Mountain Hike Rotmandlspitze: auf den Spuren der Bergknappen - Touren-Impression #1 | © Gerhard Pilz Mountain Hike Rotmandlspitze: auf den Spuren der Bergknappen - Touren-Impression #1 | © Gerhard Pilz

Rotmandlspitze: auf den Spuren der Bergknappen

Open
Summit tour to "Rotmandl" in Obertal valley with medium difficulty - physical endurance required! The route runs along the trails of the historic mining district in Obertal valley.
This hike takes you to the summit of Rotmandlspitze and into the historic mining district of the Schladminger Tauern range. Right after the start of the tour the Nickel Museum Hopfriesen is the first higlight of the historical mining in the area. Along the way there are several more: the "Knappenkreuz" way point, the historic remains of miners' houses and the view to decayed entrances into the mines are just some of the historical tracks of mining history in Schladming and the Schladminger Tauern range.

Characteristics

Skill
Fitness

Best season

January
February
March
April
May
June
November
December

The tour in numbers

challenging
Level of difficulty
15,7 km
Route
8:37 h
Time
1410 hm
Uphill
1261 hm
Downhill
2453 m
Highest point

Map & downloads

More information

From Schladming take provincial highway L722 (Rohrmoosstraße road) to Rohrmoos and at the roundabout continue on provincial highway L723 (Tälerstraße road) towards Untertal. In the village of Untertal make a right onto Obertalstraße road and follow it until you reach the trail head at Hopfriesen (end of the paved road).

The trail head at Hopfriesen is reached best by bus n° 973 to Obertal valley. From the trail head you start out on trail n° 776 towards Giglachseen lakes. Right at the beginning a short detour (+ 5 minutes walking time) takes you to the only remaining Nickel smelting furnace of the Eastern Alps, which is a museum nowadays.

On trail n° 776 you then ascend through the forest. You traverse to the right below a big rock step and via a bridge cross over the Giglachbach creek. A couple of minutes more and you reach Lackneralm (no gastronomy). At Lackneralm you cross over Giglachbach creek again and then ascend further via a forestry road or the hiking trail respectively. Shortly before Landauersee lake you reach the Knappenkreuz waypoint (a wayside cross errected in memory of the mining at Giglach).

Along a broad trail you then reach the Giglachalmen, where the creek meanders beautifully among the alpine meadows. At the huts of Giglachalmen you cross over the creek, just until you reach the trail crossing with trail n° 775 (hiking trail towards Duisitzkarsee lake) and cross over again. After a few minutes you then reach the huts at the Northeast shore of the Untere Giglachsee lake.

At the trail crossing there you now continue on trail n° 702 (Schladminger Tauern High Trail) and follow it into Vetternkar cirque and towards Rotmandlspitze. The trail ascends moderately to Vetternkar where you discover the historic remains of miners' houses. To the left of the ruins the trail now starts to ascend steeper and takes you to Rotmandlspitze via a set of switchbacks. From the highest point of the tour at 2,453 m above sea-level you then continue downhill via Rotmandlscharte ridge. Below the summit of Sauberg you then traverse to Kruckeckscharte ridge via a clearance cairn with large stones.

From the ridge a couple of wide switchbacks takes you down into Neualmkar cirque while you enjoy the outstanding view to the surrounding summits. Down in the cirque you reach Keinprechthütte, where you definitely earned a break. From the hut you descend to Obertal valley via trail n° 774. About halfway you pass by Neualm (no gastronomy) before you finally reach Eschachalm at the valley head of Obertal. From there, the bus takes you back to Rohrmoos and Schladming.

Visit the Nickelmuseum at Hopfriesen. Information about opening times at www.wildewasser.com

Also visit Schladming's town museum to extend your knowledge on the mining history: http://museum.schladming.at

With the Planai buses from Schladming (Planet-Planai, Lendplatz) or Rohrmoos (Rohrmoos-Zentrum) to Obertal - bus stop Hopfriesen. With the buses of the same line (from bus stop "Eschachalm") back to Schladming and Rohrmoos. 

Parking is available at the hiking trail head in Hopfriesen. If the lot is already full, use the parking lots at Wehrhofalm (out of the valley - additional walking time: 30 minutes).

Tourist information: www.schladming.com

Information about bus schedules: www.planaibus.at

360° drone images

Get yourself an overview with our 360° drone images:

Tourist map "Hiking - Running - Walking", available at the tourist office Schladming.

Hiking map Schladming, 1:25.000, available at the tourist office Schladming.

Hiking map Schladming-Dachstein, 1:50.000, available at the tourist office Schladming.

Guide book Schladming-Dachstein by Herbert Raffalt, available at the tourist office Schladming (German only).

Gallery

What the weather will be like

Mariazell (860m)

Morning
very sunny
10°C
0%
0 km/h
Noon
sunny
19°C
10%
5 km/h
Night
slightly cloudy
14°C
25%
5 km/h
The day starts sunny, but will be partly cloudy in the afternoon.
Morning
sunny
11°C
25%
0 km/h
Noon
weather.icon.04
15°C
25%
5 km/h
Night
weather.icon.04
11°C
60%
5 km/h
Mostly cloudy through the day with a chance of occasional sunny spells.
08.05.2024
foggy
7°C 14°C
09.05.2024
sunny
6°C 16°C
10.05.2024
sunny
4°C 18°C
Spiegelsee Reiteralm | © photo-austria / Christine Höflehner

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