Türlwandhütte - Hoher Gjaidstein (via Hunerscharte)

Access to starting point:
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 the Tauern tunnel / Tauerntunnel, while we follow the highway towards Salzburg (also Solnograd) only to the exit for Radstadt, Schladming. We continue on the road to the town of Schladming where we then continue left on an ascending road following the signs for Ramsau. In the town of Ramsau, we continue a good 2 km on the mentioned road, and then we turn right onto a toll road, to which the signs for the gondola cable car direct us. We follow this road all the way to a large parking lot in front of the bottom station of the gondola cable car.

Path description:
From the parking lot, we continue past the bottom cableway station following the signs Südwandhütte. The path at first leads on the right side of the cableway through a thin larch forest, later turns to the left and crosses slopes towards the west. Soon the path towards the climbing garden (Klettergarten) branches off to the right. We still cross the slopes towards the west and from the left joins the path from a lower starting point. From the junction there then follows approximately 10 minutes of walking on a scenic slope to the mountain hut Südwandhütte.
At the mountain hut, we continue right following the signs Hunerscharte and we ascend on a short grassy ridge above the mountain hut. The path then brings us on the south mostly grassy slopes below the summit Scheiblingstein. We cross the slopes in a gentle ascent towards the east and the path brings us into a valley below the gondola cable car. Here the path turns left and starts ascending through the valley upwards. At the ascent through the valley, we have a nice view towards the peaks Türlspitz, and soon opens up also a view towards the summit Hunerkogl on which the gondola cable car runs. The path further runs on the right side of the valley and starts ascending a little steeper. Higher, the path turns slightly to the left and ascends on the scree, which brings us to a more demanding part of the path.
The path at first ascends along the steel cable, and then becomes a shade steeper and we also get help from some pegs and staples. We continue ascending along the steel cable and soon come below the wall of Hunerkogl where an extremely demanding climbing path Skywalk Klettersteig branches off to the left.
Our path here turns to the right and starts steeply ascending along the steel cable with the help of numerous pegs and staples (difficulty B). The path then for a short time becomes slightly less steep (difficulty A/B), and then follows again the ascent through a steep gully with the help of pegs towards the notch Hunerscharte (B).
On the notch where a view opens up towards the north, we continue left following the signs Bergstation Hunerkogel. At first, we ascend along the ridge towards the west, and then the path turns to the right towards the glacier. Here the climbing path to Hunerkogl branches off to the left (difficulty C/D), and we continue on the path which starts slightly descending on the glacier. While walking on the glacier we stick to the equipped path, because on the glacier there are also crevasses. After a short descent, the path brings us to a junction, where we continue left and start ascending towards the saddle Gjaidsteinsattel.
On the saddle, we continue right, and to the left there is only a short ascent to the top of Hunerkogl where there is the upper station of the gondola cable car. We continue on the wide path on the glacier to the other side of the saddle where the ridge of the peak Gjaidstein starts. Here we leave the path on the glacier and ascend right to the signposts.
From the junction at the signposts, we continue on the ridge following the signs Simony Hütte. The path leads us past a smaller cottage owned by the mountain rescue service and continues to ascend along the wide ridge. Soon an increasingly beautiful view starts opening up towards the summit Hoher Dachstein and on other peaks above the glacier. The path then becomes a shade steeper and on a shorter section there is also a steel cable to help us. A short ascent follows on a panoramic ridge to the top of Kleiner Gjaidstein.
From the top of Kleiner Gjaidstein we continue on the ridge and at first we slightly descend along the steel cable. Further, the path again starts ascending and on a shorter section becomes a little more demanding (difficulty A/B). We continue walking on the ridge and higher follows another shorter ascent along the steel cable. To the top of Hoher Gjaidstein then only a short ascent follows on an undemanding ridge.

On the way: Dachstein Südwand Hütte (1910m), Hunerscharte (2602m), Gjaidsteinsattel (2640m), Kleiner Gjaidstein (2735m)