Hinterstoder - Großer Priel

Access to starting point:
Over the border crossing Šentilj we continue on the highway past the settlement Gradec / Graz and follow the signs for Salzburg and then Linz. The road also runs through two payable tunnels (8€ and 4.5€ - August 2013). When we come out of the second tunnel (a little after the settlement Liezen), we continue past the settlement Spital am Pyhrn, and then we leave the highway at the exit for the settlement Hinterstoder. We continue driving through the settlement Hinterstoder and then approximately 2 km after the end of the settlement we turn right slightly downwards on a narrow road which leads towards the parking lot. At the crossroad there are also yellow mountain signposts with markings for the mountain hut Prielschutzhaus. We park on the larger payable parking lot (1 day: 3€, 2 days: 5€ - August 2013).
From Gorenjska side: Through the Karawanks Tunnel we drive to Austria, and then we continue driving on the Tauern highway. Further we drive through the Katschberg tunnel and later also Tauern tunnel / Tauerntunnel, but we follow the highway towards Salzburg (also Solnograd) only to the exit for Radstadt, Schladming. We continue on the road past the settlements Schladming and Liezen. At the settlement Liezen we turn onto the highway towards the settlement Linz. We leave the highway at the exit for the settlement Hinterstoder. Further we follow the above description.

Path description:
From the parking lot we head onto a gentle macadam road towards the east. The road through the forest quickly brings us to a junction at the farm Klinser. We continue on the main road slightly right following the signs »Prielschutzhaus«, somewhat more sharply right leads the path towards the settlement Hinterstoder and lake Schiederweiher.
From the junction the path leads along pastures and then crosses a bridge over the river Steyr. After the bridge the road turns left and for some time runs along the mentioned river. The road then leads us past the inn Polsterstüberl and brings us to a junction where from the right joins the road past the lake Schiederweiher.
At the junction we continue left on the still gentle road and follow the signs for the mountain hut Prielschutzhaus. Further the road runs through the forest and at junctions we always follow the signs for Prielschutzhaus. Later the road brings us to a junction where signposts direct us right onto a footpath, straight ahead leads the road towards the cargo cableway.
The path here runs through high shrubbery and then soon begins to ascend. Initially we ascend the eastern slopes and occasionally a view opens towards the starting point and nearby lower peaks. Such a path then brings us to the waterfall Klinserfall located by the path. At the waterfall the path turns slightly right onto somewhat steeper slopes. The path here is not particularly demanding, nevertheless at a few places a steel cable assists us. The path then soon turns left and leads us below the rock face (Grosser Ofen) and brings us to a less vegetated slope from which a nice view opens towards the summit Spitzmauer.
A little higher the path turns right and brings us into the forest on slopes below the cargo cableway. Further the path runs all the time near the cargo cableway all the way to the hut Prielschutzhaus at which a nice view also opens towards the summit Großer Priel.
At the hut we continue towards the northwest and ascend over the grassy slope above the hut. To the right then branches the path towards the climbing garden (Klettergarten), we continue slightly left following the signs »Großer Priel«.
A somewhat gentler path then crosses slopes covered with dwarf pines and brings us to a junction. Left leads path 201 towards the summit Spitzmauer and hut Pühringerhütte, we continue right towards the summit Großer Priel. A short ascent follows, bringing us to another junction.
This time to the right branches the via ferrata Bert Rinesch Klettersteig to Großer Priel, we continue left on the normal path. Our path further ascends towards the west for some time. The path here runs on mostly grassy slopes alongside increasingly sparse dwarf pines. Higher the path turns right and grassy slopes turn into rocky ones. The path then leads past a small spring, and a nice view also opens towards the summit Großer Priel. When we reach below the slopes of summits Großer Priel and Brotfall the path turns left and then runs across a snowfield. After crossing the snowfield the path becomes somewhat more demanding and with the aid of steel cables ascends towards the notch Brotfallscharte. On this section there is also some scree on the path so some caution is required.
When we reach the notch we continue right on the rocky slope. Here the path is no longer demanding and soon brings us to a junction where from the left joins the path over the saddle Fleishbanksattel.
At the junction we continue slightly right and continue ascending the rocky slope. Such a path then brings us to the ridge from which the view towards the summit Großer Priel opens again. The path further is not demanding and continuously runs along the panoramic ridge along which we soon reach the summit.

On the way: Prielschutzhaus (1420m), Brotfallscharte (2340m)