Waldrast - Sprungkogel (Golica / Koralpe)

Access to starting point:
A) Over one of the border crossings with Austria (Korensko sedlo, Karawanks Tunnel, mountain pass Ljubelj, mountain pass Jezerski vrh, mountain pass Pavličev vrh) we drive to Austria, and then we continue driving on the so-called southern motorway towards Gradec / Graz. On the mentioned motorway we drive to the settlement Wolfsberg, where we leave the motorway, and when we get to a roundabout with an old or regional road we continue driving "straight" in the direction of the Koralpe ski area. Further on we drive through settlements St. Stefan, Maildorf and Rieding, and we follow the ascending road to a large parking lot at the Koralpe ski centre.
B) Over the border crossing Holmec or Vič we drive to Austria, and then we continue driving towards the settlement Wolfsberg, where signs for Koralpe point us to the right. Further on we drive through settlements St. Stefan, Maildorf and Rieding, and we follow the ascending road to a large parking lot at the Koralpe ski centre.

Route description:
At the beginning of the parking lot, we notice signposts for waterfall Poms Wasserfall and mountain hut Großhöllerhütte, which direct us left onto a road closed with a gate. The road then immediately turns right and, with some gentle ascents and descents, brings us to a crossroad after approximately half an hour of walking, where we continue in the direction of mountain hut Großhöllerhütte. We follow the road at the next crossroads in the same direction until it turns into a footpath. At the spot where the road ends, there is also the next crossing, where we have two options to continue. We choose the right path which leads us by the stream upwards. A little higher we cross the mentioned stream and step onto an island on which we then walk for a few minutes. The path ahead over a small bridge again passes on the right side of the stream (left bank) and starts ascending steeper. When the steepness eases, we reach the next crossing, where we continue left (to the right is mountain hut Koralpenhaus and the peak Großer Speikkogel). After a few additional steps, we again cross the stream over a small bridge. Here, the path branches off to the left downwards towards the waterfall to which we have only two minutes of walking.
From the waterfall, we continue on a path which starts ascending steeper on the more and more panoramic slope. After 20 minutes of ascent from the waterfall, the path leads us to mountain hut Großhöllerhütte.
Just a few dozen steps to the right of the hut, we notice an unmarked path that begins ascending the slopes of the peak Sprungkogel, and we follow it uphill. Higher up, the path starts to fade, but in a few minutes of ascent over easier pathless terrain, we reach the panoramic peak, from which a beautiful view opens up, extending all the way to Italy.
During the grazing season, passage from the mountain hut to the summit is blocked by a fence.
Starting point - waterfall Poms 1:20, waterfall Poms - Großhöllerhütte 0:20, Großhöllerhütte - Sprungkogel 0:15.
Description and pictures refer to the condition in May 2008 and December 2024.

Along the route: Poms Wasserfall (1671m), Großhöllerhütte (Koralpe) (1790m)

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