Wildspitze seen from Hinterer Brunnkogel

Wildspitze () is the highest

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 ...

in the

Ötztal Alps The Ötztal Alps (, ) are a mountain range in the Central Eastern Alps, in the Tyrol (state), State of Tyrol in western Austria and the South Tyrol, Province of South Tyrol in northern Italy. Geography The Ötztal Alps are arrayed at the head of ...

and in

North Tyrol North Tyrol, rarely North Tirol (), is the main part of the Austrian federal state Tyrol, located in the western part of the country. The other part of the federal state is East Tyrol, which also belongs to Austria, but doesn't share a border wi ...

, as well as the second highest mountain in

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 ...

after the

Großglockner The Großglockner ( ), or just Glockner, is, at 3,798 metres above the Adriatic (12,461 ft), the highest mountain in Austria and highest mountain in the Alps east of the Brenner Pass. It is part of the larger Glockner Group of the Hohe Tauer ...

and in terms of

prominence In topography, prominence or relative height (also referred to as autonomous height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contour line encircling ...

(2261 m) is the fourth summit of the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

and the fifteenth of

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Location

The Wildspitze is on a ridge called ''Weißkamm'' ("white ridge") that joins 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 p ...

at the

Weißkugel Weißkugel (; ), or Weißkogel, is the second highest mountain in the Ötztal Alps and the third highest mountain in Austria. Featuring many glaciers, it lies on the border between Austria and Italy. The easiest way to climb it is over its south ...

. Its north and west flanks form the end of the Pitz valley, while the south and east flanks rise above the upper ends of the

Ötztal The Ötztal () is an alpine valley located in Tyrol, Austria. The Ötztaler Ache river flows through the valley in a northern direction. The Ötztal separates the Stubai Alps in the east from the Ötztal Alps in the west. The valley is long. The ...

. The mountain has twin peaks, with a rocky south summit (3768 m or by most other sources 3770 mThe

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 ...

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 ...

of the Ötztal AlpsWalter Klier, ''Ötztaler Alpen: ein Führer für Täler, Hütten und Berge'', Rother, Munich, 14th print, 2006.) and a

firn __NOTOC__ Firn (; from Swiss German "last year's", cognate with ''before'') is partially compacted névé, a type of snow that has been left over from past seasons and has been recrystallized into a substance denser than névé. It is ice that ...

-covered north summit at about 3760 m. Bergsteiger, January 2001, page 25.
Richard Goedeke: ''3000er in den Nordalpen.'', Bruckmann Verlag, Munich, 2004, , page 93. The mountain is surrounded by glaciers on three sides, of which the Taschachferner (at 8 km²) is the largest. The 50° north face is popular with ice climbers. The view from the peak is only limited by the curvature of the Earth. To the east one can see as far as the

and to the west as far as the

Finsteraarhorn The Finsteraarhorn () is a mountain lying on the border between the cantons of Canton of Bern, Bern and Valais. It is the highest mountain of the Bernese Alps and the List of prominent mountains of Switzerland, most prominent peak of Switzerland. ...

. The nearest higher mountain is the

Ortler Ortler (; ) is, at above sea level, the highest mountain in the Eastern Alps outside the Bernina Range. It is the main peak of the Ortler Range. It is the highest point of the Southern Limestone Alps, of South Tyrol in Italy, of Tyrol overall ...

, away in

South Tyrol South Tyrol ( , ; ; ), officially the Autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol, is an autonomous administrative division, autonomous provinces of Italy, province in northern Italy. Together with Trentino, South Tyrol forms the autonomo ...

Early ascents

The first recorded attempt at the Wildspitze was made in 1847 by Hermann and

Adolf Schlagintweit Adolf von Schlagintweit (9 January 1829 – 26 August 1857) was a German botanist and List of explorers, explorer of Central Asia. Brothers Hermann Schlagintweit, Hermann, Adolf and Robert Schlagintweit were commissioned by the British East Indi ...

, who probably reached a point at 3,552 m on the north east ridge. The first successful ascent was in 1848 by Leander Klotz, a guide and farmer in the at the foot of the mountain (now part of

Sölden Sölden () is a municipality in the Ötztal valley of Tyrol, Austria. Geography At c. , it is the largest municipality in the country. The population of 3,449 (as of 2003) is outnumbered by tourists, of which 15,000 can be accommodated. Wit ...

), and another, unnamed local farmer. In August 1857, the brothers Nikodem, Leander and Hans Klotz guided , a merchant from Vienna, to the summit for the second ascent. The northern summit was somewhat higher, at the time measured to be 11,947 Viennese feet or 3,776 m,Anthon von Ruthner
Ersteigung der hohen Wildspitze im Oetzthale
Mittheilungen der Kaiserlichen=Königlichen Geographischen Gesellschaft, pp. 216–243. but the south summit was a better viewpoint and the first two parties had climbed it instead. On August 29, 1861, Nikodem and Leander Klotz guided Anthon von Ruthner and Friedrich R. von Enderes, both from Vienna, to the south summit again. During their hour-long stay on top, Leander traversed to the north peak, which subsequently was considered the first ascent of the main summit of the Wildspitze. However, by the end of the 20th century, snow melt had lowered the northern summit to about 3,765 m, rendering the south summit the highest point and 1848 the year of first ascent.

Routes

The most common route to the top is from the Breslauer Hut, which is approached from the village

Vent Vent or vents may refer to: Science and technology Biology *Vent, the cloaca region of an animal *Vent DNA polymerase, a thermostable DNA polymerase Geology *Hydrothermal vent, a fissure in a planet's surface from which geothermally heated water ...

(1900 m a.s.l.). Most climbers sleep at the hut or in a tent and continue to the summit the next day (about 4 hours from the Breslauerhütte). An alternative route goes from the

Braunschweiger Hut Braunschweiger may refer to: *Braunschweiger (sausage), the name for several types of sausages *Braunschweiger Kammermusikpodium, classical music festival held in Lower Saxony, Germany *Braunschweiger Land, region in Lower Saxony, Germany *Braunschw ...

in the

Pitztal The Pitztal is an alpine valley located in Tyrol, Austria. The Pitztal is a southern side valley of the Upper Inntal, and runs between the valleys Ötztal (to the east) and Kaunertal (to the west). The Pitze The Pitze (also: ''Pitzbach'') is a ...

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 ...

area. From the hut the route crosses the

s to the Mittelbergjoch (see right image, close to the lower left corner), and then traverses a

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 ...

-filled area of the Taschachferner glacier to the summit of the Wildspitze. The average time used for this tour is 6.5 hours.

Climate

Wildspitze has a

tundra climate The tundra climate is a polar climate sub-type located in high latitudes and high mountains. It is classified as ET according to the Köppen climate classification. It is a climate which at least one month has an average temperature high enough ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''ET'').

References

External links