Raxalpy -Preinerwand,Heukuppe: combined crossing: via ferrata-trip

Two-day Raxalpe crossing including the best via ferratas

Starting point

Entrance is from the free car park behind Prein an der Rax (Griesleiten). At 10 am already full enough. However, we find a place.
 

Description of the hike

1. day

The ideal September weather is reported. Unfortunately, the forecast caught many other locals and Austrians that the huts were occupied, the Heidsteig ferry full. At the last minute we manage to book a winterraum at Habsburghaus.

Entrance is from the free car park behind Prein an der Rax (Griesleiten). At 10 am already full enough. However, we find the place. Unfortunately, on a nice Saturday time, many agencies had the same idea and decided to offer this particular route for ferat initiation for their new clients. Some are willing to be passed over, some less so, so we drag on quite a bit, but at least interesting social situations and new friendships are created. Attractive ladders are offered, one smoothed perpendicular chimney, otherwise no great complexities. A break at the Black Madonna and then a leisurely descent to the cross at Preinerwand (1783m). More company at the top, then descent to the Neue Seehütte hut, with the occasional drink on tap (bottled only at other times).

We throw our backpacks into the slash and give ourselves a bonus - Königschusswand Steig. The descent to the scree is rather unpleasant, but then the climb is a different cup of coffee. No one is getting confused, a bit of a slog, but no wilderness, the D/E scaling is somewhat overrated. Occasionally a rock falls, a rock crevice amuses, where somebody struggles a bit, with a bigger backpack it would be a problem, but in the end we are successfully on the top again in 45 min.

From Seehütte, we continue on a relaxing mountain trek with beautiful views over the Raxes to the Habsburghaus, where we are with all the social breaks and bonuses in less than 8 hours. The hut ends up looser, but we push for a more comfortable winterraum. Service pleasant, more companionship will take place.
 

2. day

Beautiful morning, Heukuppe above us, the hut is barely waking up, at 7:30 we start for a circular ascent-descent. We have to descend 300 m, a large herd of chamois, through the beautiful Bärenlochsteig gorge, a steep, secured descent down, and then the same up, sometimes secured with a rope, but belay devices are not needed. Around the perpendicular wall, above the rock, hangs the Habsburg. We blow up steeply through the rocks and then through a plateau of rising ground, slash and grass, a bit of a fizzle, arriving at Heukuppe (2,007m) after 10 o'clock.

The wind picks up, we hide behind the summit monument, it's clear for a while, foggy for a while. We descend to the Karl-Ludwig-Haus, have an early lunch, near a nice chapel and again a steeper descent, past the Waxriegelhaus, then along the forest path on the yellow trail. At 13 h we are at the car. As a final bonus, we get a bounce on the Hohe Wand- Währinger Steig. A short, nice C-track , a path with a ladder, a view.
 

Difficulty

At the beginning we walk along a forest path with serpentines, then a green turn, a well and in an hour we start on the C/D ferrata. Unfortunately, Saturday's nice weather was conceived by the same idea by a lot of agencies, which for God knows what reason decided to offer this particular route for ferrata initiation for their new clients. Some are willing to be passed over, some less so, so we drag on quite a bit, but at least interesting social situations and new friendships are created. Attractive ladders are offered, one smoothed perpendicular chimney, otherwise no great complexities. A break at the Black Madonna and then a leisurely descent to the cross at Preinerwand. More company at the top, then descent to the Neue Seehütte hut, with the occasional drink on tap(bottled only at other times). We throw our packs into the slash and have a bonus Königschusswand Steig. The descent to the scree onset is rather unpleasant, but then the lying down is another coffee. No one is getting confused, a bit of a slog but no wilderness, the D/E scaling is somewhat overrated. Occasionally a rock falls, a rock crevice where somebody grazes a bit is amusing, with a bigger backpack it would have been a problem, but finally we are successfully on the top again in 45 min. From Seehütte we continue with a relaxed plateau trek with beautiful views over the Raxes to Habsburghaus, where we are with all social breaks and bonuses in less than 8 hours.
The hut ends up looser, but we push for a more comfortable winterraum. Service pleasant, more companionship will take place. Morning beautiful, Heukuppe above us, the hut barely wakes up, at 7:30 we start for the circular ascent-descent. We have to descend 300m, a large herd of chamois, through the beautiful Bärenlochsteig gorge, a steep, secured descent down, and then up anyway, sometimes secured with a rope, but belay devices are not needed. Around the perpendicular wall, above the rock, hangs the Habsburg. Blow up steeply through the rocks and then up through a plateau, slash and grass, a bit of a fizzle, arriving at Heukuppe (2007m) after 10 hrs. The wind picks up, we hide behind the summit monument, clear for a while, foggy for a while.
We descend to the Karl-Ludwig-Haus, have an early lunch, near a nice chapel and again a steeper descent, past the Waxriegelhaus, At 13 h we are at the car.

As a final bonus we'll give ourselves a jump to Hohe Wanda- Währinger Steig, Short, nice C-track , path with ladder, view, pokcháním.

Combined crossing, the first day of the via ferrata with the need for a set, then a more physically demanding crossing, without the need for belaying.
 

Water availability

There are functional huts along the way, so we have a regular plastic bottle and the rest we refill with golden drink.
 

Sleeping options

Overnight stays are possible at the Habsburghaus and Carl-Ludwig-Haus.
 

Mountain peaks

The route ascends to the peaks Preiner Wand 1 783 m above sea level and Heukuppe 2 007 m above sea level.
 

Danger

Via ferratas more demanding, but no extreme, necessary equipment.
The top crossing then up and down, a secured section without the need for aids. Except for the ferratas, you go on a classic mountain trail.
 

Food

There is cooking at the huts along the way and it is good to have your own food.