Lechtal Alps
Lechtal Alps | |
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Location of the Lechtal Alps within the Eastern Alps |
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View from the Stanskogel to the central Lechtal Alps |
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Highest peak | Parseierspitze ( 3036 m above sea level ) |
location | Tyrol , Vorarlberg |
part of |
North Tyrolean Limestone Alps, Northern Eastern Alps |
Classification according to |
AVE : 3b SOIUSA : 21.I |
Coordinates | 47 ° 10 ′ N , 10 ° 29 ′ E |
The Lechtal Alps are a mountain group of the Northern Limestone Alps and with an area of almost 1000 km² their most extensive group. In western Austria they are mainly in the state of Tyrol and, to a small extent, in Vorarlberg .
The peaks of the Lechtal Alps are the highest in the Northern Limestone Alps, the only three-thousand-meter peaks of which are located here ( Parseierspitze at 3,036 m ). Alpine club huts and high-altitude trails allow multi-day crossings of the mountains and make the mountain range a popular hiking area. Nevertheless, compared to some other mountain groups in the Northern Limestone Alps, for example the neighboring Allgäu Alps , the Lechtal Alps are less developed for tourism and therefore have a more original character in many places.
geology
The Lechtal Alps are a chain of mountains with a pronounced main ridge and richly branched, long side ridges. The length is about 70 km, the average width 20 km. Characteristic is a diverse, often small-scale changing rock structure predominantly made of sedimentary rocks, which leads to a very varied landscape. The most important summit creator is the main dolomite , which often makes for brittle, highly fragmented and rubble-rich mountains (e.g. Dremelspitze, Leiterspitze, Vordereespitze, Vallesinspitze). Just as important is the spotted marl with its yellowish, brittle mountains of rubble at higher altitudes (e.g. at the Parseierspitze, Trittkopf, Freispitze) and dense green mats rich in flowers at medium heights. The Aptychenkalk (summit hood of the Parseierspitze, Roggspitze) ensures sharp ridges . The Oberrhätkalk (e.g. Holzgauer Wetterspitze, Freispitze) offers a very hard, light-colored limestone with excellent climbing opportunities . The Wetterstein limestone forms the long wall of the Heiterwand and is characterized by a compact, less fragmented appearance with impressive rock faces. A special feature are the Gosau strata in the Muttekopf area, which stand out with their unusually colorful conglomerates, breccias and sandstones. In addition to the sedimentary rocks, metamorphic rocks also occur on the southern edge, for example north of St. Anton am Arlberg am Galzig or on the southern slope of the Parseierspitze from the Dawinalm down the valley, one encounters mica slate, the typical rock of the Central Alps.
Neighboring mountain groups
The Lechtal Alps border the following other mountain groups in the Alps:
- Allgäu Alps (in the north)
- Ammergau Alps (in the northeast)
- Wetterstein Mountains and Mieming Range (in the east)
- Ötztal Alps (in the south)
- Samnaun group (in the south)
- Verwall group (in the southwest)
- Lechquellen Mountains (in the west)
Boundary
The orographic delimitation of the Lechtal Alps is comparatively simple. In the west, the Flexenpass forms the border to the Lechquellen Mountains . From there it runs along the Zürser Bach over Zürs to the confluence with the Lech at the place of the same name and along the Lech to Reutte , on to the Ammergau Alps through intermediate gates , an elongated valley with a watershed that cannot be seen as a pass to the Ehrwald basin . In the east, the Fernpass and the Gurgltal border the Lechtal Alps from the Mieminger chain . In the south, the border runs along the Inn from Imst to Landeck and continues with the Sanna River to the confluence of the Rosanna . The Rosanna runs up the border to Verwall to St. Anton am Arlberg and on to the Arlbergpass , from there the Rauzbach down to Stuben and up again to the Flexenpass.
In some maps and atlases, the mountain group to the west of the Flexenpass is included in the Lechtal Alps. In the AVE used here , the Alpine Club classification of the Eastern Alps by the German, Austrian and South Tyrolean Alpine Club, this mountain group is independently referred to as the Lechquellen Mountains .
