Dachstein (mountain)

Dachstein
	Aerial view of the Hohe Dachstein from approx. 3,600 m, with Niederer Dachstein (left) and Gjaidstein (in the background)
height	2995 m above sea level A.
location	Upper Austria and Styria , Austria
Mountains	Dachstein Mountains
Dominance	47.7 km → Großer Hafner
Notch height	2136 m ↓ Eben im Pongau
Coordinates	47 ° 28 '31 " N , 13 ° 36' 21" E Coordinates: 47 ° 28 '31 " N , 13 ° 36' 21" E
rock	Dachstein Limestone
Age of the rock	Norium - Rhaetium
First ascent	around 1832 by Peter Gappmayr
Development	Dachstein-Südwandbahn
Normal way	Randkluftsteig ( B )
particularities	Highest mountain in Styria and Upper Austria
	Aerial view of the Dachstein south walls with Torstein , Mitterspitz and Hohem Dachstein (from left to right)
	North side of the Hohe Dachstein with the Hallstätter Glacier , Niederer Dachstein (right), Hohes Kreuz (far right) and Dirndln (left); seen from the Gjaidstein

The Dachstein is the main summit of the Dachstein massif . It has the shape of a double peak :

The Hohe Dachstein is at 2995 m above sea level. A. the highest peak in the Dachstein Mountains and at the same time the highest peak in the Austrian federal states of Upper Austria and Styria .
To the north, at a distance of 400 m, is the Niedere Dachstein with a height of 2934 m above sea level. A. upstream.

Due to its height and attractiveness, the Dachstein has become a popular destination for mountaineers since the 19th century , after the Grimming was long believed to be the highest mountain in Styria. The 1 km high, reddish south walls made of Dachstein limestone are also famous .

Location and landscape

The Dachstein is a mountain in the Northern Alps and is the second highest peak after the Parseierspitze in the Lechtal Alps ( 3,036 m above sea level ). While the Niedere Dachstein lies entirely in Upper Austria, the border from Upper Austria to Styria runs over the Hohe Dachstein. Hallstatt is 10 km north-northeast , Ramsau is around 6½ km south-east , and Lammertal is on the western edge .

glacier

There are several glaciers on the Dachstein : the Hallstatt Glacier (historically " Karlseisfeld ") stretches to the northeast of the main summit , the Schladminger Glacier to the east , the Great and Small Gosau Glacier and the Schneeloch Glacier to the northwest . Today all of them are in a state of decline , some in the process of dissolution. Torsteingletscher (in the Windlegerkar), Edelgriessgletscher (southern flank of the Koppenkarstein) and the fields in the Dachstein south face (below the wind gaps) have largely disappeared in the last few decades and only debris-covered dead ice remains . Extensive maintenance measures are carried out where the ice field is used for the Dachstein Glacier ski area .

Many of the Dachstein lakes are glacier edge lakes of these glaciers, especially the ice lakes of the Hallstätter glacier .

During the maxima of the Ice Ages, the Dachstein Glacier was one of the most extensive glacier fields in the Eastern Alps and fundamentally shaped the entire Salzkammergut and the Ennstal . In principle, the majority of all Salzkammergut lakes are glacial lakes of the Dachstein glacier: some lakes on the edge of its tongues , some dead ice holes or post-glacial moor lakes .

First ascent and tourist development

Ramsau with a view of the Dachstein, S. Kölbl, around 1830

The first tourist ascent of the Hohe Dachstein was made on July 18, 1834 by Peter Karl Thurwieser , led by the Gappmayr brothers from Filzmoos and over the Gosau glacier, after Archduke Karl had failed over the Hallstatt glacier. In the course of this ascent, a wooden summit cross was already erected. This first ascent was already discussed at the time, the summit is said to have been climbed by Jakob Buchsteiner in 1819 or 1823 as part of the national survey. But this is considered the first ascent of the Torstein secondary peak . The first winter ascent took place on January 14, 1847 by Friedrich Simony .

The two Ramsau brothers Irg (= Georg) and Franz Steiner started the first climbing route through the south face of the Hohe Dachstein on September 22, 1909 . At that time the path was called the Himmelsleiter der Steiner-Buam and is still a popular climbing route as the Steinerweg .

Since 1951, leading from the Upper Austrian side Dachstein cable car up the mountain since 1969, the Dachstein south face of the Styrian side to the vicinity of the summit.

The Hallstatt-Dachstein / Salzkammergut region has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997 , the summit is the border between the core and buffer zone.

The north-western part of the municipality of Ramsau am Dachstein is a nature reserve.

Ascent

Since the main peak of the Dachstein is the highest peak in Upper Austria and Styria, it is visited by many mountaineers, in winter as in summer. On days with good weather conditions, there are often over 100 climbers on the go, long traffic jams at key points are possible.

