Pushing for Pyramidenspitze DAAD Tour

The track for this hike wasn't set in stone, since me and the other hikers didn't know the trail conditions and wanted to decide on the route as we went on. While Vordere Kesselschneid (2002 m) was (and still is) in my backlog, the concrete idea of going from Kufstein to the peak along the mountain ridge was proposed by Mikuláš. I sent out an invite to my hiking WhatsApp chats ahead of time and got Andrea, Dennis and Wang to join us two.

We started off strong, pushing through the city and getting to the start of the actual trail near Parkplatz Kaisertal. We went up the dirt trail covered in stairs and steps up, looking at the surrounding scenery. It was easy to notice that everything around us had "Kaiser" in the name. Goes to show how much power the emperor had. After reaching Gasthaus Veitenhof (724 m) I started to notice some members having to rest more often, so we slowed down the pace and took more breaks.

On the way up the scenery was breathtaking, having the clouds below us drop down from mountain ridges like water droplets from a waterfall. The sun was very active, so I made a stop at Ritzaualm (1161 m) to take my thermal suit off. The hut itself appeared to resemble a 4-star hotel more than a mountain hut, having a big restaurant, fresh wooden floors, hot water in the toilet and an overall expensive look.

After the involuntary break we climbed up to Vorderkaiserfeldenhütte (1388 m), passing hikers that were already descending. At the hut we took an actually voluntary break to have some snacks and prepare for the tougher section of the hike. While the road before was accessible to off-road cars, from this point onwards it was just a narrow dirt trail covered in knee-high snow. We skipped Naunspitze (1633 m) and headed straight to Petersköpfl (1745 m) to take advantage of the light shining through some small cloud formations, casting a nice rainbow halo on the clouds below us.

After the photo session we continued our way to Einserkogel (1924 m). Along the road we came across an experienced hiker. Although I'm super shy when it comes to speaking German, I managed to ask him about the condition of the path ahead. He said the footprints in the snow only go up to Einserkogel (1924 m) and we should turn back if we don't have the necessary equipment (we didn't). We thanked him, had some rest and pushed onward and upward.

After reaching Einserkogel (1924 m) and verifying the intel from the hike I reiterated the danger of moving forward. The sun was so low at that point that our shadows went over the mountain edge and onto the clouds below. I was really hoping to cast a giant shadow of myself on the clouds, but they were too far away and I didn't manage to do it. We decided to take our last group photos and split up. Dennis, Wang and Andrea went back, while I and Mikuláš continued to Zwölferkogel (1912 m), Vogelbad, Elferkogel (1916 m) and eventually Pyramidenspitze (1997 m) following a pair Schneeschuhe footsteps from an unknown pro hiker that took the route a few days ago.

I have to say, the route in winter was very tough. Apart from constantly sinking into the knee- or waist-high snow, hitting my legs on the rocks below it, the wind was almost blowing my head off my shoulders. There also were segments where we had to climb up or down some huge rocks holding onto a safety cable. It was twice as hard, considering the rocks were slippery and covered in ice. Still, we persevered and reached the Pyramidenspitze (1997 m) peak. It was already past 16:00 at that time, and we didn't see any footsteps around, so we decided to skip Vordere Kesselschneid (2002 m) and head down. Since the path up was so long and difficult, we decided to head straight south trying to follow Wanderweg 835. It seemed the pro I mentioned above also took this way, changing his shoes for skis.

When we reached the crossing with Wanderweg 811, the trail from the hiker's skis went deeper into the mountains for some reason, so we had to carve our own path through the snow in the direction of Kufstein.

We kept going for around 1.5 hours, until we finally reconnected with the Vorderkaiserfeldenhütte (1388 m). At this point everything around us was pitch black, since the sun set at 16:40, so we used our head lights and treaded carefully. Another issue appeared when we realized that the once beautiful clouds at the bottom of the mountain actually moved higher up and now we had to walk through them on the way down.

When we came to Ritzaualm (1161 m) at 19:00, it was already closed (since 16:00), so we sat outside and I removed the lake of water and the snow soup from my shoes, changed my socks and put some warm clothes on. Further down, we were surprised to find Gasthaus Veitenhof (724 m) still open. I went inside and bought roughly 380 g of their homemade cheese for roughly 11.50€. Even paid with my phone's NFC module!

The rest of the way down and back was just a matter of time. We had plenty of time to reach the train station, so we didn't rush. Somehow, we were too slow and barely managed to get inside the train before it departed. Overall this was one of the most difficult hikes I've done to date, but I'll gladly do it again. The views were out of this world and the company I had made is even better!