Königsjodler: A mountain climber’s legend! 🙂
The Via Ferrata “Königsjodler” is the longest Ferrata in the Austrian state Salzburg and supposed to be one of the most difficult Ferratas in the Eastern Alps due to it’s length and exposure. It consists of 1700 climbing meters up to difficulty grade D and ends a mere 30 minute hike from the summit of the 2.941m high Hochkönig mountain. It’s on our list for a very long time already and we love the Hochkönig region in any case, whether it’s for skiing and party, or trailrunning at the Hochkönigman Trailrun Festival, we were just waiting for a free weekend with good weather. 🙂
The 11th of June 2017 forecasted a cloudless sky and 0% chance of rain or thunderstorm for the upcoming weekend, so on Friday evening we were on our way to Übergossene Alm Resort in Dienten, the perfect starting point for the climb. The Übergossene Alm resort is located really close to the Dientner Sattel and offers great views of the whole Hochkönig mountain range. <3
The hotel shuttle conveniently drops us at the parking lot of Erichhütte on Saturday morning, from where the ascent to Königsjodler starts. In roughly 1,5 hours we make our way on trail 432 over two smaller snow patches and some easy scrambling to the start of the Ferrata.
Simply 100% Ferrata-awesomeness
The start of the Ferrata is located on ~2310 meters and follows the ridge over the “Flower Tower”, “Mühlbacher Tower”, nine sharp rocky peaks called the “Teufelshörnl” and the “Kummetstein” via multiple draws and straddling steps. The single parts of the climb are not very difficult, it’s more the length and exposure and the seemless never-ending Up and Down the steel rope follows.
There is one emergency exit in the last quarter of the Ferrata, which is really steep and as long as there is snow in the so called “Birgkar” absolutely not recommended.
We pass some little snow patches and see a handfull of broken pro on the devil’s pillars, but apart from that we have perfect conditions: The weather is 100% safe (something that is absolutely mandatory to climb Königsjodler!), the rock is dry and there are no other people in the Ferrata. For those reasons we are able to climb a steady pace without any hurry and, apart from the multiple photo and film stopps, make good progress. We take one break for food and drinks and everything goes smoothly as planned – we are able to enjoy the panoramique views and vistas at its fullest!
We reach the exit of the Ferrata after roughly 4,5 hours of scrambling and climbing and after an inscription in the summit book we continue to Matrashaus, the hut right on top of the Hochkönig summit and our shelter for the night.
From sunsets, snow and swimming
We reach the Matrashaus just in time for dinner and have a long chat with Roman, the hut keeper and a great storyteller who takes care of the Hochkönig summit and hut since 17(!) years. On his homepage you can find updates on the current conditions at the mountain and the Ferrata and we highly recommend to get in touch with him and spend a night here – what we experience this evening is just breathtaking! After over 6 hours of hiking and climbing we get rewarded by the most breathtaking sunset the Hochkönig can offer: No wind, warm temperatures and endless 100° views leave us and the few other guests speechless. 🙂
The next day we descend via the normal route via Arthurhaus as the descent via the Birgkar ist still way to dangerous. As typical for June there is still plenty of snow, but all the patches are easy to walk on.. After 3 hours we reach the valley and are able to find a hitch back to Dienten. 🙂
We are really happy to be back at Übergossene Alm Resort again. As much as we love the mountains, as much we appreciate the comfort and amenities at the resort – our feet are burning from the long downhill and the pool and heated swimming pond are calling. The Übergossene Alm Resort is really a jewel on the foothills of Hochkönig: We are are able to re-live the Ferrata again and they even “urge” you to take-away some sandwiches for lunch. 🙂
Conclusively said, the Königsjodler is one of the most treasured Ferrata’s in the Alps, but shouldn’t be underestimated! The weather and personal fitness should be adaequate for a day-long alpine trip – and if you`’re not sure about the current conditions, please check back with Roman at Matrashaus or at least the Hochkönig tourist information. Please note that most of the people take 10-12 hours for the whole trip and so you should make sure to start early enough (especially when you plan to descend the same day)!
Königsjodler, thanks for gifting us with a perfect day – it was a pleasure!
We also took a nice little video which you can find on our brand new YOUTUBE-Channel, have fun watching:
In friendly cooperation with Übergossene Alm Resort. More information: www.uebergossenealm.at – thank you!
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