The Hinterautal-Vomper Chain (german: Hinterautal-Vomper-Kette), also called the main chain of the Karwendel (''Karwendelhauptkette''), is the longest

mountain chain A mountain chain is a row of high mountain summits, a linear sequence of interconnected or related mountains,Whittow, John (1984). ''Dictionary of Physical Geography''. London: Penguin, p 87. . or a contiguous ridge of mountains within a larger mo ...

in the

Karwendel The Karwendel is the largest mountain range of the Northern Limestone Alps. The major part belongs to the Austrian federal state of Tyrol, while the adjacent area in the north is part of Bavaria, Germany. Four chains stretch from west to east; in ...

Alps in

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 ...

. It has numerous peaks that reach heights of 2,500 m, including the highest summit of the Karwendel, the Birkkarspitze (), and its neighbour, the three Ödkarspitzen. While long ridges radiate south and north from the western part of the main chain, with typical Karwendel

cirque A (; from the Latin word ') is an amphitheatre-like valley formed by glacial erosion. Alternative names for this landform are corrie (from Scottish Gaelic , meaning a pot or cauldron) and (; ). A cirque may also be a similarly shaped landf ...

s nestling between them, the eastern part of the chain has an almost 1,000 m high, solid rock face on the northern side, which is most striking at the Laliderer Wand. The main chain is divided into the Hinterautal ("Hinterau Valley") chain (''Hinterautalkette'') in the west and the Vomper Chain (''Vomperkette'') in the east and runs through the Karwendel Alps from

Scharnitz Scharnitz is a municipality in the district of Innsbruck-Land in the Austrian state of Tyrol located north of Innsbruck and from Seefeld in Tirol on the German border. It is one of the largest municipalities and has 10 parts: Au, Eisack, Gieße ...

in the west to the village of Vomp in the east. North of the Hinterautal-Vomper Chain is the Northern Karwendel Chain (''Nördliche Karwendelkette''), to the south follows the

Gleirsch-Halltal Chain The Gleirsch-Halltal Chain (german: Gleirsch-Halltal-Kette) or Gleirsch-Halltal Range is a mountain chain in the Karwendel in the Northern Limestone Alps. It follows to the south of the Hinterautal-Vomper Chain, the longest mountain chain in ...

, large parts of which have steep, northern slopes, often vertical and hundreds of metres high which are typical of the four Karwendel

s. Along the western part of the Hinterautal-Vomper Chain runs a difficult, high alpine mountain path which is called the Toni Gaugg Mountain Path (''Toni-Gaugg-Höhenweg'') after the man who blazed it. This enables the Hinterautal chain to be traversed from the Pleisen Hut to the Karwendelhaus. In 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 Germany ...

, to which the Karwendel belongs, there are a number of small and very small

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 a ...

s. In the Hinterautal-Vomper Chain is the only glacier of the Karwendel, the ''Eiskarln'', north of and below the Eiskarlspitze. Karwendelgletscher

Important summits

The mountains in the chain, listed from west to east, are as follows: * Pleisenspitze () * Larchetkarspitze () *

Große Riedlkarspitze Große or Grosse is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Demetrius Grosse *Maurice Grosse *Katharina Grosse *Ben Grosse *Hans-Werner Grosse *Heinz-Josef Große *Julius Grosse Julius Waldemar Grosse (25 April 1828 – 9 ...

() * Breitgrieskarspitze () * Oberer Spitzhüttenkopf () * Große Seekarspitze () * Marxenkarspitze () * Western Ödkarspitze () *

Middle Ödkarspitze Middle or The Middle may refer to: * Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits. Places * Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man * Middle Bay (disambiguation) * Middle Brook (disambiguation) * Middle Creek ...

() * Eastern Ödkarspitze () * Hochalmkreuz () * Birkkarspitze () *

Kaltwasserkarspitze The Kaltwasserkarspitze is a mountain in the Hinterautal-Vomper Chain and, at m, is the fourth highest peak in the Karwendel mountains in Austria after the Birkkarspitze, Middle and Eastern Ödkarspitze. The Kaltwasserkarspitze is the eastern ne ...

() * Rauhkarlspitze () * Moserkarspitze () * Northern Sonnenspitze () * Southern Sonnenspitze () * Laliderer Spitze () * Dreizinkenspitze () * Grubenkarspitze () * Rossloch crest (''Rosslochkamm'') ** Sunntigerspitze () ** Hallerangerspitze () ** Gamskarspitze () ** Brantlspitze () ** Hochkanzel () ** Rosslochspitze () * Spritzkarspitze () * Spitzkarlspitze () * Eiskarlspitze () * Hochglück () * Huderbankspitze () * Barthspitze (), named after Hermann von Barth, the "Explorer of the Karwendel" * Schafkarspitze () * Mitterkarlspitze () *

Lamsenspitze Lamsenspitze (elevation ) is a summit of the Karwendel range in the Austrian state of Tyrol. Alpinism The easiest route to the summit is a steep track secured with fixed wire ropes starting at the Lamsenjoch Hut (''Lamsenjochhütte'') at the b ...

() * Rotwandlspitze () * Steinkarlspitze () * Hochnissl () * Schneekopf () * Mittagspitze () * Fiechter Spitze ()

External links

{{Commons category, Hinterautal-Vomper-Kette, Hinterautal-Vomper Chain Mountain ranges of the Alps Mountain ranges of Tyrol (state) Karwendel