Stol (also Veliki Stol) or Hochstuhl, at , is the highest mountain of the

Karawanks The Karawanks or Karavankas or Karavanks (; , ) are a mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps on the border between Slovenia to the south and Austria to the north. With a total length of in an east–west direction, the Karawanks chain is o ...

and straddles the border between

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

and

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Etymology

The Slovene name ''Veliki Stol'', meaning 'great chair', is derived from the visual appearance of the mountain, especially when seen from the east. The German ''Hochstuhl'' ('high chair') was not introduced until the late 19th century; previously, the mountain's German name was ''Stou'', a phonetic derivation from the Slovene.

Geography

The Stol massif stretches from Žirovnica in Slovenia to the Austrian market town of

Feistritz im Rosental Feistritz im Rosental (), often referred to as simply Feistritz (), is a market town in the district of Klagenfurt-Land in the Austrian state of Carinthia (state), Carinthia. Geography It is located in the ''Rosental'', the U-shaped valley of t ...

in the north. The summit is part of the Karawanks main ridge and the watershed between the

Sava The Sava, is a river in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. From its source in Slovenia it flows through Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally reac ...

and

Drava The Drava or Drave (, ; ; ; ; ), historically known as the Dravis or Dravus, is a river in southern Central Europe.

rivers. In the north, the

Dachstein Hoher Dachstein () is a strongly karstic mountain in central Austria and the second-highest mountain in the Northern Limestone Alps. It is situated at the border of Upper Austria and Styria, and is the highest point in each of those states. Par ...

limestone rocks fall steeply to an over depth. The massif comprises several subpeaks, such as Mali Stol ('Little Chair'), at . In the east, the crest of the Karawanks leads to Mt. Vrtača and further down to

Loibl Pass The Loibl Pass () or Ljubelj Pass () is a high mountain pass in the Karawanks chain of the Southern Limestone Alps, linking Austria with Slovenia. The Loibl Pass road is the shortest connection between the Carinthian town of Ferlach and Tržič i ...

Ascent

The first ascent of the mountain was made on 17 August 1794 by the Carniolan count and mountaineer Franz von Hohenwart (1771–1844) following an invitation from Sigmund Zois (1747–1819). On 9 September 1906 two climbers first reached the Stol peak via the steep north face. A first

mountain hut A mountain hut is a building located at high elevation, in mountainous terrain, generally accessible only by foot, intended to provide food and shelter to mountaineering, mountaineers, climbing, climbers and Hiking, hikers. Mountain huts are us ...

south of the summit was erected by the Austrian Tourist Club in 1883 and called Valvasor Refuge. The Stou Refuge north of the main ridge was opened by the

German and Austrian Alpine Club The German and Austrian Alpine Club (, DuÖAV) was a merger of the German, Austrian and German Bohemian Alpine Club that existed from 1873 to 1938. History In 1862 the ''Sektion Austria'' was founded in Vienna by the academics Paul Grohmann, Fr ...

in 1886. Today there are numerous routes to the summit from Feistritz on the Austrian side via the Klagenfurt Lodge (''Klagenfurter Hütte''), built in 1906, as well as routes from Žirovnica in Slovenia, where the Prešeren Lodge (''Prešernova koča''), opened in 1910, stands below the secondary peak of Mali Stol. Both refuges were burned down during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Yugoslav partisans The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian language, Macedonian, and Slovene language, Slovene: , officially the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska i partizanski odr ...

to prevent them from being used as base camps by

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

soldiers. The Klagenfurt Lodge re-opened in 1952 with 24 berths and a dormitory ('' Matratzenlager''); the Prešeren Lodge was rebuilt in 1966, it is nowadays open from mid-June to mid-September. It has 45 berths, a washroom, and two dining rooms with a seating capacity of 80.Slovenian Tourist Board
/ref> The ascent of the 500 m steep slope on the north face of the mountain is climbed by a

via ferrata A via ferrata (Italian language, Italian for "iron path", plural ''vie ferrate'' or in English ''via ferratas'') is a protected climbing route found in the Alps and certain other Alpine locations. The protection includes steel fixtures such as ...

(''Klettersteig'') built by the

Austrian Alpine Club The Austrian Alpine Club () has about 700,000 members in 194 sections and is the largest mountaineering organisation in Austria. It is responsible for the upkeep of over 234 alpine huts in Austria and neighbouring countries. It also maintains ove ...

in 1966/67, the use of which requires some mountaineering skills.

Gallery

File:Stol-Hochstuhl.jpg, Stol File:Stol Sr Vrh.jpg, Stol from

Begunjščica Begunjščica is a ridge mountain in the Karawanks. It rises from the western Smokuč mountain pasture () to St. Anne () on its eastern side. The mountain has three main peaks, the highest being Big Peak (, ). The western Middle Peak () lies a li ...

File:Hochstuhl, mountain, austria, summertime.JPG, File:Završnica - Stol 01.jpg

References

External links

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Photos, Route and Description
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stol, Karawanks Mountains of the Alps Mountains of Upper Carniola Landforms of Austria Austria–Slovenia border International mountains of Europe Karawanks Two-thousanders of Austria Ridges of Slovenia Two-thousanders of Slovenia