Subgroups
The older, out-of-print editions of the Alpine Club Guide Lechtaler Alpen make a comparatively delicate division of the mountain group into subgroups as follows:
- Valluga group
- Stanskogel group
- Feuerspitz group
- Outdoor seating area
- Parseiergruppe
- Medriol
- Torpitz group
- Parzinn and Steinkar
- Lichtspitzgruppe
- Muttekopfgruppe
- Heiterwandgruppe
- Fallerscheingruppe
- Rudiger group
- Liegfeistgruppe
- Thaneller group
- Lorea group
- Gartner wall group
Many of the above subgroups are broken down further.
The current edition of the Alpine Club Guide Lechtaler Alpen alpin makes a somewhat coarser subdivision as follows:
- Valluga group and northern ridges
- Wetterspitz and Vallesin groups
- Outdoor ridge
- Parseiergruppe
- Medriol. Rosskar and Griessalgruppe
- Muttekopfgruppe and Parzinn
- Namlos Mountains and Heiterwand - between Lech, Namlos and Hahntennjoch
- Liegfeistgruppe
- Thaneller and Lorea group
summit
In the Lechtal Alps, there are over 600 named and with spot elevation provided Summit. The following sortable table lists the ten highest and a selection of other peaks. The list shows not only the height of a summit, but also its notch height (prominence) with reference notch and its dominance with reference mountain. This enables an assessment of the independence of a summit.
Passes and crossings
In addition to the passes mentioned, which connect the Lechtal Alps with the neighboring groups, there is a crossing within the Lechtal Alps that is accessible by car:
- Hahntennjoch , 1894 m
Tourist transitions are u. a.
- Almajurjoch ( 2237 m , location of the Leutkircher hut)
- Kaiserjoch ( 2310 m , location of the Kaiserjochhaus)
- Flarschjoch ( 2464 m )
- Patrolscharte ( 2846 m , the highest crossing in the Lechtal Alps)
- Seescharte ( 2599 m , transition in the course of the E5)
- Front and rear Dremelscharte ( 2434 m and 2470 m respectively )
natural reserve
In the Tyrolean part of the Lechtal Alps there are the following protected areas:
- Ehrwalder Becken nature reserve near Ehrwald
- Antelsberg nature reserve near Tarrenz
- Special protection area Silzer Innau near Silz
- Muttekopf quiet area
- Tiroler Lech Nature Park , also a nature reserve
There are currently no protected areas in the (small) Vorarlberg part of the Lechtal Alps.
tourism
Alpine club huts
In the Lechtal Alps there are the following huts of the German and Austrian Alpine Association:
- Anhalter Hut (near the Hahntennjoch)
- Ansbacher Hut (near Flirsch)
- Augsburger Bivouac (along the Augsburger Höhenweg)
- Augsburger Hut (near Grins )
- Edelweißhaus (near Steeg)
- Hanauer Hut (near Boden)
- Heiterwandhütte (near Imst)
- Kaiserjochhaus (near Pettneu)
- Leutkircher Hut (near St. Jakob)
- Loreahütte (near the Fernpass)
- Memminger Hut (near Bach)
- Muttekopfhütte (near Imst)
- Reuttener Hut (near Rinnen)
- Simmshütte (near Stockach)
- Steinseehütte (near Zams)
- Stuttgarter Hütte (near Zürs)
- Ulmer Hut (near St. Christoph)
- Wolfratshauser Hütte (near Lermoos)
- Württemberger House (near Zams)
The huts are generally open from early July to mid-September each year. Most of the huts also offer meals. It is advisable to inquire with the alpine clubs or in the valley towns before visiting a hut.
Long-distance / long-distance hiking trails
The European long-distance hiking trail E5 crosses the Lechtal Alps roughly in their middle in a north-south direction. Coming from the Allgäu Alps, the E5 reaches the Lech Valley near Holzgau. It goes down the Lech valley to Bach . This is where the ascent to the main ridge of the Lechtal Alps begins. First it goes through the Madau valley to Madau and on to the Memminger hut. From there the ascent continues to the Seescharte in the main ridge. At the Seescharte the E5 reaches its highest height at 2,599 m in the Lechtal Alps. From there the descent begins 1,800 meters down into the Inn Valley via the Zammerloch (this valley is often incorrectly referred to as the Lochbachtal ). The Inn valley is reached at Zams. From Zams it is not far up the Inn to Landeck.
The Nordalpenweg (Austrian long-distance hiking trail 01) crosses the Lechtal Alps lengthways. Crossing the Lechtal Alps in an east-west (or vice versa) direction is also generally known as the Lechtaler Höhenweg . The alpine variant of the European long-distance hiking trail E4 is identical to the Lechtaler Höhenweg in the area of the Lechtal Alps.
