Sele pri Cerkvi / Zell - Pfarre - Koschutnikturm (Košutnikov turn) (ÖTK Steig Neu)

Access to starting point:
From highway Ljubljana - Jesenice we go to the exit Ljubelj (Tržič), and then we continue driving in the direction of Celovec / Klagenfurt. After Ljubelj tunnel the road starts descending, and we follow it to the crossroad, where slightly right and downwards road towards the settlement Borovlje / Ferlach branches off. The road which is still descending quickly brings us to the mentioned settlement, where we soon cross the railway track. Only a little after the track we join the other road which we follow to the right, and we are driving there in the direction of the settlement Sele / Zell - Pfarre. When we get to the mentioned settlement we park on a parking lot opposite of the church.

Path description:
From the parking lot, we return on the main road towards Borovlje, and then still before the end of the village, we notice signs for mountain hut Koča pod Košuto, which point us to the left on the road which leads to the yard of the nearby houses. Behind the houses, the path passes on a cart track, and it ascends diagonally through a meadow, from which a nice view opens up on Setiče / Freiberg. After few minutes of the ascent, we get to a hamlet with few houses, where we step on at first still asphalt road which leads towards the mountain hut Koča pod Košuto.. For a short time, we walk on an asphalt road, from which a nice view opens up to mountain walls of Košuta, and then the road passes into the forest and loses an asphalt covering. On the macadam road which higher leads past a smaller waterfall, we walk to a marked crossing, where from the right side joins the marked path from the homestead Ridovc / Ridovcsäge.
On the mentioned spot, we leave the road and we continue left into a steep hill, on which a steep footpath leads through the forest. Higher, we return on the road, and there we come out of the forest in Mrzli log.
From here we can continue right on a marked path which continues on the bottom of a small valley, or on a parallel macadam road. Wherever we continue we will after approximately 15 minutes of additional walking come to the mountain hut Koča pod Košuto.
From the mountain hut, we continue left in the forest, where the path quickly brings us to a marked crossing. From the crossing, we continue left (right Ridovc / Ridovcsäge, Malejska planina / Malealm, saddle Pešinca / Pischenzasattel...) in the direction of Cjajnik / Lärchenturm and Košutnikov turn / Koschutnikturm on the path which it is ascending diagonally towards the left. After few minutes, we get to the next crossing, where we continue straight in the direction of Košutnikov turn (right Cjajnik).
Further, the path starts ascending a little steeper and with occasional views on the mountain walls of Košuta it brings us to a saddle Mejnik / Mejniksattel, where we go right following the signs Košutnikov turn, and straight slightly downwards runs the path towards the village Trkelj / Terkel. The path is then ascending for some time through the forest and then it brings us on the scree below the slopes of Košuta. After a short crossing towards the east we get to the signposts where our path branches off right and it ascends a little steeper on the scree. And left path still crosses slopes towards the east. At this point I should point out, that the path which runs on Košutnikov turn from northeastern side is closed. After the ascent over the scree we enter the climbing part of the path. From here on we will mandatory need a helmet, it is also highly recommended to use a self belaying. The path steeply ascends on the right side of the gully and brings us above the notch. The path is all the time well-secured with a steel cable and we also get help from few stemples. Above the notch our path turns right upwards, and left (towards the north) above the notch there is a hanging bridge on which we can cross on the other side of the notch. So our path doesn't cross the bridge, but steeply ascends by the steel cable with the help of few stemples towards the south. On the left side, we can already see precipitous northern wall of Košutnikov turn and then follows a shorter ascent by the steel cable to the main ridge of Košuta. Here we come on less steep southern slopes of Košuta. We go left towards Košutnikov turn and after few meters from the right side joins also western path from the mountain pasture Spodnja Dolga njiva. We continue on the south side of the ridge and on the path which becomes a little steeper we soon reach the panoramic peak.

On the way: Mrzli log (1185m), Koschutahaus (1280m), Mejnik / Mejniksattel (1484m)