Ski tour from Haeuselalm

Approach

See the parent page how to reach the Bodenbauer farm!

Route Description

From Bodenbauer farm you follow the road, which is in winter and early spring under snow. The direction is NW. Ascending, the marked trail crosses road curves and after good one hour the valley narrows under the steep Buchbergkogel. You continue the same direction until the terrain flattens - the Haeuselalm hut lies a bit right above the saddle (1526 m). Sleeping in the hut is highly recommendable. You have a feeling to be really welcome and prices are not high.

From the hut you take the NE direction. This is the route, by which the ski pioneer Tony Schruf reached the summit of Hochschwab already in 1895 (March 8th)! The trail goes first through the last trees (pines and larches), the place is called Haeuseltrog. You are ascending gently over the plateau, mostly being preoccupied admiring panorama and gentle hills around, all of them most suitable for tour skiing. Then the terrain flattens and you cross above the plateau valley. On one place the more exposed ledge is even secured with a steel rope. The place around is called Baumstall. Reaching the end of the valley, you surprisingly turn sharply right (SE). The trail ascends quite steeply, in return here you will enjoy the best skiing slopes. After ascending 100 meters you reach Hirschgrube. Here the high Hochschwab plateau begins.

You turn your direction again to the NE, again gaining altitude very slowly. The long ridge-like plateau here is called Hundsboeden (cca 2000 m). Approaching the summits of Grosser Beilstein and Stangenwand, the plateau flattens again. The trail goes in some places up and down, the crossing would be boring if the landscape would not be so interesting. So you reach Rauchsattel (cca 2100 m). From this flat saddle you continue crossing the plateau in the eastern direction. You traverse the slopes below Zagelkogel and G'hacktkogel, reach the Fleischer bivouac and from there in the NE direction the summit of Hochschwab.

You can ski down by the route of approach. This is the longest and easyest possibility.

From the high plateau, there are also three possible ski descents directly towards the south, into Trawiestal. I haven't tried them by myself, so only to name them:
1. Rauchsattel - Zagelkogel (2255 m) - Zagelkar - Trawiestal.
2. Rauchsattel - Rauchtal - Trawiestal.
3. Hundsboeden - Kloben (2055 m) - Trawiestal.

Essential Gear

Normal tour skiing equipment. When visibility is poor, the high plateau is extremely dangerous. The trail is well marked with poles, but losing them in a dense fog means certainly being lost. So a good navigation tool is a must to have.