Railway station Hochzirl - Kleiner Solstein (on Höttinger Schützensteig)

Access to starting point:
From Ljubljana, we drive on the highway past Salzburg in the direction towards Munich. At the multilevel junction Dreieck Inntal we turn onto the road A93 in the direction of Innsbruck/Kufstein/Brenner. When we return to Austria we continue on the Tyrolean highway A12 to exit 87 (Zirl-Ost). At the next crossroad, we continue straight in the direction of Seefeld. We follow the wide road B177 to the exit towards Zirl/Hochzirl and soon after turn sharply right onto the ascending road which leads towards Hochzirl. We follow the road to the railway station Hochzirl and park on one of the parking spots nearby.

A very pleasant option is access by train. The journey by train from Ljubljana to Innsbruck is relatively quick and relatively cheap, and from the main railway station in Innsbruck towards Scharnitz with the intermediate station Hochzirl, a regional train runs every hour throughout the day, which takes us right to the starting point.

Path description:
From the railway station Hochzirl we follow the signs for (Neue) Magdenburger Hütte, which lead us on a forested cart track, later a somewhat narrower path starts to ascend somewhat more steeply across the forested slope. After about an hour and a half of walking from the starting point, we reach a mountain road near the inn Brunntal, where the signs for the mountain hut direct us uphill on a quite steep path, which above the mountain pastures turns into a dense forest. We follow the footpath for another hour to Neue Magdenburger Hütte, which is located in a scenic spot and boasts an interesting assortment of llamas. From the starting point to the hut it is approximately two and a half hours of walking.

At the mountain hut there is a junction of two paths leading towards the Solstein area: Zirler and Höttinger Schützensteig. Here we turn right (east) onto the latter, somewhat more demanding but also more picturesque and more direct variant. Soon after the junction we face the first somewhat more demanding section of the path: passage under the dark walls of the western Karwendel, across which a narrow footpath leads us in an appealing ambience, winding in places precipitously high above the valley of the Sulzenbach stream. On the path there are some fixed protections, which help us mainly when wet, and we also need to climb a short step, which does not exceed the 1st degree of climbing and is not particularly exposed. Somewhat higher the path gently turns left and crosses the gully under the steep wall, at around 2300 m altitude bringing us to a panoramic ridge high above the Inn valley. We follow the path for a few more minutes to the expansive high-alpine terrain of the plateau between the Solsteins (orientation in this section is often difficult in fog).

At the signpost in the middle of the plateau we head sharply east towards Kleiner Solstein. The path first leads across a steep step, then across a moderately long exposed ledge secured with a steel cable, and finally steeply across the wide rib of the mountain with occasional easy climbing (if we carefully follow the markers, only in places UIAA I). The path brings us right below the western subpeak of Kleiner Solstein; from there we descend slightly to the panoramic and occasionally slightly exposed summit ridge, across which good markers bring us to the summit with its characteristic cross and extensive views in a few minutes.

As I was told, the path to Kleiner Solstein was only recently marked and partly secured, which is evident from its relatively original character; nevertheless, the ascent should not pose too great an obstacle for an experienced mountaineer, and the path is relatively well frequented. On the descent I recommend visiting the much more easily reachable, rounded Großer Solstein, from which we can descend on an easy panoramic path to the Solsteinhaus hut, and from there complete the tour by returning on the path that descends directly but not particularly steeply to the Hochzirl railway station.

On the way: Neue Magdenburger Hütte (1633m)