte (1600 m).
Just a few steps further on, on the left-hand side of the road, you can see a small lake, which rises at high water right up to the edge of the road. At the end of the lake, the road turns into a pleasant footpath, which then leads up along the stream in a moderate ascent. After a half-hour climb from the Konradhütte hut, we slowly emerge from the forest onto the slopes, which are becoming more and more scenic. The path, which then became steeper and steeper, suddenly lays down and leads us to the beautiful alpine pastures of hut Dösner Hütte (1976 m).
There is a slight climb over mountain pasture to a slightly steeper part where you can hear the roar of a roaring stream. After a further 15 minutes, the steepness eases and the path leads to the high mountain cirque, where there is a confluence of several streams. Continue over the bridge to cross the stream and then climb up the increasingly steep path. The roar of the Dösenbach stream accompanies us throughout the climb. When the path levels out, cross the stream again and the path leads you to the Arthur Von Schmid Haus mountain hut, which is situated by the Dösner See lake.
From the hut, continue left towards Säuleck along the path, which begins to climb steeply after only a few dozen steps. After 15 minutes of steep climbing, the slope eases and the path turns right. The ascent continues parallel to the lake, which can occasionally be seen to the right below us. After a few more minutes of climbing in the high mountains, which are full of granite slabs, we reach a marked crossroads.
At the crossroads, continue left towards the climbing route (Klettersteig-Säuleck), and straight ahead is the easier route to Säuleck. From the crossroads, first walk along the rock slabs, then a short climb on the scree, which leads to the foot of the wall where you enter the climbing part of the route. At the start, the climbing route turns right and ascends transversely on smooth slabs. The route is not too steep here, but as there are not many steps on the route, it still requires some strength in the arms (difficulty D and C/D). The route then becomes easier for a short time. Here the path is not protected and first crosses the slope to the left and then there is a short climb, which brings us in front of the more difficult part of the path. In this part the path first climbs almost vertically (D/E), then turns slightly to the right and continues to climb quite steeply alongside the glacier. A difficult vertical climb follows (D/E). As the path is only protected by a steel cable, it takes some strength in the arms. After the vertical part, the ascent is a little steeper again, and then the path becomes a little less steep (B). This path then leads to a registration box where there is also a suitable resting place.
From the registration box, the path climbs again very steeply along the cable car a few times (C/D and D), followed by a short descent and then a short vertical climb (D/E). The path then becomes a little less demanding and leads to a ridge with a view towards the Ankogel and the Hochalmspitze peaks.
The trail continues along the sheltered ridge and climbs and descends steeply several times. The ascents and descents are mostly very short and therefore slightly less demanding than those in the first part of the protected route. The summit is soon reached along a scenic ridge.
Descend on an easier path, which runs along the flatter southern slopes of the mountain.
The route described is extremely difficult and is suitable only for experienced mountaineers with sufficient strength in their arms. Helmets and self-belaying equipment are compulsory, and climbing gloves are highly recommended.

On the way: Konradhütte (1600m), Dösner Hütte (1976m), Arthur Von Schmid Haus (2275m)

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