Großes Wiesbachhorn
Encyclopedia
The Großes Wiesbachhorn (3,564 m) is a mountain
in the federal state of Salzburg, Austria
and, at (according to other sources ), is the third-highest peak of the Hohe Tauern
range.
Ita entirely free-standing firn
-capped summit forms the main peak of the Fusch/Kaprun
chain and is often viewed in Alpine literature as a rival of the Großglockner
. The great slope on its eastern and southeastern side plunges 2,418 metres to the Fuscher Ache
- the greatest height difference between mountaintop and valley floor in the Eastern Alps
. Of alpinistic significance was the first ascent
of the Northwest Face (Nordwestwand) on 15 July 1924 by Franz Riegele and Willo Welzenbach. They were the first ones to use ice nails (Eisnägel) to assist them; these were later developed into the ice screw
s used today. The Northwest Face was one of the classic ice walls of the Eastern Alps; the ice has since melted, however.
s. To the north is the Wielingerkees, to the northeast the Sandbodenkees flows eastwards and down into the Sandboden and further into the Fuscher Ache
. To the south lies the Teufelsmühlkees und im Westen das Kaindlkees. An important neighbouring mountain to the north, separated by the 3,211 metre high wind gap of the Sandbodenscharte, is the Kleines Wiesbachhorn with a height of 3,286 metres. To the southwest, on the other side of the 3,265 metre high Wielingerscharte, between the Kaindlkees and Teufelsmühlkees glaciers, lies the two Bratschenköpfe
peaks (3,413 and 2401 metres high). To the west the terrain falls away to the Mooserboden Reservoir, to the east into the Fuscher Tal. The nearest important settlement is Fusch an der Großglocknerstraße
, about 10 kilometres away to the north as the crow flies
.
Mountain
Image:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|thumb|right|The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everestrect 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzorect 200 28 335 52 Makalurect 378 24 566 45 Mount Everestrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateaurect 250 406 340 427 Rong River...
in the federal state of Salzburg, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
and, at (according to other sources ), is the third-highest peak of the Hohe Tauern
Hohe Tauern
The Hohe Tauern or High Tauern are a mountain range on the main chain of the Central Eastern Alps, comprising the highest peaks east of the Brenner Pass. The crest forms the southern border of the Austrian state of Salzburg with Carinthia and East Tyrol, while a small part in the southwest belongs...
range.
Ita entirely free-standing firn
Firn
Firn is partially-compacted névé, a type of snow that has been left over from past seasons and has been recrystallized into a substance denser than névé. It is ice that is at an intermediate stage between snow and glacial ice...
-capped summit forms the main peak of the Fusch/Kaprun
Kaprun
Kaprun is a small alpine village in the district of Zell am See in the state of Salzburg, Austria. At the foot of the Kitzsteinhorn Glacier, it is a year round sports centre, with a population of 2,903 ....
chain and is often viewed in Alpine literature as a rival of the Großglockner
Großglockner
The Grossglockner is, at 3,798 m above sea level, Austria's highest mountain and the highest mountain in the Alps east of the Brenner Pass...
. The great slope on its eastern and southeastern side plunges 2,418 metres to the Fuscher Ache
Fuscher Ache
The Fuscher Ache is a right tributary of the River Salzach and rises near the Fuscher Törl at a height of about 2,500 metres above sea level in the Lower Pinzgau. It flows from south to north through the valley of the same name, passing the small village of Fusch an der Großglocknerstraße. It...
- the greatest height difference between mountaintop and valley floor in the Eastern Alps
Eastern Alps
Eastern Alps is the name given to the eastern half of the Alps, usually defined as the area east of the Splügen Pass in eastern Switzerland. North of the Splügen Pass, the Posterior Rhine forms the border, and south of the pass, the Liro river and Lake Como form the boundary line.-Geography:The...
