The most beautiful peaks in the Salzkammergut (Part 2)

Hiking tips for stunning views

Traunstein via the Mair Alm Steig

The Traunstein (1,691 m) is a striking mountain at the foot of Lake Traunsee. It is a popular subject for photographs because it stands exposed and mighty in the landscape, like an imposing harbinger of the Alps. This is also the origin of its nickname, the ‘Guardian of the Salzkammergut’. Emperor Franz Josef once enjoyed hunting up here. Here we describe the ascent via the Mair Alm Steig, the oldest and easiest route to the summit of the Traunstein. Nevertheless, the climb is no walk in the park. Sure-footedness, a head for heights and stamina are essential to get up safely and back down in one piece. The marked trail, No. 412, begins at a turning point. You reach this point from Gmunden by following the eastern shore until you can go no further by car. From there, follow the Lainautalstraße for an hour to the Kaisertisch, a wonderful spot where Emperor Franz Josef liked to take a break during his hunts. This is where the actual trail begins. It is well-marked and straightforward but steep, winding through the forest via countless hairpin bends.

Once you’ve passed the tree line, you’ll have an unobstructed view of the Lainau Valley and the south. After about 1.5 hours, you’ll reach the “Bründl”, the only spring along the route. From here on, you’ll be tackling steeper rocky sections. With good safety measures in place, you’ll make your way across the often slippery slabs of the “Kette”. The summit is now not far off. After about 2 hours’ walking, you reach the high plateau of the summit region. To the left, the path leads to the nearby Naturfreundehaus, and to the right you reach the Gmundnerhütte and on to the summit cross. The well-maintained path up to the plateau is easy to walk and makes for a lovely mountain hike in summer.

- Difficulty: moderate
- Distance: 2.5 km (to the summit)
- Duration: 4 hours 15 mins (return)
- Elevation gain: 1,101 m

Großer Höllkogel via the Feuerkogel cable car

The Großer Höllkogel (1,862 m) is the highest peak in the Höllengebirge. The view from up here is magnificent. Mondsee, Attersee, the Traunsee mountains, the Totes Gebirge, the Dachstein and even the Berchtesgaden mountains and the entire Alpine foothills are all within sight. We’ll start off by making things quite easy for ourselves and cover the first 1,100 metres of elevation gain via the Feuerkogel cable car. This departs from Ebensee and takes visitors up to 1,592 m – and thus to the Feuerkogel – in just a few minutes. From the mountain station, you walk past mountain inns and cross the eastern flank of the Heumahdgupf on trail no. 820. After a short climb up a series of hairpin bends and a narrow section secured by ropes, the trail leads through doline valleys to a fork in the path at the Totengrabengupf. We keep to the right on the summer path to the Rieder Hütte. Here on the terrace, you can take a lovely break before heading up to the Großer Höllkogel. At the summit, you are rewarded with a magnificent panorama. There are two options for the return journey back to the fork in the path. Those wishing to climb the summit without the cable car will be on the move for a total of over 10 hours over 21.5 km.

- Difficulty: moderate
- Distance: 3.5 km (to the summit)
- Duration: 3 hours (there and back)
- Elevation gain: 546 m

Written by Christian Messmer