Ullachtal - Westliche Mitterspitze (Leoganger Nord Klettersteig)

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 Tauerntunnel; we follow the highway towards Salzburg only to the exit for Bischofshofen, from where we continue driving on a four-lane road towards the already mentioned town. From Bischofshofen, we follow the signs for Zell am See and then for Saalfelden and Lofer. In Saalfelden, we then turn left towards Leogang. In Leogang, we leave the main road and continue right on a narrow road where the signs for the mountain hut Passauer Hütte direct us. Further, we follow the signs for the mountain hut Passauer Hütte and parking lot Parkplatz Ullachtal. We park on the mentioned parking lot near which there are also some information boards and signposts.

Path description:
At the starting point, we head onto the macadam road where signposts for the mountain hut Passauer Hütte direct us. The macadam road runs through the forest and quickly brings us to a wide riverbed of a torrent. Across the riverbed of the torrent, the road is somewhat ruined and less visible, then it becomes nicer again and brings us to a marked junction.
At the junction, we leave the macadam road and head right uphill, starting to ascend grassy slopes. The path then crosses a pasture fence and continues ascending up the mountain pasture, bringing us to another marked junction.
To the left, the path branches off towards the Birnbachloch cave from which the Birnbach stream originates; we continue right towards the mountain hut Passauer Hütte. The path soon brings us into the forest, and along the path we will notice numerous information boards describing various plants and animals. After a short ascent through the forest, another path branches off to the left towards the already mentioned Birnbachloch cave; we continue right again. Further on, we ascend through the forest for a long time, occasionally crossing shorter clearings from which views open up to the surrounding peaks. Along the path, there is occasionally also a bench. At the place named Kaserstein, there is also a table and a smaller woodshed next to the bench.
Further on, the slope becomes slightly steeper, and the path brings us out of the forest into dwarf pines from which we have an increasingly beautiful view of the surrounding peaks. Slightly higher up, the path leads past another bench where the path turns right and soon becomes somewhat more demanding.
Further on, the path ascends a fairly steep slope, aided by steel cables, and on some spots steps are made for easier ascent. From the right, the path over the Plattenkopf peak soon joins us. We continue left on a well-maintained path, which is occasionally still secured with a steel cable. This path brings us to the Hochtor saddle from which a view opens towards the Passauer Hütte mountain hut.
On the saddle, where there is a junction, the path to the extremely demanding climbing path Leoganger Süd branches off to the right; we continue straight ahead and then cross exposed slopes in a gentle ascent on the southwestern side of the Westliche Mitterspitze peak. The slope then becomes less steep, followed by an ascent along an increasingly scenic path to the Mittagsscharte notch where there is a marked junction.
To the left is just a short ascent to the Passauer Hütte hut, straight ahead the path leads into the valley towards the settlement Weißbach; we continue slightly right towards the secured path Leoganger Nord. From the junction, the path begins to descend and after about 10 minutes brings us to the spring. Nearby there are also signposts.
Already somewhat before the mentioned signposts, at the spring we turn right and leave the marked path towards the Hainfeldscharte notch. We ascend along the buttress right upwards and quickly reach the entry into the climbing section of the path.
Already at the very beginning, the path ascends vertically with the aid of pegs. On a shorter section, the ascent is also slightly overhanging (difficulty C). Further on, the path becomes slightly easier and steeply ascends several times with the aid of pegs (B, B/C). Slightly higher, the path climbs over a short overhang (C) then becomes somewhat easier again. After several ascents, the path also leads across shorter gentler slopes (A). A steep ascent on pegs follows, bringing us to a hanging bridge. We cross the bridge to the other side and reach a junction.
To the right leads a somewhat more demanding path through the fissure Teufelsloch (devil's hole), which brings us to the south side of the mountain (B/C). If we continue on the left variant, our path steeply ascends several times along the steel cable, mostly aided by some smaller pegs (B). A little below the summit, the path through the fissure rejoins from the right. To the summit, only a very steep ascent aided by numerous pegs follows (B).
From the summit, we descend along the ascent path. The Leoganger Süd path, which leads from the summit to the south side, is even more demanding and is not suitable for descent.
The difficulty ratings in the description are as shown on the sketches displayed on the information boards along the path. Note that the ratings are assigned quite strictly and on many paths of otherwise equal difficulty, we would see at least half a grade higher difficulty.
For the ascent of the described path, we will obligatorily need a helmet and a via ferrata kit. The use of climbing gloves is also recommended.

On the way: Kaserstein (1460m), Hochtor (1922m), Mittagsscharte (2033m)