Mountain ranges / Stubai Alps / Vordere Sommerwand

Vordere Sommerwand

Country: Austria

Mountain range: Stubai Alps

Altitude: 2715 m

Lat/Lon:

47,07418°N 11,16428°E

Type: peak

Weather forecast:

Views: 181

Popularity: 10% (3058. place)

Number of pictures: 8

Number of trails: 1

Number of GPS tracks: 0

Description of peak:
The Sommerwand is a relatively long ridge rising like a mighty rock barrier above the upper part of the Oberbergtal valley, hiding from the valley view the amphitheatre-like cirque, which hosts the smaller Sommerwand glacier, located between the Sommerwand and Knotenspitz ridges.
Among the several ridge walls, only the highest and the lowest, Innere and Vordere Sommerwand, are of tourist interest; the latter is the only one that can be climbed without serious climbing or ascent over the glacier.

Vordere Sommerwand is located on the northern edge of the Sommerwand summit ridge. The Austrians are not agreed on which point actually represents the named peak - on most older maps Vordere Sommerwand is (geographically meaningful) located right at the exit of the north ridge at 2676 m; the marked route to the summit ends right at the big man near the corner. More recent maps place Vordere Sommerwand on a cross-marked ridge wall at 2715 m, reached after a few dozen metres of walking along a sharp, sometimes sheltered ridge. The following description refers to the latter version.

Vordere Sommerwand is the home mountain of the popular Franz-Senn-Hütte and is one of the few climbs in the glacially marked Alpein mountain range to which (at least for the most part) signposts lead. From the valley between the Sommerwandi and the Knotenspitze, it loks like a barely visible ridge top, but it rises above the hut and the Oberbergtal valley. There is an attractive climb up to it via the north ridge (up to climbing level III), and a marked route ascends the mountain via its eastern slope. The summit offers an outstanding view in depth of the Franz Senn hut below, the Obergbach valley, the Sommerwand glacier and the mountains above it, and the mountains around Lake Rinnensee.