The Vorderseespitze is a mountain in the Lechtal Alps,

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. At it is the eighth highest peak in the Lechtal Alps. The Lech Valley Ridgeway (''Lechtaler Höhenweg'') runs over its southeastern flank from Kaiserjochhaus to the Ansbacher Hut. According to the literature it was first climbed in 1855 by locals from

Kaisers :''See also Kaiser.'' Kaisers is a municipality in the district of Reutte in the Austrian state of Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Aus ...

in the

Lech Valley The Lechtal is an alpine valley in Austria, the greater part of which belongs to the state of Tyrol and the smaller part to Vorarlberg. The Lech river flows through the valley. Location The valley is bounded geographically by the Lechtal Alps ...

Summit block

The Vorderseespitze is made from the

sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles ...

main dolomite Main Dolomite (german: Hauptdolomit, hu, Fődolomit, it, Dolomia Principale) is a lithostratigraphic unit in the Alps of Europe. Formation was defined by K.W. Gümbel in 1857. Middle to Late Triassic sedimentary record in the Alpine realm is ...

and is the highest main dolomite summit of the

Northern Limestone Alps The Northern Limestone Alps (german: Nördliche Kalkalpen), also called the Northern Calcareous Alps, are the ranges of the Eastern Alps north of the Central Eastern Alps located in Austria and the adjacent Bavarian lands of southeastern Germa ...

. On its northeast flank lies the little, tongue-shaped and heavily

crevasse A crevasse is a deep crack, that forms in a glacier or ice sheet that can be a few inches across to over 40 feet. Crevasses form as a result of the movement and resulting stress associated with the shear stress generated when two semi-rigid pie ...

d ''Vorderseeferner'', the largest

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as ...

of the Lechtal Alps. The mountain is separated from the Aperriesspitze (2,588 m) by the ''Hinterseejoch'' (2,482 m). To the west of this saddle, in a cirque, lies the lake of ''Hintersee'', east of the col is lake of ''Vordersee'' which gives the mountain its name. The neighbouring peak to the north is the Feuerspitze.

Base and tours

The base for an ascent is the Ansbacher Hut at 2,376 metres. The normal route, the easiest climb, runs either along the north arête, according to the literature at climbing grade II, or up the northeast flank, also at UIAA grade II. An ascent along the east arête is slightly more difficult. The journey time is generally 3½ hours from the Ansbacher Hut.Dieter Seibert: ''Alpenvereinsführer Lechtaler Alpen'', Munich, 2002, pp. 248 ff., Rz 950 ff. The northeast flank is also possible as an extreme

ski tour Ski touring is skiing in the backcountry on unmarked or unpatrolled areas. Touring is typically done off-piste and outside of ski resorts, and may extend over a period of more than one day. It is similar to backcountry skiing but excludes the ...

Literature and map

*Dieter Seibert: ''

Alpine Club guide The ''Alpine Club Guides'' (german: Alpenvereinsführer, commonly shortened to ''AV Führer'' or ''AVF'') are the standard series of Alpine guides that cover all the important mountain groups in the Eastern Alps. They are produced jointly by the G ...

Lechtaler Alpen'', Munich, 2002, *

Alpine Club map Alpine Club maps (german: Alpenvereinskarten, often abbreviated to ''AV-Karten'' i.e. AV maps) are specially detailed maps for summer and winter mountain climbers (mountaineers, hikers and ski tourers). They are predominantly published at a scale o ...

1:25,000, Sheet 3/3, ''Lechtaler Alpen, Parseierspitze''

References

{{reflist Two-thousanders of Austria Mountains of Tyrol (state) Mountains of the Alps Lechtal Alps