The Reichenspitze is a mountain, , in the eastern Zillertal Alps on the border between the

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 ...

n states of

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the ...

and

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 ...

. It is the highest peak of the range named after it, the Reichenspitze Group, and offers good, all-round views. Its neighbouring peaks, all linked by arêtes, are the 3,263-metre-high ''Gabler'' to the northeast, the ''Richterspitze'' (3,052 m) to the south and the 3,278-metre-high Wildgerlosspitze to the northwest.

First ascent

The mountain was first ascended in 1856 by a farmer from

Prettau Prettau (; it, Predoi ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in South Tyrol, a province in northern Italy, located about northeast of Bolzano, on the border with Austria. Geography As of 31 December 2015, it had a population of 571 and an area of .Al ...

in the valley of

Tauferer Ahrntal The Tauferer Ahrntal denotes the valley of the Ahr ( it, Aurino) River, a tributary valley of the Puster Valley in South Tyrol, Italy. It is commonly divided into the Tauferer Tal (''Val di Tures''), stretching from the confluence with the Rien ...

, whose name has been lost. He climbed from the southeast up the east face, a route that, today, is assessed near the summit as

climbing grade In rock climbing, mountaineering, and other climbing disciplines, climbers give a grade to a climbing route or boulder problem, intended to describe concisely the difficulty and danger of climbing it. Different types of climbing (such as spo ...

UIAA III. The first touristic ascent took place on 16 July 1865 by Peter Haller from Gmünd and foresters, Anton Peer and Josef Unterrainer of Schönachtal.'' Zeitschrift des Deutschen und Oesterreichischen Alpenvereins'', Munich, 1870/71, Abteilung I, p. 113

Routes

An ascent of the summit may be launched from the Plauener Hut (2,373 m), the Richter Hut (2,374 m) or the Zittauer Hut (2,328 m).

Literature and maps

* Heinrich Klier and Walter Klier: ''

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 Ge ...

Zillertaler Alpen'', Munich, 1990, * Alpine Club Map 1:25,000. Sheet 35/3, ''Zillertaler Alpen, Ost''

References

Alpine three-thousanders Mountains of the Alps Zillertal Alps Mountains of Tyrol (state) Mountains of Salzburg (state) {{Salzburg-geo-stub