The most famous ascent routes are:

Shoulder climb ( Simonyhütte - Hallstätter Glacier - Dachsteinwarte - East ridge)
Randkluft ascent (Simonyhütte – Hallstätter Glacier – northeast flank)
West ridge ( Adamekhütte - Gosaugletscher - Upper Windlucke - West ridge)

These routes generally require alpine equipment (glacier crossings) and climbing skills.

The interesting climbing routes mainly lead through the Dachstein south face , one of the classic climbing walls in the Alps. The most famous of these are:

Steinerweg (Hoher Dachstein, classic route, V)
Pichlweg (Hoher Dachstein, classic route, IV)

The via ferrata Der Johann leads to the small summit of the Dachsteinwarte east of the Hohe Dachstein, which enables you to cross the Dachsteinwarte.

The Dachstein can also be climbed in a combination of three via ferrata . The following via ferratas are combined:

Anna via ferrata (difficulty C / D)
Johann via ferrata (difficulty D / E)
Shoulder or edge gap rise (difficulty B and 1)

The name of the via ferrata Anna and Johann goes back to the love affair between the Styrian Prince Archduke Johann and the Aussee postmaster's daughter Anna Plochl.

Together, the three routes make up the so-called Dachstein Super Ferrata, which takes around nine hours. The route begins in the valley in front of the south walls and ends on the summit of the Hohe Dachstein.

natural reserve

The mountain lies on the border of the core zone of the Hallstatt – Dachstein / Salzkammergut cultural landscape, and on the Upper Austria side it belongs to the Europe and nature reserve Dachstein ( bird protection and FFH area ), on the Styrian side to the natural monument Dachsteinsüdwand , nature reserve north-western part of the municipality of Ramsau am Dachstein and landscape protection area Dachstein – Salzkammergut .

Others

In 2010, the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei had a four-ton boulder transported to the top of the Dachstein as part of the Styrian culture festival “regional X”. The boulder was detached from a rock face in a severe earthquake in the Chinese province of Sichuan in 2008 . For Weiwei it is a symbol of the victims of this quake and the unacceptable way in which Chinese politics dealt with disasters.

Web links

Commons : Dachstein - collection of images, videos and audio files

literature

Hannes Hoffert-Hösl, Der Dachstein, hikes in the border triangle of Styria, Salzburg, Upper Austria , Rotpunktverlag Zurich 2018, ISBN 978-3-85869-781-3
Adolf Mokrejs, Josef Hasitschka: Exquisite Dachstein. Schall, Admont 2015, ISBN 978-3-900533-82-3 . ( online )

Individual evidence

↑ The altitude information varies. The current official measurement is 2995.01 m (KT stone, inspection 1991, Federal Office for Metrology and Surveying BEV). In: Karl Wirobal: How high is the Dachstein? In: ÖAV section Hallstatt (ed.): ALPIN / Documentation . Different heights, p. 1 ( online at hallstatt.ooe.gv.at [PDF; accessed on November 20, 2009]).

↑ ^a ^b Erik Arnberger , Erwin Wilthum: The glaciers of the Dachsteinstock in the past and present . In: Yearbook of the Upper Austrian Museum Association . tape 97 . Upper Austrian Museum Association, Linz 1952, p. 181–214 ( online (PDF) in the forum OoeGeschichte.at). M. Krobath, GK Lieb: The Dachstein Glacier in the 20th Century. In: Wiss. Alpine Club 38, 2004, pp. 75–101 (in the issue also further articles on the Dachstein glaciers).

^ Franz Carl Weidmann, 1822 (and the same: depictions from the Steyermärkschen Oberlande. 1834); Response from Carl Schmutz (with Mikitsch): The first ascent of the Dachstein or Thorstein on August 5, 1823. In: Der Aufmerksame , Grazer Zeitung , 1825, No. 21, 22; and: Ascent of the easternmost and highest peak of the Thor or Dachstein, August 5, 1823 In: Wiener Zeitung , November 2, 1824;
See discussion of the sources The first ascent of the Dachstein was the first ascent of the Torstein; and ascent of the Hohe Dachstein 1823. EnnstalWiki (both accessed August 22, 2019).

↑ The standard: Ai Weiwei's artificial rock has arrived. Retrieved July 31, 2012 .

^ 3sat: Stumbling block. Ai Weiwei installs art on the Dachstein. Retrieved July 31, 2012 .

[Höhe-1] The altitude information varies. The current official measurement is 2995.01 m (KT stone, inspection 1991, Federal Office for Metrology and Surveying BEV). In: Karl Wirobal: How high is the Dachstein? In: ÖAV section Hallstatt (ed.): ALPIN / Documentation . Different heights, p. 1 ( online at hallstatt.ooe.gv.at [PDF; accessed on November 20, 2009]).