Parking Sulzenauhütte - Becherhaus (via Sulzenauhütte and Seescharte)

Access to starting point:
From Ljubljana, we drive on the highway past Salzburg in the direction towards München. At the multilevel junction Dreieck Inntal we go on the road A93 in the direction of Innsbruck/Kufstein/Brenner. When we return to Austria we continue to the junction with the exit Innsbruck-Mitte. Here we don't turn towards Innsbruck, but we continue on the highway A13 in the direction towards the mountain pass Brenner. We leave the highway at the exit 10-Schönberg and we follow a comfortable road through the valley Stubaital to settlements Neustift im Stubaital, center of the valley Stubaital, and Volderau, where still a wide asphalt road starts ascending a little more in the direction of Mutterbergalm and ski slope Stubaier Gletscher. We soon on the left notice large waterfall Grawa and a parking lot at the eponymous mountain pasture; here is the first starting point for the ascent towards Sulzenauhütte. After few minutes of additional driving, we park on a quite spacious purposive parking lot, which offers the most comfortable approach towards the mountain hut, and where at the starting point we notice a lot of information boards with ascents towards Sulzenauhütte.

Alternatively we can drive through northern Italy: in this case from the main Slovenia on the highway A2 we drive to one of the border crossings with Austria and we continue towards Lienz. Here we continue on the road 100 and past the passage Prato alla Drava we drive into Italy. In Italy we follow the road SS49 all the way to the juncture with highway A22 in the direction towards the mountain pass Brenner. After the mountain pass, we continue in the direction towards Innsbruck to the exit Schönberg. From there we continue as described above.

Path description:
From the starting point, we walk over a small bridge and following the signs for mountain hut Sulzenauhütte and mountain pasture Sulzenau, we continue on a narrow footpath which in zig-zags leads on the forested slope towards the south. To a moderately steep, not very difficult path, from which occasionally beautiful views opening up above Stubai valley, after approximately 45 minutes joins a little steeper variant of the path which on the forested terrain above Grawa Alm gets by the edge of a large waterfall Grawa. The footpath at this spot turns towards the east and after approximately 15 minutes brings us on a large plain, where below the cliffs, above which stands Sulzenauhütte, the view opens up towards the mountain pasture Sulzenau. Reliable signs lead us past the mountain pasture and point us on a narrow footpath which in zig-zags crosses a steep slope and after about two hours of walking from the starting point brings us to the hut Sulzenauhütte.

At the mountain hut, which is situated in the middle of attractive with water rich area of High Stubai, we look towards the signs for Nürnberger Hütte and Wilder Freiger, which from the hut lead towards the east (in the direction of Route Seescharte and Leo Schöpf’s Route; demanding and more direct Lübeckerweg soon branches off and turns steeply towards the south). At first, a quite gentle footpath soon brings us to the western edge above the lake Grünausee, where a beautiful view opens up towards Wilder Freiger and nearby peaks; here a demanding unmarked path branches off, which to the summit leads through Freiger glacier. After a short crossing north above the lake we find ourselves at the crossing: a wider footpath continues towards Nürnberger Hütte, and we go on a little less obvious path which leads us by the east edge above the lake Grünausee. Still quite undemanding path on a grassy slope leads on the more and more rocky terrain, where we move forward in the direction of next destination, saddle Seescharte between the peaks Urfallspitze (2805 meters) and Gamsspitzl (3051 meters). After a short slightly steeper ascent on rocky terrain after about two hours of walking from the hut we get on the saddle, where an ample view opens up towards the mountains and glaciers of the eastern part of the main group of High Stubai.

From the saddle, we continue on a footpath which on gravel terrain towards the south crosses below the massif of Gamsspitzl. We soon come to a crossing at the big rock, from where we can relatively simply and quickly ascend on Gamsspitzl, which offers a breathtaking view on the upper area of Wilder Freiger; I strongly recommend a short side path on this easy accessible three-thousander.
From the crossing, we continue on a footpath which crosses some snow fields, that remain all year round, and starts ascending steeper and steeper towards the ridge between two branches of the glacier, which surrounds the south side of Wilder Freiger. Further on a crumbly gravel path, in parts we need to climb a little, and the terrain is sometimes a little loose.
We soon find ourselves on a wide side ridge, which offers unobstructed view towards the continuation of the path. The ridge is in parts slightly precipitous, past the most inconvenient spots we get help from fixed safety gear (steel cables and footholds). In this part, the signs disappear and from here on they show up only rarely, and we still stick to the ridge; on two spots we avoid a sharp crest towards the east and we cross below it. At the descent on the upper part of a glacier we get help from a steel cable.

After a short and in the summer usually unproblematic crossing of the glacier, where we follow the poles, with the help of attached rope we ascend on a rocky slope below the upper ridge of Wilder Freiger, which we reach near the saddle Signalgipfel (3392 meters). From here it is possible ascend on the ridge to the summit Wilder Freiger (approx. 15 minutes; look the description of the ascent on Wilder Freiger).

Our path on the ridge goes towards the east and it ascends a little to a smaller meteorological station on Signalgipfel. Here we look towards the south and we follow a well-marked and secured ridge path, which is with the help of numerous steel cables and attached rope from Signalgipfel steeply descending towards the glacier Übeltalferner.
After about 20 minutes of a descent, we reach the edge of the glacier and we continue on in parts a little more exposed ridge towards the mountain hut, which we can see on the hill in front of us. Before the final ascent joins the path which ascends from the glacier Übeltalferner. In the last part of the path, the ridge widens, and to the hut we get on into a rock carved stairs.

The mountain hut which is situated on alluring, high nest-like location, is a good starting point for ascents on some of the highest peaks in Stubai Alps. Even though for the described approach in high summer and early autumn we usually don't need winter equipment, because of the glacial terrain, we should still have it in the backpack; this is especially true in the case if we want to ascend on some of the nearby peaks.

On the way: Sulzenauhütte (2191m), Seescharte (2762m), Signalgipfel (3392m)