Oberissalm - Rinnenspitze (normal approach past Franz-Senn-Hütte)

Access to starting point:
From Ljubljana, we drive on the highway past Salzburg in the direction towards München. At the multilevel junction Dreieck Inntal we go on the road A93 in the direction of Innsbruck/Kufstein/Brenner. When we return to Austria we continue to the junction with the exit Innsbruck-Mitte. Here we don't turn towards Innsbruck, but we continue on the highway A13 in the direction towards the Brenner Pass. We leave the highway at the exit 10-Schönberg and we follow a comfortable road through the Stubaital valley to the settlement Neustift im Stubaital, where at the roundabout in the middle of the town we choose the first exit and we follow the ascending road to the village Milders. In Milders we follow the road Mühlenweg and signposts for Oberissalm. To the mountain pasture there follows approx. 8 km of ever narrower asphalt road, on which livestock often roams, so it is necessary to include possible waiting time for crossing in the estimated driving time. On the mountain pasture Oberissalm we park on the organized parking lot, where the parking fee is 5 euros per day.

Alternatively, we can drive through northern Italy: in this case from central Slovenia on the highway A2 we drive to one of the border crossings with Austria and we continue towards Lienz. Here we continue on the road 100 and past the passage Prato alla Drava we drive into Italy. In Italy we follow the road SS49 all the way to the junction with highway A22 in the direction towards the Brenner Pass. After the pass, we continue in the direction towards Innsbruck to the exit Schönberg. From there we continue as described above.

Path description:
On the mountain pasture at the signpost above the parking lot we go on a wide macadam road which in a few minutes of mostly flat walking towards the southwest brings us to a well-marked turn-off of a narrower footpath which with nice views on the eastern part of the Alpeiner Berge range and mountain pasture Oberissalm below us in zig-zags relatively gently leads through thin high mountain forest. A little higher we pass on a grassy slope covered with high mountain vegetation by the edge of the upper part of the valley Obergbach, where we have nice views towards the Franz Senn Hut and Vordere Sommerwand above it, and the steepness then starts to decrease. On a pleasant and panoramic footpath which we follow in the last part of the path to the hut, past the mountain dairy on the mountain pasture Alpeiner on attractive watery landscape in good fifteen minutes we ascend to popular Franz-Senn-Hütte; from the starting point to the hut there is approximately an hour and a half of walking.

At the big signpost after the small bridge just by the mountain hut we follow the signs for Rinnenspitze and Rinnensee and we go right (towards the northeast) and on a footpath which is winding on a grassy slope, we ascend to a short rocky passage above the riverbed of a torrent; the passage is secured with some steel cables, which in snowless conditions serve only as additional support. Soon after the jump, the steepness decreases a little and with wonderful views on the ridge of Sommerwand and remaining peaks in the Alpeiner Berge range we are for some time comfortably ascending on a relatively wide path above grassy flanks. Soon the tip of our destination shows up, and the footpath starts turning towards the west. On the edge of a high mountain plateau, which hosts Rinnenspitze and Rinnensee, we get to a bench on a panoramic spot and we go firmly right towards the upper massif of Rinnenspitze. Grassy spaces gradually pass into a stone extension of rocky building Rinnenspitze, through which on the path which more or less skilfully avoids sharp edges of scree with relatively large stones, we ascend steeper to a crossing below the upper part of Rinnenspitze. From here to the top we have approximately 45 minutes of ascent, to the lake Rinnensee separates us only a short walk (at the ascent or descent I recommend visiting this attractive high mountain lake).

In the final part of the ascent on Rinnenspitze an increasingly steep path leads on broken rocks of the mountain, and in parts we have to use hands. At relatively fast ascent towards the ridge, which we can see in front of us, nice views are opening up towards the lake below us. After a little less than half an hour of walking from the crossing, the signs bring us to the beginning of the secured path, which will from here lead all the way to the peak.
At first with the help of steel cable and numerous brackets through quite steep flat rocks we ascend to the notched upper ridge of Rinnenspitze, where at the most tricky spots we get help from a steel cable. After a short passage of not very exposed ridge with the help of steel cable and pegs we ascend over a steep jump (key spot) and just below the ridge we cross on the south side of the mountain. When we in front of us notice the cross on the top, to the highest point of the tour follows only the final ascent on a slightly crumbly upper slope of the mountain, where we get help from wire ropes.

Despite the fact that Rinnenspitze is not such an easily accessible three-thousander as some other equivalents in the Stubai Alps (e.g. Sulzkogel or Zischgeles), the path there in snowless conditions to an experienced mountaineer shouldn't cause too high obstacles, and because of nice views from the peak and a quite dynamic ascent route, which runs on quite alluring mountain landscapes, the peak is perfect to start exploring the highest areas of Stubai Alps. The latter can be noticed also on the crowds, because Rinnenspitze is one of the most visited mountains in the Alpeiner Berge range, to which contributes also the status of one of 7 "classic peaks of Stubai".

On the way: Franz-Senn-Hütte (2147m)