Alpine Club Vienna - Trip Sheet

Hike Stubaier Höhenweg
8-day hike, Stubaier Alpen, Tirol

Date: Sat 16 July to Sat 23 July, 2005
PLEASE INQUIRE 2 DAYS IN ADVANCE, IF THE HIKE WILL TAKE PLACE !
In case of very bad weather forecast it will be postponed by one week.
Call 0699 13516232. If postponed, there will also be an announcement on our club website.

Suggested by:
Peter Levenitschnig

Route:
From hut to hut around Stubaier Alpen. - Route in detail see below.
Stubaier Alpen are situated east of Ötztaler Alpen, south of Innsbruck and west of Brenner Pass.
The trail is in the middle between the summits and the valley, but never crosses glaciers. Many ups and downs between the huts, often great views to the mountain range.

Length of activity in hours/kilometers, elevation:
Hiking on average at 2.000m or above, the highest evelation of the trail being around 2.900 m.
Total Length: appr. 120 km

Grade of difficulty: High alpine tour (H)
No crossing of glaciers, but possibly some stretches of snow. Some easy climbing by the aid of Klettersteig (A-B). Sure-footedness and being absolutely free of dizziness is a must! At least 4-5 hours hiking per day, sometimes 6 hours per day or more. - For details see below.

Meeting point:
Fulpmes (near Neustift), station of cable car "Schlick 2000"
Meeting time: Saturday 16 July, 2.00 p.m., lunch by then already finished!

Ending point: Fulpmes or Neustift, to be settled on arrival (depending on the options of our trip, if people are using cars or train etc.)
Ending time: Saturday 23 July, between 2.00 and 3.00 p.m.

Car connections:
Wien - Innsbruck - Fulpmes
Attention! Do not use the Brenner Autobahn from Innsbruck but the Bundesstraße, otherwise you have to pay toll !
511 km, Autobahn Wien-Innsbruck, then Bundesstraße. From Vienna (City) at least 6 hours.

Train connections:
Before we leave we should organize car sharing and/or buying group tickets for the train

Equipment needed:
You can find a gear list for the hike "Karnischer Höhenweg" which also suits for this trip:
GEAR LIST (http://www.alpineclubvienna.org/archives/samplegearlist.htm)
In addition to the items mentioned on the list a light-weight ice axe might be useful for snow fields on the way.

Additional Remarks:
- Membership of Alpenverein required !
- Signing up required. Please do so as soon as possible since group size is limited to about 8 and we will have to make reservation for accomodation at the huts.
- Attendance at our monthly meeting on 23 June required, to meet the organizer, discuss personal skills, gear requirements and transportation.

Link:
Stubaier Höhenweg

Paper stuff:
Outdoor No. 6, June 2005 (article on Stubaier Höhenweg, with photos)
(www.outdoor-magazin.com)

Route in detail

Sat 16 July
Arrival in Fulpmes, Cable car "Schlick2000" to top station Kreuzjoch (2020m), then hike to Starkenburger Hütte (2229m). 2 hours. Stay overnight.
Optionally hike to Hoher Burgstall (2.611m), Klettersteig, 2 hours.

Sun 17 July
Starkenburger Hütte to Franz-Senn-Hütte (2147m). 6 1/2 hours. Stay overnight.

Mon 18 July
Franz-Senn-Hütte to Neue Regensburger Hütte (2286m). 4 hours. Stay overnight.

Tues 19 July
Neue Regensburger Hütte to Dresdner Hütte (2308m). 6 hours. Stay overnight

Wed 20 July
Dresdner Hütte > Sulzenau Hütte (2191m) > Nürnberger Hütte (2297m). 2 1/2 + 2 3/4 hours. Stay overnight.

Thur 21 July
Nürnberger Hütte to Bremer Hütte (2413m). 3 1/2 hours. Stay overnight.

Fri 22 July
Bremer Hütte to Innsbrucker Hütte (2369m). 6 1/2 hours. Stay overnight.

Sat 23 July
Innsbrucker Hütte: Descent to the valley: Neder (near Neustift). 3 hours. - Return to Vienna.

Options and variations to the route

There are some smaller variations of the routes possible depending on the weather.
We could add trips to summits and lakes, e.g. to Rinnensee (2646m) and Rinnenspitze (3000m) (4 hours) and leave out some other items instead.
In case of bad weather or problems with our physical shape we could have a day of rest in between and leave out a hut or two at the end of our trip.
We could split up the hike Dresdner Hütte to Nürnberger Hütte into two days.

What we will NOT do:

Stubaier Höhenweg is a round trip without crossing glaciers.
It is not in the scope of this hike to cross glaciers or ascend mountains with glaciers on the way. For such trips special skills, experience and equipment is necessary!