Lienzer Dolomitenhütte - Laserzkopf

Access to starting point:
Through the Karawanks Tunnel, we drive into Austria, then continue towards Spittal and further towards Lienz (the highway ends a little after Spittal). We then drive on a relatively nice and wide road through the Drau Valley. A few kilometres before Lienz (near the settlement of Unterdorf), we will notice signs for the Lienzer Dolomitenhütte mountain hut, which direct us left onto a local road. The road then crosses the Drava (Drau) over a bridge and brings us to the village of Lavant, where we continue right in the direction of the village of Tristach. Between the villages of Lavant and Tristach, we will come to the next intersection, where we continue left in the direction of "Lienzer Dolomitenhütte". We follow this road, which starts to ascend more steeply, to a large parking lot near the mentioned mountain hut. The road is a toll road (July 2009 7€).

We can also reach Lienz if, instead of through the Drau Valley, we drive through the Gail Valley (Korensko sedlo, Hermagor, Gailbergsattel), in which case we arrive in the Drau Valley at the settlement of Oberdrauburg.

Path description:
From the parking lot, we continue on the road, along which in 2 minutes we arrive at the Lienzer Dolomitenhütte mountain hut.

From the hut, we cross the fence and continue the ascent on a panoramic road (nice view of the serrated ridge - the highest is Spitzkofel 2717 m), which in the initial part is exposed to falling rocks. The road then crosses a short stretch of forest and brings us to the indistinct saddle of Premstall (1625 m), where there is a small junction.

We continue straight past the water trough (left uphill to Weißtein Alm) on the road, which after a few minutes of further walking brings us to the small pasture of Instein Alm, where we notice a small wooden hut and slightly above it a chapel.

We continue further on the road, which quickly brings us to a marked junction, which we leave.

We continue the ascent on a wide mountain path, which starts to ascend somewhat more steeply through increasingly sparse forest. The path, from which very nice views open up, crosses the mountain road several times and higher brings us to a small wooden shelter. At the shelter, we leave the road again and continue the ascent through a gently sloping high-alpine valley surrounded by high peaks. The gentle path, running along the torrent stream, higher turns right and ascends steeply for a short time. We follow this panoramic path all the way to the Karlsbader Hütte mountain hut (there is also Laserzsee lake by the hut), which we reach after a few minutes of further walking.

We can also reach the hut via the mountain road.

From the hut, we descend a few tens of metres along the road, then notice numerous mountain signposts that direct us right onto the footpath. After just a few steps of further walking, the path forks into two parts. We continue left in the direction of "Roter Turm and Laserzwand" (right to Sandspitzen) on the path that first ascends gently, then crosses the slopes to the left. After a few minutes of easy walking, the path ascends steeply and leads onto the very steep slopes of Kleine Laserzwand. This is followed by 15 minutes of steep ascent on an occasionally exposed slope (besides slip risk, there is also a very high risk of falling rocks), after which the path flattens slightly (here an unmarked but less steep path joins from the right, ascending over extensive scree). We continue on a somewhat less but still quite steep path, which higher brings us below the steep walls of Roter Turm, where we reach a poorly marked junction.

At the junction, we continue right and after a short ascent we are again at a junction. Again we continue right, while left uphill the path leads to Roter Turm. The path then crosses the slope below the sheer walls of Roter Turm and brings us to the start of the climbing section. Here the path turns left and begins to ascend steeply on rocky terrain secured by a steel cable. Further on, the path ascends almost vertically several more times, then brings us to the indistinct summit of Kleine Laserzkopf. The section to this summit is marked with difficulty rating A/B.

From Kleine Laserzkopf, we continue right along the initially still fairly level ridge. This is followed by another almost vertical ascent aided by a steel cable, then a less steep ascent along a narrow ridge to the summit of Große Laserzkopf (2718 m).

On the way: Instein Alm (1669m), Karlsbader Hütte (2261m)

Trip can be extended to: Galitzenspitzen ( 30 min) , Daumen (1 h) , Große Sandspitze (1 h 30 min)