- Section 16 of the long-distance hiking trail runs through the Lechtal Alps as follows: Ehrwald, Lermoos, Fernpass, Fernstein Castle, Loreahütte, Hintere Tarrentonalm, Anhalter Hütte, Hahntennjoch, Boden, Hanauer Hütte, Steinseehütte, Württemberger Haus, Memminger Hütte, Ansbacher Hütte, Kaiserjochhaus, Leutkircher Hut, Ulmer Hut, Stuttgarter Hut, Zürs.
The Augsburger Höhenweg and the Spiehlerweg are known as demanding high-altitude trails. Both form a variant of the Northern Alpine Trail described above between Memminger and Ansbacher Hut.
The Via Alpina , a cross-border long-distance hiking trail with five partial trails through the entire Alps, also runs through the Lechtal Alps.
The Red Trail of Via Alpina runs in two stages through the Lechtal Alps as follows:
- Stage R47 from the Coburger Hütte to the Wolfratshauser Hütte. The first half of this stage is in the Mieminger chain, the Lechtal Alps can only be entered from Biberwier.
- Stage R48 from the Wolfratshauser Hütte to Weißenbach am Lech
The Via Alpina Yellow Path runs in two stages through the Lechtal Alps as follows:
- Stage B37 from Zams am Inn to the Memminger Hütte via the Seescharte
- Stage B38 from the Memminger Hütte to Holzgau im Lechtal via Madau
The course of the Yellow Path of the Via Alpina in the Lechtal Alps corresponds to the course of the E5 in the opposite direction.
Via ferratas
There are the following via ferratas in the Lechtal Alps:
- Arlberg via ferrata near Sankt Anton a. A.
- Via ferrata on the Steinkarspitze near the Steinseehütte
- Imst via ferrata
- Climb to the Vordere Platteinspitze near Imst
- Via ferrata on the Reichspitze near the Hanauer Hut
There are some climbing gardens near the Steinseehütte .
Ski tourism
In the Lechtal Alps, large ski areas are rare due to their steep and rocky character. The Arlberg area around the winter sports resorts of St. Anton and Zürs on the western foothills of the mountain range is a significant exception .
Literature / maps
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Alpine Club Guide Lechtal Alps, from 1st edition 1972, Bergverlag Rother , Munich,
- This guide contains all known routes in the Lechtal Alps, including climbing routes
- Alpine club guide Lechtaler Alpen alpin, 1st edition 2002, Bergverlag Rother, Munich, ISBN 3-7633-1268-4
- This guide only includes paths and routes up to level II. This means that there is currently no work for the Lechtal Alps that describes the mountain range in detail from a mountaineering point of view.
- Rother hiking guide Arlberg-Paznaun, Bergverlag Rother, Munich, ISBN 3-7633-4121-8
- From the Lechtal Alps, the guide covers the area around the Arlberg and the south side towards the Stanzer Tal.
- Rother hiking guide Kaunertal-Oberinntal, Bergverlag Rother, Munich, ISBN 3-7633-4027-0
- The guide only includes 2 hikes in the Lechtal Alps near Landeck.
- Rother hiking guide Pitztal with Imst and the surrounding area, Bergverlag Rother, Munich, ISBN 3-7633-4058-0
- The guide includes 11 hikes near Imst for the Lechtal Alps
- Rother hiking guide around the Zugspitze, Bergverlag Rother, Munich, ISBN 3-7633-4264-8
- The guide includes 2 hikes in the Lechtal Alps near Lermoos
- Rother hiking guide, Ausserfern, Bergverlag Rother, Munich, ISBN 3-7633-4055-6
- The guide includes many hikes on both sides of the Lech Valley
- Rother hiking guide Allgäu 2, Bergverlag Rother, Munich, ISBN 3-7633-4259-1
- The guide includes 11 hikes in the eastern Lechtal Alps
- Dieter Elsner Winter in the Lechtal, ISBN 3-920269-22-5
Web links
- Tours and peaks in the Lechtal Alps on steinmandl.de
- http://www.lechtal.at/
- Information page about the Lechtal Alps
- Eagle Walk
Individual evidence
- ↑ Located north of the Gramais - Boden line and, according to the article, not in Parzinn