. Of alpinistic significance was the first ascent
First ascent
In climbing, a first ascent is the first successful, documented attainment of the top of a mountain, or the first to follow a particular climbing route...
of the Northwest Face (Nordwestwand) on 15 July 1924 by Franz Riegele and Willo Welzenbach. They were the first ones to use ice nails (Eisnägel) to assist them; these were later developed into the ice screw
Ice screw
An ice screw is a threaded tubular screw used as a running belay or anchor by climbers on steep ice surface such as steep waterfall ice or alpine ice during ice climbing or crevasse rescue, to hold the climber in the event of a fall, and at belays as anchor points. Ice screws are made by...
s used today. The Northwest Face was one of the classic ice walls of the Eastern Alps; the ice has since melted, however.
Location and area
The Großes Wiesbachhorn is almost entirely surrounded by glacierGlacier
A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...
s. To the north is the Wielingerkees, to the northeast the Sandbodenkees flows eastwards and down into the Sandboden and further into the Fuscher Ache
Fuscher Ache
The Fuscher Ache is a right tributary of the River Salzach and rises near the Fuscher Törl at a height of about 2,500 metres above sea level in the Lower Pinzgau. It flows from south to north through the valley of the same name, passing the small village of Fusch an der Großglocknerstraße. It...
. To the south lies the Teufelsmühlkees und im Westen das Kaindlkees. An important neighbouring mountain to the north, separated by the 3,211 metre high wind gap of the Sandbodenscharte, is the Kleines Wiesbachhorn with a height of 3,286 metres. To the southwest, on the other side of the 3,265 metre high Wielingerscharte, between the Kaindlkees and Teufelsmühlkees glaciers, lies the two Bratschenköpfe
Hinterer Bratschenkopf
The Hinterer Bratschenkopf is a mountain in the Glockner Group on the Fusch-Kaprun ridge in the High Tauern, a high mountain range in the Austrian Central Alps. According to the listed sources it is 3,412 metres high, but the Austrian Federal Office for Metrology and Survey gives its height as...
peaks (3,413 and 2401 metres high). To the west the terrain falls away to the Mooserboden Reservoir, to the east into the Fuscher Tal. The nearest important settlement is Fusch an der Großglocknerstraße
Fusch an der Großglocknerstraße
Fusch an der Großglocknerstraße is a municipality, at the foot of Grossglockner mountain, in the district of Zell am See , in the state of Salzburg in Austria. The Fusch valley lies north of the main chain of the Alps. The population is 697...
, about 10 kilometres away to the north as the crow flies
As the crow flies
"As the crow flies" or beelining is an idiom for the shortest route between two points; the geodesic distance.An example is the great-circle distance between Key West and Pensacola, at either end of the U.S...
.
Ascents
The route originally used by the Fusch farmers at the end of the 18th century is rarely used today. It runs from Ferleiten and takes 3½ hours to reach the Schwarzenberg Hut and from there another 4 hours past the Bratschenköpfen peaks to the summit of the Horn. The usual present-day start point for ascents is the Heinrich Schwaiger Haus. From there the standard route runs over the Oberen Fochezkopf and along the Kaindlgrat ridge to the summit in about 3 hours. In the middle section of the route there is a 35° inclined firn edge (Firnschneide), the rock sections are rated at climbing grade UIAA I. The classic routes through the 500 metre high Nordwest Face required ice climbing skills capable of coping with up to 60° gradients.Sources and maps
- Willi End: Alpine Club GuideAlpine Club GuideThe Alpine Club Guides are the standard series of Alpine guides that cover all the important mountain groups in the Eastern Alps. They are produced jointly by the German , Austrian and South Tyrol Alpine Clubs...
Glocknergruppe, Bergverlag RotherBergverlag RotherBergverlag Rother is a German publisher with its headquarters in Oberhaching, Upper Bavaria. Since 1950 the company, that formerly went udern the name of Bergverlag Rudolf Rother, has published the Alpine Club Guides in cooperation with the German Alpine Club , the Austrian Alpine Club and the...
, Munich, 2003, ISBN 3-7633-1266-8 - Eduard Richter: Die Erschliessung der Ostalpen, Vol III, Verlag des Deutschen und Oestereichischen Alpenvereins, Berlin 1894
- Alpine Club mapAlpine Club mapAlpine Club maps are specially detailed maps for summer and winter mountain climbers . They are predominantly published at a scale of 1:25.000, although some individual sheets have scales of 1:50.000 and 1:100.000....
1:25.000, Sheet 40, Glocknergruppe