Activity Report: Exploring Hochschwab Region Pt 1

Trail head: Präbichl Passhöhe (fire brigade station)

Biking to the trail head: 24 km, with 670 m of elevation gain

Weather condition: Partly cloudy, not so warm, sometimes windy (during the run to Polster had to use my wind jacket)

Food, water supply: 3 Clif bars + 2 energy bars. I had 2 lt of water with me, but since it was not too hot, I did not lose much water. So I did not need all of it. And there was also possibility to drink water on the way (and also in the worst case Leobner Hütte is close).

Mainly the trail was muddy, and not so optimal to run fast. And also, as I just started to run right after finishing an almost 2 hours ride from Leoben to Präbichl, my legs were already feeling a bit funny. The uphill run to the Leobner hut was from a different route which I would normally go. On the way there was a very short passage with chain security. During my run there was in total 3 of such passages. However none of them were really hard to pass.

Since the route after the Hirscheggsattel was totally new to me, I could not estimate how it will go. My best plan was to try to get to Brandstein. However the way until Kulmalm was already exhausting to me.

After getting back to Hirscheggsattel I decided to run to Polster. I didn't want to come back without visiting a peak. My uphill run was satisfying to me, after all. And for the first time I could see around from Polster. During my 2 previous visits everywhere was foggy. Finally, the downhill run from Polster to Hirscheggsattel is always a joy. I decided to run back to Präbichl from the "traditional" road that I normally used to do.

Fire brigade building of Präbichl. Sketches tell the legend of the "Wassermann".

View of Griesmauer from Hirscheggsattel

The trail after Hirscheggsattel

The trail after Hirscheggsattel

Frauenmauer

Western face of Griesmauer, and Neuwaldalm

View of Kulmalm and Kulmstein

From Kulmalm: Griesmauer

From Kulmalm: Griesmauer and Fruenmauer

From Polster: Erzberg and Eisenerz, and far away on the right Kaiserschild are visible.

View from Polster: Kohlerscharte, Frauenmauer and Brandstein are visible.

From Polster: Nieder Polster in the front, Kaiserschild on the left, and Pfaffenstein on the right are visible.

From Polster: Griesmauer, Frauenmauer, Brandstein, and Ebenstein are visible.

Activity Report: Edelweissboden - Hochturm - Leobner Mauer

Trail head: Somewhere on the middle of the road to Hiaslegg Gasthaus

Biking to the trail head: 19 km, 380 m of elevation gain

Weather condition: Partly sunny, warm, but not too hot. Some cloud passages.

Food, water supply: 2 Clif bars, 1 energy bar, around 2 lt of water + some water source in the end of the tour, after Leobner Mauer. No garranty that there will be water on the way. In the worst case the Leobner Hütte can be visited.

Although I did a VK on the day before on the trail leading to Gösseck, my condition for this run was good. I was able to get to Edelweissboden basically without a break. On Edelweissboden the trail is easy to run and very beautiful. After that on the way to Hochturm it becomes more technical, with rocky passages. Until the summit there is no chance of getting lost. After Hochturm one basically continues towards east. The trail leads to a saddle from where one should turn left towards Leobner Mauer. From the summit until the forest road is also a bit technical but not hard to run. As one reaches the forest road it leads directly to Hiaslegg road.

Edelweiss

From Edelweissboden to Hochturm

Brandstein (left), Ebenstein (right) visible on the trail after Edelweissboden to Hochturm

Fun trail to Hochturm, Eisenerzer Reichenstein is visible

Final climb to Hochturm

On Hochturm

Far away Gösseck, then closer Eisenerzer Reichenstein, then the road black to
the Hiaslegg from Leobner Mauer is visible. Photo taken after Hochturm.

On Leobner Mauer

View of Hochturm from Leobner Mauer

Activity Report: Three activities in three days (Leobner Mauer, Eisenerzer Reichenstein, Gösseck)

Thu, 11 Jun, 2020 -  Leobner Mauer (1870 m)

Trail head: somewhere on the middle of the road to Hiaslegg Gasthaus

Biking to the trail head: 17 km, 286 m elevation gain

Weather condition: in the beginning more sun, then cloudy, but no rain

How it felt: very good, but because I knew what is ahead in the next days, I did not push more. Most of the way is just forest road, so at some point it can become a bit boring, or it might not satisfy the expectations. The way is not technical at all. Only in the last kilometer to the peak the way is a bit harder to follow. It is a nice peak if one wants to do it as a part of a larger tour. The way from Präbichl might be more satisfying. But this one is also a good way, if one does not want to start from Präbichl.

The forest road in the first kilometers is not technical at all. Hochturm is visible.

Forest road. Again majestic view of Hochturm is there.

South western view of the way to Leobner Mauer. Here the trail is more technical.
Although the road is already marked, one might easily get lost.

