The Vorderseespitze is a mountain in the

Lechtal Alps The Lechtal Alps () are a mountain-range in western Austria, and part of the greater Northern Limestone Alps range. Named for the river Lech which drains them north-ward into Germany, the Lechtal Alps occupy the Austrian states of Tyrol and Vorar ...

Tyrol Tyrol ( ; historically the Tyrole; ; ) is a historical region in the Alps of Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, f ...

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 ...

. At it is the eighth highest peak in the

. The Lech Valley Ridgeway (''Lechtaler Höhenweg'') runs over its southeastern flank from Kaiserjochhaus to the Ansbacher Hut. According to the literature it was first climbed in 1855 by locals from Kaisers in the Lech Valley.

Summit block

The Vorderseespitze is made from the

sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock (geology), rock formed by the cementation (geology), cementation of sediments—i.e. particles made of minerals (geological detritus) or organic matter (biological detritus)—that have been accumulated or de ...

main dolomite Main Dolomite (, , ) is a lithostratigraphic unit in the Alps of Europe. Formation was defined by K.W. Gümbel in 1857. Middle to Late Triassic sedimentary record in the Alpine realm is characterized by presence of various masses of dolomitic r ...

and is the highest main dolomite summit of the

Northern Limestone Alps The Northern Limestone Alps (), 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. The distinction from the ...

. On its northeast flank lies the little, tongue-shaped and heavily

crevasse A crevasse is a deep crack that forms in a glacier or ice sheet. Crevasses form as a result of the movement and resulting stress associated with the shear stress generated when two semi-rigid pieces above a plastic substrate have different rate ...

d ''Vorderseeferner'', the largest

glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

of the Lechtal Alps. The mountain is separated from the Aperriesspitze (2,588 m) by the ''Hinterseejoch'' (2,482 m). To the west of this saddle, in a

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

, lies the lake of ''Hintersee'', east of the col is lake of ''Vordersee'' which gives the mountain its name. The neighbouring peak to the north is the Feuerspitze.

Base and tours

The base for an ascent is the Ansbacher Hut at 2,376 metres. The

normal route A normal route or normal way (; ) is the most frequently used climbing route for ascending and descending a given mountain peak; it is usually the easiest and often the most straightforward route. Other generic names include the ''Tourism, tourist ...

, the easiest climb, runs either along the north arête, according to the literature at

climbing grade Many climbing routes have grades for the technical difficulty, and in some cases for the risks, of the route. The first ascensionist can suggest a grade but it will be amended for the ''consensus view'' of subsequent ascents. While many cou ...

II, or up the northeast flank, also at UIAA grade II. An ascent along the east arête is slightly more difficult. The journey time is generally 3½ hours from the Ansbacher Hut.Dieter Seibert: ''Alpenvereinsführer Lechtaler Alpen'', Munich, 2002, pp. 248 ff., Rz 950 ff. The northeast flank is also possible as an extreme

ski tour Ski touring is skiing in the backcountry on unmarked or unpatrolled areas. Touring is typically done off-piste and outside of ski resorts, and may extend over a period of more than one day. It is similar to backcountry skiing but excludes the ...

Literature and map

*Dieter Seibert: '' Alpine Club guide Lechtaler Alpen'', Munich, 2002, *

Alpine Club map Alpine Club maps (, often abbreviated to ''AV-Karten'' i.e. AV maps) are especially detailed maps for summer and winter mountain climbers, hikers, and ski tourers. They are predominantly published at a scale of 1:25.000, although some sheets have ...

1:25,000, Sheet 3/3, ''Lechtaler Alpen, Parseierspitze''

References

{{reflist Two-thousanders of Austria Mountains of Tyrol (federal state) Mountains of the Alps Lechtal Alps