Parkirišče Sulzenauhütte - Gamsspitzl (via Sulzenauhütte and Seescharte)

Access to starting point:
From Ljubljana, we drive on the highway past Salzburg in the direction towards München. At the multilevel junction Dreieck Inntal we turn onto the road A93 in the direction of Innsbruck/Kufstein/Brenner. When we return to Austria we continue to the junction with the exit Innsbruck-Mitte. Here we don't turn towards Innsbruck, but we continue on the highway A13 in the direction towards the Brenner Pass. We leave the highway at the exit 10-Schönberg and follow a comfortable road through the Stubaital valley to the settlements Neustift im Stubaital, the center of the Stubaital valley, and Volderau, where the still wide asphalt road starts to ascend a little more noticeably in the direction of Mutterbergalm and the ski area Stubaier Gletscher. Soon on the left we notice the large Grawa waterfall and the parking lot at the eponymous mountain pasture; here is the first starting point for the ascent towards Sulzenauhütte. After a few minutes of additional driving, we park on a quite spacious designated parking lot, which offers the most comfortable approach to the mountain hut, and where at the starting point we notice a large information board emphasizing the ascent to Sulzenauhütte. Alternatively, we can drive through northern Italy: in this case from central Slovenia on the highway A2 we drive to one of the border crossings with Austria and continue to Lienz. Here we continue on road 100 and past the Prato alla Drava crossing we drive into Italy. In Italy we follow road SS49 all the way to the junction with highway A22 in the direction towards the Brenner Pass. After the pass we continue in the direction towards Innsbruck to the exit Schönberg. From there we continue in the direction described above.

Route description:
From the starting point, we walk over a small bridge and, following the signs for the mountain hut Sulzenauhütte and mountain pasture Sulzenau, continue on a narrow footpath which in zigzags leads across the forested slope towards the south. The moderately steep, fairly undemanding path, from which occasionally beautiful views open up above the Stubai valley, after approximately 45 minutes is joined by a somewhat steeper variant of the path, which through the forested terrain above Grawa Alm passes by the edge of the large Grawa waterfall. The footpath at this spot turns towards the east and after approximately 15 minutes brings us to large plains, where below the cliffs above which Sulzenauhütte stands, the mountain pasture Sulzenau is revealed. Reliable signs lead us past the mountain pasture and direct us onto a narrow footpath which in zigzags crosses a steep slope and after about two hours of walking from the starting point brings us to the Sulzenauhütte hut.

At the hut, which stands in the middle of the attractive water-rich world of the High Stubai, we look towards the signs for Nürnberger Hütte and Wilder Freiger, which from the hut lead towards the east (in the direction of Route Seescharte and Leo Schöpf’s Route; the demanding and more direct Lübeckerweg soon branches off and turns steeply towards the south). Initially a fairly level footpath soon brings us to the western edge above the larger lake Grünausee, where a beautiful view towards Wilder Freiger and nearby peaks is revealed; here a more demanding unmarked path branches off, which leads to the summit over the Freiger glacier. After a short crossing north above the lake we find ourselves at a junction: the wider footpath continues towards Nürnberger Hütte, while we head onto the somewhat less obvious path which leads us along the eastern edge above lake Grünausee. The still fairly undemanding path across the grassy slope takes us into increasingly rocky terrain, where we proceed in the direction of the next goal, the Seescharte saddle between peaks Urfallspitze (2805 m) and Gamsspitzl (3051 m). After a short slightly steeper ascent through rocky terrain after about two hours of walking from the hut we approach the saddle, where an expansive view towards the mountains and glaciers of the eastern part of the central group of the High Stubai opens up.

From the saddle we continue on the footpath which across scree terrain towards the south crosses below the Gamsspitzl massif. Soon we reach a junction at a large rock, where we head steeply upwards (westwards, sign GSP.); to the left, towards the south, the path continues towards Wilder Freiger.
Over unpleasant crumbly scree we ascend in the direction towards a fairly sharp ridge, to which we detour to the eastern side and cross below it. When the ridge becomes gentler and easier to cross, the signs direct us onto it. From here only a few minutes of undemanding walking along the wide summit ridge of Gamsspitzl separate us from the summit. From the junction it is about 15-20 minutes ascent to the summit.

Gamsspitzl is a relatively easily accessible summit in the Hochstubai range, which otherwise usually attracts tourists with ambitions for more demanding mountain goals. Regardless, the summit, which offers a wonderful view of the upper expanses of Wilder Freiger, Freiger See lake and surrounding mountains, can represent a pleasant diversion on the ascent to Wilder Freiger, and when circumstances do not allow more ambitious undertakings, also a quite appealing standalone goal.
The final ascent to the summit is technically not demanding, but due to the crumbliness and occasional steepness might nonetheless deserve the label "partly demanding"; this certainly applies in the months when there is still snow on the slopes of Gamsspitzl.

Along the route: Sulzenauhütte (2191m), Seescharte (2762m)

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