Ötztal Trek Route 1

We start in Ötztal-Bahnhof on the main road east of the entrance to the village at the construction waste disposal site towards "Larchet, Höpperg". Before the chapel, turn right towards "Grün", until we turn right again at the junction to Höpperg. Arriving at the houses, we continue on the unpaved road until it descends and then turn left onto the trail. Soon we reach the hidden highlight of this stage, the Brandsee - also known as Amberger See! We continue towards "Sattele", where we take the trail marked with 45 minutes to the east of the road to Marlstein. From Marlstein, we descend gently to Mareil and then follow the Kaiser-Franz-Josef trail left of the road. Just 200 meters ascent left to the Dortmunder Hütte. An option is, of course, an overnight stay in Marlstein or Mareil; Walking time Ötztal Bahnhof - Marlstein: 4.75 hours, another 30 minutes to Mareil.

Stage 2:

At the beginning of Kühtai, we orient ourselves towards the "Finstertaler Scharte" or "Schweinfurter Hütte". East of the road to the Finstertal reservoir, the trail leads through meadows upwards, always with the imposing, 149-meter-high debris dam in sight. After a steep slope, we reach the crest of the dam of the reservoir, which has a capacity of 60 million cubic meters. We continue east of the lake until the trail leads steeply up to the south shore of the lake, into a basin and then steeply up to the Finstertaler Scharte. On the pass, at 2,777 meters, there is a great view: to the south, the Wildspitze, Tyrol's highest mountain, is visible. On the descent, the route leads through alpine terrain before descending in switchbacks, mostly alongside the stream, to the Schweinfurter Hütte. This hut is located where the Horlachtal and Zwieselbachtal valleys meet.

Stage 3:

We orient ourselves towards the "Winnebachseehütte" and hike on the forest road into the Zwieselbachtal, passing the Zwieselbacher Sennhütte and continuing gently upwards in the green Zwieselbachtal. At 2,150 meters, the forest road ends and we continue on a trail. We then reach a large scree field, which we traverse ascending on the right side - endurance is required as the path often disappears among the stones. In midsummer, the route is free of ice and snow and leads to the Zwieselbachjoch - finally to the right of the Zwieselbachferner. To the west above the saddle, the Grießkogel with its glacier is visible. Beyond the saddle, we descend quickly and through the Winnebachkar we finally reach the Winnebachseehütte.

Stage 4:

From the Winnebachseehütte, the trail ascends in switchbacks, passing the Ernst-Riml-Spitze. Shortly before the Bachfallenferner, we have to climb steeply again, in small switchbacks over the moraine. The view and the crossing of the Bachfallenferner are exciting, first very flat, later a bit steeper. Climbing is still required to reach the Gaislehnscharte, the highest point, but it is definitely worth it. Steep descent through the Schrankar into the Hintere Sulztal and to the Amberger Hütte.

Stage 5:

We start by walking in the flat valley floor of the Sulze to the south and then up the slope to the right, where soon the trail splits, and we take the right variant. We ascend to the south over the western edge moraine until the view opens up to the Sulztalferner. At the Sulztalferner, we need to rope up, then we ascend gradually on the right glacier edge and pass the foot of the Wilde Leck. Finally, we ascend more quickly to the Wütenkarsattel (Attention crevasses!). On the other side, we descend in rocky terrain to the Wütenkarferner and pass by a small lake. The glacier is crossed in a right curve, and we leave it at the western edge - here the path joins the access route from Sölden to the Hochstubaihütte. The outstanding observation point is quickly reached, and a trail leads simply up the final 100 meters in altitude to the refuge.