Türlwandhütte - Kleiner Koppenkarstein (via Hunerscharte)

Access to starting point:
Through the Karawanks Tunnel, we drive into Austria, and then we continue driving on the Tauern highway. Further, we drive through the Katschberg Tunnel and later also the Tauern Tunnel / Tauerntunnel, but 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 turn left onto the 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 the toll road, to which the signs for the gondola cable car direct us. We follow this road all the way to the large parking lot in front of the lower station of the gondola cable car.

Path description:
From the parking lot, we continue past the lower cable car station following the signs for Südwandhütte. The path first leads along the right side of the cable car through a sparse larch forest, later turns left and crosses the slopes towards the west. Soon, the path to the climbing garden (Klettergarten) branches off to the right. We continue crossing the slopes towards the west, and from the left, the path from a lower starting point joins us. From the junction, there follows approximately 10 minutes of walking on a scenic slope to the hut Südwandhütte.
At the hut, we continue right following the signs for Hunerscharte and ascend a short grassy ridge above the hut. The path then brings us to the southern mostly grassy slopes below the summit Scheiblingstein. We cross the slopes in a gentle ascent towards the east, and the path brings us into the valley below the gondola cable car. Here, the path turns left and begins to ascend up the valley. During the ascent through the valley, we have a nice view towards the peaks Türlspitz, and soon a view also opens towards the summit Hunerkogl, to which the gondola cable car leads. The path continues along the right side of the valley and begins to ascend somewhat more steeply. Higher up, the path turns slightly left and ascends the scree slope, which brings us to the more demanding part of the path.
The path first ascends alongside the steel cable, then becomes slightly steeper, and some pegs and staples assist us. We continue ascending alongside the steel cable and soon arrive below the wall of Hunerkogl, where the extremely demanding climbing path Skywalk Klettersteig branches off to the left.
Our path here turns right and begins to ascend steeply alongside the steel cable with the aid of numerous pegs and staples (difficulty B). The path then becomes slightly less steep for a short time (difficulty A/B), after which follows another ascent up the steep gully with the aid of pegs towards the saddle Hunerscharte (B).
On the saddle, where a view opens towards the north, we continue right following the signs for Koppenkarstein. After a short ascent, we quickly reach the start of the secured path to Koppenkarstein. The path ascends the secured ridge (difficulty up to B), from which there is a very nice view of the glacier Schladminger Gletscher below us. The path along the ridge then brings us to a large sign intended for air traffic, which is visible from afar. We continue along the ridge, and after a somewhat steeper ascent (B), the path brings us to the suspension bridge. Just before the bridge, there is also a junction where we can bypass the bridge on the left side. Across the long suspension bridge, we cross the saddle Austriascharte and continue along the ridge. The path then ascends somewhat more steeply for a short time along the narrow ridge (B/C), followed by a somewhat less steep ascent alongside the steel cable along the panoramic ridge to the summit of Kleiner Koppenkarstein.

On the way: Dachstein Südwand Hütte (1910m), Hunerscharte (2602m)

Trip can be extended to: Großer Koppenkarstein ( 35 min)