Hinterstoder - Großer Priel (Bert Rinesch Klettersteig)

Access to the starting point:
After the Šentilj border crossing, continue on the motorway past Graz and follow the signs for Salzburg and then Linz. The road also passes through two toll tunnels (€8 and €4. 5 - August 2013). Once you come out of the second tunnel (just after Liezen), continue past Spital am Pyhrn and then leave the motorway at the exit for Hinterstoder. Continue driving through Hinterstoder and then, about 2 km after the end of the village, turn right slightly downhill onto a narrow road leading to a parking area. At the crossroads there are also yellow mountain signs with signs for the Prielschutzhaus hut. Park in the large pay parking lot (1 day: 3€, 2 days: 5€ - August 2013).
From the Gorenjska side: Drive through the Karavanke tunnel into Austria, then continue along the Thuringian Highway. We follow the motorway to Salzburg (also Solnograd) only as far as the exit for Radstadt, Schladming. We continue on the road past Schladming and Liezen. At Liezen we take the motorway to Linz. Leave the motorway at the exit for Hinterstoder. Continue as described above.

Path description:
From the parking lot, head east on the gravel road. The road quickly leads through the forest to a crossroads at the Klinser farm. We follow the main road slightly to the right after the "Prielschutzhaus" signs, and a slightly sharper right leads to Hinterstoder and the Schiederweiher lake.
From the crossroads, the trail follows the pastureland and then crosses the bridge over the river Steyr. After the bridge, the road turns left and follows the river for some time. The road then passes the Polsterstüberl guesthouse and leads to a crossroads where the road passes Lake Schiederweiher on the right.
At the crossroads, continue left along the still sloping road and follow the signs for hut Prielschutzhaus. The road continues through the woods and at the crossroads follow the signs for Prielschutzhaus. Later the road leads to a crossroads where signs direct us to the right on a footpath, and the road leads on towards a cargo cableway.
The path here passes through tall bushes and then soon starts to climb. At first, we climb up the eastern slopes and occasionally we get a view towards the starting point and the nearby lower peaks. This path then leads to the Klinserfall waterfall, which is located along the path. At the waterfall, the path turns slightly to the right onto slightly steeper slopes. The path here is not particularly difficult, but we are helped in a few places by a ropeway. The path then soon turns left and leads us under the rock oven (Grosser Ofen) and leads us to a less vegetated slope from which we have a nice view towards the Spitzmauer summit.
A little higher up, the path turns to the right and leads into the woods on the slopes below the funicular. The trail then continues near the cable car until it reaches the Prielschutzhaus hut, which also offers a fine view of the Großer Priel peak.
At the hut, continue north-west and climb up the grassy slope above the hut. A path then branches off to the right towards the climbing kindergarten (Klettergarten), and we continue slightly to the left after the "Großer Priel" signs.
A slightly flatter path then crosses slopes covered with dwarf pines and leads to a crossroads. To the left is route 201 towards the Spitzmauer summit and the Pühringerhütte hut, and we continue to the right towards the Großer Priel summit. There is a short climb which leads to another crossroads. This time the usual easier route to Großer Priel leads off to the left, and we turn right onto the route towards the Bert Rinesch Klettersteig protected climbing route.
From the crossroads, first climb along dwarf pines, then reach the rocky slopes. There is a climb on scree which leads to the entrance to the climbing part of the route.
After a short initial traverse, the route ascends vertically using scrambles (difficulty C). After the initial steep part, the route becomes less steep for a while and leads via a notch to the east side of the ridge. Here the path descends on a slightly overhanging ladder (C). There is a traverse on smooth slabs which is later followed by a slight ascent and then a descent (B/C and C). The path then begins to climb very steeply, first with the aid of crampons (D) and then with the aid of slightly overhanging ladders (C/D). Later on the route becomes a little less difficult, first crossing the slope to the right and then climbing up a few times alongside the scramble (B/C). There is another short scramble, and then the route becomes more difficult again. The path ascends here with the help of a few ladders, some of which are also overhanging (difficulty up to D). There are a few more ascents along the steel cliff and soon you reach the registration box.
The slope becomes a shade less steep and the route climbs for some time on a rocky slope alongside the cableway. In a few places we climb a little steeper with the help of a few scrambles and then soon we reach a ridge from which we get a nice view also to the west. The path continues along the ridge all the way to the top. The climb up the ridge is a little less difficult, but the path is still protected by a rope. From the top of the peak, where a large red cross stands, we have a beautiful view on all sides.
Descend via the easier route via the Brotfallscharte.

On the way: Prielschutzhaus (1420m)

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