The Torsäule () is a very steep, about 500-metre-high
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
formation on the eastern flank of the
Hochkönig massif in the
Berchtesgaden Alps.
The imposing column (''Torsäule'' means "gateway column"), which bears a
summit cross, lies immediately north of the ascent route to the Hochkönig from the
Arthurhaus, a thousand metres below, and measures about 500 × 200 metres at its base. In an east-west direction it looks like a giant column, but on reaching the high plateau of the
Ãœbergossene Alm it slowly disappears below the local horizon.
Its south face which tapers towards the top is almost vertical, whilst the other faces have average gradients of about 60 to 80°.
Structurally, the Torsäule rises in front of the mountain ridge which the high plateau of the Hochkönig massif and its
plateau glacier bound on the eastern side and which opens like a rock arena in a semi-circle facing the column and looking towards the
Salzach
The Salzach (Austrian: ˆsaltsax ) is a river in Austria and Germany. It is in length and is a right tributary of the Inn, which eventually joins the Danube. Its drainage basin of comprises large parts of the Northern Limestone and Central ...
valley. The Torsäule rises, as the crow flies, roughly between the eastern top of the
Schoberköpfe (2,666 and 2,708 m) and the Königs- and Bratschenköpfe (2,630 to 2,857 m). On the other side (north-facing) it drops down to the ''Eiskar'', beyond which the Teufelskirche (mountain), Teufelskirche mountain and Teufelskirche (cave), cave lie on the steep slopes of the Schoberköpfe. The elongated, rocky cirque on the south side, past the foot of which the path runs, has the name, rather common in Salzburg, of ''Ochsenkar''.
If one times it well – starting off before dawn – one can experience the sunrise at the foot of the Torsäule or as one passes. If one continues to climb for about an hour to the side of the Torsäule one sees its rounded tip for a last time in front of the background of the Tennengebirge and the morning clouds, before it sinks beneath the plateau of the Hochkönig.
The south face of the Torsäule, with its 36 prepared tours, is the most climbed face on the Hochkönig. Several of these routes are very frequently used and are some of the top routes of the Northern Limestone Alps: Jolly Joker 9, Opera Vertikal 8+, Afrika 8.
Literature and maps
* Albert Precht: ''Kletterführer Hochkönig'', Panico Alpinverlag, 2002.
* Albert Precht: ''Alpenvereinsführer Hochkönig'', Bergverlag Rother, Munich, 1989.
* Alpine Club map Sheet 10/2 ''Hochkönig – Hagengebirge''. 1:25,000 series. .
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Two-thousanders of Austria
Mountains of the Alps
Berchtesgaden Alps