Weinebene - Großer Speikkogel (Koralpe) (above Pomswasserfall)

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 Graz. On the mentioned motorway we drive to the settlement Volšperk / Wolfsberg, where we leave the motorway, and when we get to the old or regional road we continue driving in the direction of the settlement St. Gertraud. In the settlement St. Gertraud we notice signs for the alpine pass Weinebene, which point us to the right on an ascending asphalt road. On the mentioned road, we drive approximately 18 km, and then we get to the mentioned alpine pass, which is situated at an altitude of 1668 m.
B) Over the border crossing Holmec or Vič we drive to Austria, and then we continue driving towards the settlement Volšperk / Wolfsberg. From Volšperk we continue on a regional road in the direction of the settlement St. Gertraud. In the settlement St. Gertraud we notice signs for the alpine pass Weinebene, which point us to the right on an ascending asphalt road. On the mentioned road, we drive approximately 18 km, and then we get to the mentioned alpine pass, which is situated at an altitude of 1668 m.
C) First, we drive to Maribor, and then we continue driving on the motorway towards the border crossing Šentilj and further on the Austrian motorway towards Graz. We leave the mentioned motorway at the exit for the settlement Lipnica / Leibnitz. When we leave the motorway at the roundabout, we continue in the direction of the settlement Lipnica / Leibnitz and further we drive south from the village Gralla, which is today already some kind of peripheral part of Lipnica. Further, the road leads us past the industrial or commercial zone, and at the roundabout by the store Hofer we continue "straight" on the second exit in the direction of the settlement Lonč / Deutschlandsberg. Further, we drive for some time on the main road, and after the village Graschach we turn right in the direction of the settlement Lonč / Deutschlandsberg. In a roundabout right next to the settlement Lonč / Deutschlandsberg, we continue "straight" in the direction of the alpine pass Weinebene. From here, the road begins to ascend more steeply, and we follow it to the mentioned pass, which we reach after approximately 20 km of driving from the start of the settlement Lonč.

Route description:
From the pass Weinebene we continue towards the southwest, where by the mountain hut Weinebenehaus (a little away there is also the mountain hut Göslerhütte) mountain signposts for Gr. Speikkogel (Gr. Speikkogel is the highest peak of Golica / Koralpe), Jauksattel / Kleinalp, Grillitschhütte, Großhöllerhütte and Koralpenhaus point us on a gentle macadam road which ascends on a gentle grassy slope. The marked path which continues on the road soon crosses a grazing fence, and after a few minutes it brings us on a small saddle, from which a nice view opens up towards the highest peak of Golica / Koralpe and on peaks north to northeast from the mentioned peak. When the road starts descending, a parallel marked mountain path branches off slightly to the right, which continues through vast pastures. When the path stops gently descending, it slightly ascends and returns on the road which is already from the very beginning closed to public traffic. Further, the road is gently to moderately ascending on the southeastern slopes of the peak Brandhöhe (1886 m (Brandhöhe is a peak, which is situated above the ski lifts of the Weinebene ski resort)), and a little further also of the peak Moschkogel (1916 m). When we get to the slopes of the latter peak, the road starts descending diagonally towards the saddle, which is situated south of the mentioned summit.
On the saddle, where there is a marked junction, we arrive from Austrian Steiermark to Austrian Kärnten, and we continue slightly right on a cart track which crosses the slopes to the right (the cart track is briefly unmarked, as the marked path leads right to the nearby hut Grillitschhütte and from there further onto the cart track; the path straight along the fence continues towards the summit Großer Speikkogel - a panoramic path).
For a few minutes we cross slopes below the summit Hühnerstütze (1989 m), and then we get to a cross Schäferkreuz, where the already mentioned path past the hut Grillitschhütte joins. Here we continue straight and in a few minutes we get to an indistinct saddle between Hühnerstütze (1989 m) on the left and the peak Sprungkogel (1868 m) on the right.
On the saddle is a marked junction, where we continue straight in the direction of the hut Großhöllerhütte (left Gr. Speikkogel), and only a little further on a rock we notice signs that the path once again splits. A wide path on a cart track crosses a grazing fence and continues towards the hut Großhöllerhütte, but we continue slightly left in the direction of Pomswasserfall. Next follows a diagonal descent on a partly pathless but marked path, and lower down we join a slightly longer path that leads past the hut. Lower down, we cross a macadam road twice more, then cross the stream Rassingbach, which we cross just above the waterfall Pomswasserfall.
On the other side of the stream, we join one of the paths from the starting point at the inn Gasthaus Waldrast, but we continue straight in the direction of the plateau Großes Kar and the hut Koralpenhaus. Next follows an ascent through a strip of forest, then the path flattens and leads us partly across quite marshy meadows. The path soon becomes steeper again and also increasingly panoramic. Higher up, the path leads us beside a mountain stream, which, past the bivouac Hotel Kar, brings us to a junction where we join the path that leads through the eastern part of the plateau.
Here we continue right in the direction of the hut Koralpenhaus, cross the last small stream, and then start ascending more steeply on a steeper slope.
After a few minutes of steep diagonal ascent, we reach the wide northern ridge of the peak Steinschneider, along which we continue an increasingly panoramic ascent. The path and ridge then turn slightly to the left, and we quickly reach the 2070-meter-high peak Steinschneider.
We bypass the structure with transmitters on the left side, then start descending on the macadam road. We quickly leave the macadam road, along which the marked path continues towards the hut Koralpenhaus, and proceed slightly left on an unmarked but well-trodden footpath that continues along the ridge. A few minutes later, we reach an asphalt road leading from the hut Koralpenhaus, and we continue the ascent along it. We follow the road to the radars at the top, which we bypass on the right side, and then, along a footpath, in a minute of further walking, we ascend to the cross at the summit.
Weinebene - Steinschneider 3:20, Steinschneider - Gr. Speikkogel 0:25.
Description refers to the condition in July 2023, and pictures are from various periods.

Along the route: Steinschneider (2070m)

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