Hinterstoder - Großer Priel (Bert Rinesch Klettersteig)

Access to starting point:
Over the border crossing Šentilj we continue on the motorway past the town of Gradec / Graz and follow the signs for Salzburg and then Linz. The road also runs through two paid tunnels (8€ and 4.5€ - August 2013). When we exit the second tunnel (a little after the town of Liezen), we continue past the town of Spital am Pyhrn, then leave the motorway at the exit for the town of Hinterstoder. We continue driving through the town of Hinterstoder and then approximately 2 km after the end of the settlement turn right slightly downhill onto a narrow road that leads towards the parking lot. At the crossroads there are also yellow mountain signposts with signs for the hut Prielschutzhaus. We park on the larger paid parking lot (1 day: 3€, 2 days: 5€ - August 2013).
From the Gorenjska side: Through the Karawanks Tunnel we drive into Austria, then continue driving on the Tauern motorway. Further we drive through the Katschberg tunnel and later also the Tauern tunnel / Tauerntunnel, but follow the motorway towards Salzburg only to the exit for Radstadt, Schladming. We continue on the road past the towns of Schladming and Liezen. At the town of Liezen we turn onto the motorway towards the town of Linz. We leave the motorway at the exit for the town of 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 crossroads 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 town of Hinterstoder and lake Schiederweiher.
From the crossroads the path leads past 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 crossroads where from the right joins the road past the lake Schiederweiher.
At the crossroads we continue left on the still gentle road and follow the signs for the hut Prielschutzhaus. Further the road runs through the forest and at the junctions we always follow the signs for Prielschutzhaus. Later the road brings us to a junction where the signposts direct us right onto a footpath, straight ahead leads the road towards the cargo cableway.
The path here runs through high shrubbery and 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, yet on some places the steel cable helps 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 the 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 opens also towards the summit Großer Priel.
At the hut we continue towards the northwest and ascend over the grassy slope above the hut. Right branches off the path to 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 yet another junction. This time left leads the usual easier path to Großer Priel, we head right towards the secured climbing path Bert Rinesch Klettersteig.
From the junction we first ascend beside dwarf pines, then reach rocky slopes. An ascent over scree follows, bringing us to the entry into the climbing section of the path.
After a short initial traverse the path ascends vertically with the aid of pegs (difficulty C). After the initial steep section the path becomes less steep for a while and via a saddle brings us to the eastern side of the ridge. Here the path descends via a somewhat overhanging ladder (C). A traverse over smooth slabs follows, on which we later also slightly ascend and then descend (B/C and C). The path then begins to ascend very steeply, first with the aid of pegs (D), then also with slightly overhanging ladders (C/D). Later the path becomes somewhat less demanding and first traverses the slope to the right then ascends several times along the steel cable (B/C). Another short traverse follows, then the path becomes demanding again. Here the path ascends with the aid of several ladders, some of which are overhanging (difficulty up to D). A few more ascents along the steel cable follow and soon we reach the summit register box.
Further the slope becomes somewhat less steep and the path ascends for some time along the rocky slope beside the steel cable. At some points we ascend a bit more steeply with the aid of a few pegs then soon reach the ridge from which a nice view opens also towards the west. Further the path runs along the ridge all the way to the summit. The ascent along the ridge is somewhat less demanding, but the path is still secured with a steel cable. From the summit, on which stands a large red cross, a nice view opens on all sides.
We descend via the easier path over the saddle Brotfallscharte.

On the way: Prielschutzhaus (1420m)