Leobner Mauer

Fri, Jun 12, 2020 - Eisenerzer Reichenstein (2165)

Trail head: Hafning

Biking to the trail head: 13 km, 155 m of elevation gain

Weather condition: Sunny

How it felt: Just like the previous day, I did not push. And it went better than expected. In the technical passages I was careful not to trip over, as I was feeling a bit tired. I did not have a concrete plan. Depending on my own condition and the snow situation wanted to stop at Reichhals, or maybe continue until the peak. I asked some hikers about the way after Reichhals, and they said there is a small snow passage, which is not hard. So I decided to continue. But the whole thing drained more energy than expected. But I cannot complain. It was a nice experience, as it was my first time to Eisenerzer Reichenstein with running. Once before I did it by hike.

Eisenerzer Reichenstein and Krumpensee

The only passage with snow. After Reichhals.

I had to use my ice spikes for the passage. 

View to the back, from the last kilometer. Reichhals, Hieflerkogel,
Große Scharte, Hocheller are visible.

The hut, and the summit are visible. Last hard climbs are over.

The cross at the summit

Southern face of the mountain. The hut also visible. Further down is the Krumpensee.
Further away Gösseck is visible.

Sat, Jun 13, 2020 - Gösseck (2214 m)

Trail head: Kammern im Liesingtal

Biking to the trail head: 17.4 km, 240 m elevation gain

Weather condition: Sunny, hot

How it felt: The tiredness was there, I could feel it from the very beginning. I had to struggle with it the whole time. Running on the plateau that I normally used to see from Leoben was a nice feeling. However somehow it was really hard for me to run continuously, I had trouble to keep my mind only on running. It was like I was overwhelmed by the rapid increase of elevation. So as the first vertical kilometer was over and I was on the plateau the run was much slower than I expected. After summit I did not want to come back from the same route again, so I started to come run down from Jägersteig route, which ends at Schardorf, and from there I had to run on a normal asphalt road until Kammern, which was a bit boring, and the weather was hot, so I was checking my watch more often than normal.

Voluntary fire brigade of the Kammern im Liesingtal.
Can be seen from where I started my run.

During the first vertical kilometer, one can also enjoy the beautiful view towards east.

View of west from Klauen. Here first vertical kilometer is complete.

View to the back, from where I came from.

View of the east from the summit.
Hohe Zölz, and Vordernberger Mauern are visible.
Far away behind Vordernberger Mauern, Hochturm is also visible.

View of Grieskogel from the summit.
If one looks carefully can maybe also the see the trail.
(This is an alternative route, which also starts from Schardorf. It's called Jägersteig).

Activity Report: FKT Styria - Sprint Route

Fastest Known Time Austria Webpage: https://fastestknowntimeaustria.com/steiermark/sprint-strecke-steiermark/

Gear that I took with me. I took the water bladder, without water. 

Around 2 pm we met with Martin Weyrer in Leoben (in front of Lidl Supermarket), and drove to Mixnitz, where the start of the route is. As we got there the first thing that took my attention was that it was very crowded. A lot of cars were parked in the park place. This place is also famous because of Bärenschützklamm. The weather was cloudy, but sun was really hot. Not so ideal for a fast run. I did a risk and took no water with me. I only had my empty water bladder with me, so that I can fill it on the way if needed. But I could not see any water source on the route.

Parking place at Mixnitz

The route starts from Jausenstation Hubert Grassauer, and it also ends here. 

Jausenstation Hubert Grassauer

The first climb is quite heavy, such that in the first 7.3 km (until summit of Hochlantsch) I did more than 1100 meters of elevation gain. The trail is not technical or hard. In the final meters it becomes more rocky. In this part of the route you may also see the via-ferrata climbers. 

Hochlantsch from the final meters

Final stage of the via-ferrata just before Hochlantsch summit

Hochlantsch summit (visiting the summit cross is not required for the FKT)

On the downhill trail from Hochlantsch to Teichalm a lot Steinbocks were to be seen.

From Hochlantsch (1720 m) a downhill of around 500 m elevation difference and 4 km starts, until the roads leads to Teichalm, where a lake called Teichalmsee is located. This place was also very crowded. From this point a more gentle climb starts, until Rote Wand (1505 m), with some short downhill passages. 

Beautiful landscape on the way to Rote Wand (also visible on the image)

Rote Wand Summit

The view from Rote Wand was very beautiful

The final peak of the route is Röthelstein (1263 m). After Rote Wand the downhill passage (down to around 1050 m) is more technical. I had to be careful not to trip and fall. The tiredness was also playing a role. I have to say the rest of the route I was really trying hard not to trip and fall, which is always an indication in my case that I'm really tired.

Final climb to Röthelstein is around 700 m, with almost 200 meters of elevation gain. On the top one should be careful not to lose the marked way. There is also another rock climbing route, which one can easily mix it with the normal hiking way.

The downhill until Mixnitz is a crazy one. I had to be really careful not to roll down. I spent around 20 minutes for 1 km of this crazy downhill (360 m of elevation loss). Then I came across this huge cave (Drachenhöhle), which literally means cave of dragon.

Drachenhöhle

In the last kilometers I got again on a forest road. I was well behind the time that I hoped for. But still, seeing how technical and difficult some passages were, I was content with my performance. Also I did not prepare for this run, I just learned about it one day before.

In the end I went back to parking place, where the car of the Martin was parked, and waited for him. As we met, we returned to Leoben.