Kesselfall - Großes Wiesbachhorn

Access to starting point:
Through the Karawanks Tunnel, we drive to Austria, and then we continue driving on Tauern highway. Further, we drive through the tunnel Katschberg and later also Tauerntunnel, we follow the highway towards Salzburg only to exit for Bischofshofen, from where we continue driving on a four-lane road towards the already mentioned town. From Bischofshofen we follow the signs for settlement Zell am See and then for settlement Kaprun. In Kaprun we continue through the valley Kaprunertal and we follow the signs »Speichererseen«. The slightly ascending road we follow all the way to the end. We park in a free garage, which is located at the end of the road by the mountain hut Kesselfall Alpenhaus. The road which goes further from the garage is closed for public traffic.

Path description:
In garage, we follow the signs for exit and on the stairs, we ascend upwards. Because the exit is at the top of the garage. From the garage, we come on the road where we continue right where we also get pointed to by signs for cashier's desk where we can buy a ticket towards the lake Mooserboden.
We continue past the gate on the road which is closed for public traffic. After a very short ascent on the road, signpost points us to the left on a footpath through the forest. The path then leads through the forest and soon crosses a stream. For some time we walk on a relatively gentle path through the forest and then we join the cart track on which we come to the bottom station of the inclined elevator. Cart track is old access to the inclined elevator, new road leads through a tunnel. Mentioned inclined elevator is otherwise the largest such elevator in Europe and leads to the upper part of the road towards the lake Mooserboden. Elevator was originally made for the purpose of dam construction on lakes Wasserfallboden and Mooserboden.
In front of the bottom station of the elevator, our path turns to the right and is then further for quite some time ascending through the forest. At the ascent it also few times through a short tunnel crosses the route of the elevator. Higher, we then cross a grazing fence and the path brings us on the mountain pasture where cows are grazing in the summer months. For some time we are then ascending on a little more panoramic grassy slopes and then the path turns to the left and leaves the mountain pasture. After that, the path runs on a cart track which brings us on an asphalt road. Left leads the road towards the bottom part of the dam on lake Wasserfallboden, and we continue on the road right upward where also signposts point us to. We soon come to a crossroad where from the right side joins the road from the upper station of the inclined elevator.
At the crossroad, we continue left on the road which quickly brings us to tunnel. Walking through the tunnel is forbidden therefore our path turns left and then crosses little steeper slopes by the tunnel. On the other side of the tunnel we again join the road and we come to a dam on lake Wasserfallboden. At the dam we continue slightly right on the road and we soon again avoid the tunnel left on a footpath. The path further crosses quite steep slopes above the lake from which we have a very nice view towards numerous three-thousanders above the lake. After that, the path turns right and for a short time joins the tunnel. In the tunnel, the path runs on a narrow sidewalk, which is from the road separated by a fence. We soon leave the tunnel and the path again brings us on steep slopes above the lake. This time the slope is even a little steeper and while walking quite some caution is needed. The path here at first slightly descends and we also get help from fixed safety gear. For a short time, we then join an old abandoned road and after a short exposed crossing we again join the main asphalt road. At the next tunnel we again leave the road, but this time the slopes which we cross are less steep. The path here runs through grassy slopes with a nice view towards the lake and surrounding peaks. When we again join the road soon brings us to a crossroad. Signposts here point us to the right upward and after a short ascent, we come to the mountain pasture Fürthermoaralm on which there are also a mountain hut and a chapel.
We continue on a cart track past a chapel and we are quickly again at the crossing. Right upward leads the path Hochkammerweg towards the ski slope Kitzsteinhorn – Kaprun, and we continue straight and follow the signs for Mooserboden. From the crossing, our path at first slightly descends and leads us past some information boards, which describe plants and animals on the mountain pasture. After that, the path crosses few streams and the cart track passes into a footpath. The path here turns to the left and starts ascending a little steeper and it again brings us on an asphalt road. We follow the road to the next tunnel where blazes again point us to the right on a footpath. Only last ascent to a dam on lake Mooserboden follows. By the dam is situated also a restaurant.
We continue on the road over a dam and approximately on the halfway of the dam we come below the slope of the peak Höhenburg. On the left side, there is another restaurant and secured climbing path (Klettersteigarena Höhenburg), which leads on the mentioned peak. We continue on the dam and on the eastern side of the peak also an easier path on stairs to the summit of Höhenburg branches off to the left. We continue over the other half of the dam and then we come to a marked crossing.
To the right leads the path towards the summit Großer Bärenkopf, and we continue left where signs point us to the peak Wiesbachhorn and mountain hut Heinrich-Schwaiger Haus. After a short ascent on a grassy slope, we come to another crossing.
This time path Max Hirschl Weg towards the mountain hut Gleiwitzer Hütte branches off to the left, and we continue right towards the mountain hut Heinrich-Schwaiger Haus. From the crossing, we start ascending in long zig-zags on a relatively steep slope. On some spots, we also get help from steel cables. The path then brings us in the main part of national park Hohe Tauern. Further, we are for quite some time ascending in zig-zags on a steep slope and in doing so, we have all the time a nice view towards lakes Mooserboden and Wasserfallboden and on peaks above the lakes. When we get closer to a cargo cableway, the path turns slightly to the left and mainly on parts where the path runs on smooth plates we also get help from steel cables. A little later path turns again to the right and only a short ascent follows to the hut Heinrich-Schwaiger Haus.
At the mountain hut, we continue left following the signs »Wiesbachhorn« and we cross a slope towards the northeast. The path quickly brings us to a steep gully. The path here becomes significantly more demanding and also the use of self belaying is recommended. After a relatively short steep ascent, the path turns to the right and then follows an ascent on a rocky slope where the path is marked with red dots. The slope is quite steep so some caution is still needed. On such path we then reach a ridge by the summit Unterer Fochezkopf. On the ridge where a view opens up on the eastern side we continue right and at first slightly descend, and then we continue with an ascent on a ridge, that runs by glacier Fochezkees. At the end of the mentioned glacier path also leads past the peak Oberer Fochezkopf where the marked path ends.
We still continue on the ridge, which is on the right side occasionally also slightly exposed. The path on the ridge named Kaindlgrat then leads us above glaciers Kaindlkees and Wielingerkees, and at the ascent, we also have a nice view towards Großes Wiesbachhorn. When we come on the west side of the mentioned summit the ridge ends and brings us on less steep slopes. In spite of that, that the blazes are gone the footpath is usually still sufficiently visible.
Our path here turns to the left and again starts ascending a little steeper on the western slopes of the mountain. Further, we can ascend on the left side on a little more rocky ridge where some easy climbing is needed. The second option is that we are ascending on the right side where the footpath is ascending on an otherwise very steep slope, so some caution is needed here as well. Which variant we will choose depends also on snow conditions. On such slope, we are then ascending all the way to a panoramic summit Großes Wiesbachhorn.
We descend on the ascent route. The most appropriate time of ascent is in late summer when an ascent is often possible also without winter equipment.
We can shorten an ascent by inclined elevator and bus transportation with which we can get to a dam on lake Mooserboden. In this case, there is 5 hours of ascent to the top.

On the way: Stausee Wasserfallboden (1672m), Fürthermoaralm (1805m), Mooserboden (2036m), Heinrich Schwaiger Haus (2802m), Unterer Fochezkopf (3022m), Oberer Fochezkopf (3159m)