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Watzmann

General Information

Watzmann is located in south-eastern Germany in Berchtesgadener Land, around 120 kilometres from Munich and only few kilometres away from Austrian border. The closest major city is Salzburg in Austrian side of the border. Famous Kehlsteinhaus, a mountain cabin of Adolf Hitler is also only a couple of kilometres away from this spectacular mountain.

This enormous massif consist of three peaks Hocheck (2651m), Mittelspitze (2713m) and Südspitze (also known as Schönfeldspitze, 2712m) as well as Klein Watzmann (also Watzmannfrau, 2307m). Between the Watzmann and Klein Watzmann there are five Watzmannkinder. The eastern face (Ostwand) is around 1900m high and thus one of the greatest walls in the Alps.

There's a http://www.watzmann.de/homepage/berg/mythos/mythos.htmmythos saying that the massif is a stoned royal family.

Watzmann is a symbol ofhttp://www.berchtesgadener-land.com/html/home.htmBerchtesgadener Land . Mittelspitze is the second highest mountain in Germany, second only to Zugspitze.

My traverse of three summits (6.6.1998)

I started my ascend from Wimbachbrücke (600m) at 7:55 in the beautiful, if a bit on the warm side for physical effort, Saturday morning (6.6.1998). From there there's a good and well marked path that ascends steadily all the way up to the Watzmannhaus (1928m, 8km). This part is not technical at all, all you need is normal hiking experience, condition because of significant altitude gain and something to eat and drink.

Already in the beginning you get first glimpses of beautiful Wimbachklamm. Trees provided a welcome shadow in the lower part of the ascent, as it became obvious that it was going to be a very hot day indeed. I had planned to make a short cut to save some hiking, but had to cancel that, as they'd put a ground water protection area just where my planned short-cut went. So that much for short cuts. There were a couple of other hikers as well in the lower part of the mountains, but not too many. Actually I got to hike around half on hour without seeing anybody.

But after Mitterkasernalm there is a steeper section that was pretty much packed. The Watzmannhaus is popular hiking goal, so before that you see all kinds of hikers, even little children. After an almost non-stop and very fast hike I arrived at Watzmannhaus at 9:50. The weather was still surprisingly warm, and I was bothered by millions of flies as I ate my sandwiches and refilled my water bottles.

From Watzmannhaus to Hocheck (2658, a bit less than 3 km) there's a path in a rocky terrain and in some places some sure footedness is needed. There's also dramatically less traffic there. I'd say anyway, that any mountaineer or hiker with stamina can manage the route without problems. As I approached Hocheck I was met by several descending climbers. It took me one and a half hours before I was once again gnagging my sandwiches and enjoying remarkable view towards the Hohe Göll massif and Kehlstain and quite spectacular ridge that leads to the Mittelspitze (2713m).

This is where the route gets serious. Up until know you see people with all kinds of gear, from Hocheck on the people you meet look like climbers. From here on, the path gets way more technical and exposed. The route is in some parts secured with metal ropes. An absolute sure footedness together with some climbing experience is needed for safety even in good weather. It's also a great idea to have gloves with you to protect you from cutting your hands on sharp stones or metal ropes. This part is quite short and there's not much ascent, but because of the nature of the path, it takes quite some time to reach the peak. For me in ideal conditions and without any traffic jam around 40 minutes was needed.

From the Mittelspizte to the Südspitze (2712) the ridge and path are just about the same as to the Mittelspitze. Unless you are skilled mountaineer with adequate equipment (harness, rope, crampons, ice axe etc.) trying to go the ridge in snow or ice is Russian roulette. In a good conditions, it's a great pleasure.

The 1,5km climb from Hocheck to Südspitze took around 2 hours, a summit pause of around quarter of an hour included. (Südspitze at 13:20).

From there on the descent is made towards the Wimbachgrieshütte. The path is steep and requires moderate climbing (some metal rope securing). The problem of the descent is however that, that the soil brakes easily, so it's not that difficult to hurt yourself. The path is also quite weakly marked. Here I found quite of an healthy amount of snow, although the summit ridge was totally snow free. That made the descent way fun, as I attached my gaiters and sled down the slope with my shoes. This is definitely the fastest way to descent, although you can count on falling over a couple of times.

On the lower part, the route is very poorly marked and as sand falls down, it covers some of the markings. This can be tricky, if you have already descended a remarkable bit before you realise you've lost the track. It actually happened to me once, and being as lazy as I am, I chose not to climb back. Instead I decided to make a short-cut. In this case my short-cut meant I had to hang on the cliff to my dear life in order to achieve the valley, but gee was that fun.

After achieving Wimbachgrieshütte the difficult part is over. From Wimbachgrieshütte back to the Wimbachbrücke there's a well marked and easy path that's very fast, although being around 9,5 kilometers long. I was back in Wimbachbrücke at 16:55. The route is scenery and the Wimbachklamm is definitely worth seeing.

So altogether my ascent and descent from Wimbachbrücke to Wimbachbrücke (26km) took nine hours. You should however reserve way more than that unless you are experienced and fit mountaineer and/or conditions are anything less than perfect. Most guides recommend 12-14 hours. The route from Wimbachgrieshüte can be safely walked even in the cover of darkness if necessary. One should take into consideration, that you may have to wait quite some time on the summit ridge, because this is very popular route, and only one mountaineer can go through the secured places at a time.