Lienzer Dolomitenhütte - Kleine Laserzwand

Access to the starting point:
Drive through the Karavanke Tunnel into Austria, then continue to Spittal and on to Lienz (the motorway ends a little after Spittal). We continue along a relatively nice and wide road through the Drava Valley. A few kilometres before Lienz (near Unterdorf), you will see the signs for the Lienzer Dolomitenhütte hut, which will direct you left onto the local road. The road then crosses the River Drava over a bridge and leads to the village of Lavant, where you continue to the right towards the village of Tristach. Between Lavant and Tristach you will come to the next crossroads, where you turn left in the route "Lienzer Dolomitenhütte". Follow this road, which begins to climb steeply, to a large parking area near the hut. The road is toll road (July 2009 7€).
Lienz can also be reached by driving through the Zillian valley (Korensko sedlo, Hermagor, Ziljsko sedlo/Gailbergsattel pass) instead of the Drava valley, in which case you arrive in the Drava valley at Oberdrauburg.

Path description:
From the parking lot, continue along the road, which will take you to the Lienzer Dolomitenhütte mountain hut in 2 minutes.
From the hut, cross the fence and continue your ascent along the scenic road (a nice view of the jagged ridge - the highest is Spitzkofel 2717 m), which is exposed to falling rocks in the initial part. The road then crosses a short lane of wodland and after this leads to the undistinguished Premstall Pass (1625 m), where there is a small crossroads.
Continue straight on past a water trough (left up Weißtein Alm) along a road which, after a few minutes' further walking, leads to a small mountain pasture Instein Alm, where you see a small wooden hut and a chapel slightly above it.
Continue along the road, which quickly leads to a marked crossroads, where you leave.
We continue our ascent along a wide mountain path, which begins to climb slightly steeper, through increasingly sparse forest. The path opens up very beautiful views, crosses the mountain road a few times and leads us higher to a small wooden shelter. At the shelter, we leave the road again and continue our ascent through a gently sloping high mountain valley surrounded by high peaks. The gently sloping path, which runs alongside a torrential stream, turns right at a higher altitude and climbs steeply for a short time. Follow this scenic route all the way to the Karlsbader Hütte mountain hut (there is also a Laserzsee lake next to the hut), which is reached after a few minutes of further walking.
The hut can also be reached by mountain road.
From the hut, walk down the road for a few 10 m and then you will see a number of mountain direction signs pointing you to the right on the footpath. After a few steps of further walking, the path splits into two parts. Continue left in the direction of "Roter Turm in Laserzwand" (Sandspitzen on the right) on a path that first climbs slightly and then crosses the slopes to the left. After a few minutes of easy walking, the path climbs steeply and passes onto the very steep slopes of Kleine (Little) Laserzwand. There is a steep climb for 15 minutes up an occasionally exposed slope (apart from the risk of slipping, there is also a very high risk of falling rocks), and then the path gently descends (here an unmarked, but less steep, path joins from the right, which climbs over extensive scree). Continue on a slightly less steep, but still quite steep path, which leads us higher up, under the steep walls of Roter Turm, where we also reach a less well-marked crossroads. Continue left (straight up the steep Roter Turm) along the path, which almost completely lays down and, after a few steps of further walking, leads us to a saddle between Kleine Laserzwand on the left and Schöttnerspitze on the right (notice the small cross on the latter). At the saddle, continue straight ahead (Laserzwand on the right) along a clearly visible but unmarked path, which will take you up to Kleine Laserzwand in 5 minutes.

On the way: Instein Alm (1669m), Karlsbader Hütte (2261m)

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