The Schareck, a

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

with a height of , lies in the

Goldberg Group The Goldberg Group is a sub-group of the Hohe Tauern mountain range within the Central Eastern Alps. It is located in Austria, in the states of Salzburg and Carinthia. Its highest peak is the Hocharn, . Other well known summits are the Hoher Sonn ...

of the

High Tauern The High Tauern (pl.; german: Hohe Tauern, it, Alti Tauri) are a mountain range on the main chain of the Central Eastern Alps, comprising the highest peaks east of the Brenner Pass. The crest forms the southern border of the Austrian states of S ...

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 ...

Location and landscape

The summit is located on the

main chain of the Alps The main chain of the Alps, also called the Alpine divide is the central line of mountains that forms the drainage divide of the range. Main chains of mountain ranges are traditionally designated in this way, and generally include the highest ...

, exactly on the border between the states of Carinthia and

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...

, ca. 4.8 km

as the crow flies __NOTOC__ The expression ''as the crow flies'' is an idiom for the most direct path between two points, rather similar to "in a beeline". This meaning is attested from the early 19th century, and appeared in Charles Dickens's 1838 novel '' Oliv ...

east-southeast of the

Hoher Sonnblick The Hoher Sonnblick (also ''Rauriser Sonnblick'') is a glaciated mountain, high, on the main Alpine chain in the Goldberg Group on the border between the Austrian states of Carinthia and Salzburg. At its summit is the Sonnblick Observatory and ...

. The Schareck is the second highest summit in the Goldberg range after the

Hocharn Hocharn (3,254m) is the highest mountain of the Goldberg Group in the High Tauern range of the eastern Alps. It is located near the town of Bad Hofgastein and is situated in the Austrian state of Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle" ...

. Southwest of the summit is the glacier of ''Wurtenkees'' and the ski region of ''Mölltaler Gletscher''. Below the mountain is the ''Hochwurtenspeicher'' reservoir of the Fragant power station complex. To the north, another glacier, the ''Schareckkees'', reaches to just below the top. As a result of the opening of the ski region with its lift systems, ascending the Schareck from the south has virtually no climbing merit any longer.

Ascents

* From the south: from the

top station A top station or upper stationFor example, se''Chairlift Blausee (upper station)''at www.outdooractive.com. Retrieved 15 May 2019. is usually the highest station of an aerial lift, a funicular, a T-bar lift or a rack railway. The lowest station is ...

of the highest chair lift it takes a few minutes to reach the summit * The so-called Pröll Way (''Pröll-Weg''), which is

waymark Trail blazing or way marking is the practice of marking paths in outdoor recreational areas with signs or markings that follow each other at certain, though not necessarily exactly defined, distances and mark the direction of the trail. A blaz ...

ed, offers an attractive climb from the northwest to the top. It runs from the Niedersachsenhaus along a sweeping mountain ridge or

arête An arête ( ) is a narrow ridge of rock which separates two valleys. It is typically formed when two glaciers erode parallel U-shaped valleys. Arêtes can also form when two glacial cirques erode headwards towards one another, although freque ...

to the summit. This route, which crosses the ''Neuner Kogel'' (2,827 m) and the ''Herzog Ernst'' (2,933 m), is relatively easy to negotiate in dry and snow-free conditions albeit

sure-footedness Sure-footedness is the ability, especially when hiking or mountain climbing, to negotiate difficult or rough terrain safely. Such situations place demands on a person's coordination and reserves of strength as well as requiring sufficient apprecia ...

and a

head for heights To have a head for heights means that one has no acrophobia, an irrational fear of heights, and is not particularly prone to fear of falling or suffering from vertigo, the spinning sensation that can be triggered, for example, by looking down fro ...

are required. There is one climbing section secured with footpegs (''Trittstiften''). * From Schutzhaus Neubau ( Raurisertal/''Kolm Saigurn'') is a straightforward climb via the ''Tauerngold Erlebnisweg'' to the col of ''Fraganter Scharte'' and then onto the ''Herzog Ernst Spitze'' (2,933 m) taking ca. 2½ hours (path no. 119). From there one can reach the top of the Schareck in ca. 1 hour. The path is

exposed Expose, exposé, or exposed may refer to: News sources * Exposé (journalism), a form of investigative journalism * '' The Exposé'', a British conspiracist website Film and TV Film * ''Exposé'' (film), a 1976 thriller film * ''Exposed'' (1932 ...

in places (path no. 120). * From the northeast: from Sportgastein on the ''Neuwirt-Steig'' - ''Aperes Schareck'' - ''Schareckkees'' (

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 ...

-risk)Anstiegsbeschreibung von Sportgastein
/ref>

Literature and maps

* Liselotte Buchenauer, Peter Holl: ''Ankogel- und Goldberggruppe'',

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 ...

Bergverlag Rudolf Rother Bergverlag Rother is a German publisher with its headquarters in Oberhaching, Upper Bavaria. Since 1950 the company, that formerly went under the name of ''Bergverlag Rudolf Rother'', has published the Alpine Club Guides in cooperation with the Ge ...

, Munich, 1986. *

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 ...

Sheet 42, 1:25,000 series, ''Sonnblick''

References

External links

{{Commons category Alpine three-thousanders Goldberg Group Mountains of the Alps Mountains of Carinthia (state) Mountains of Salzburg (state)