Reißkofelbad - Reißkofel (via bivouac)

Access to starting point:
From Beljak / Villach we drive towards Hermagor and forward towards Lienz, but only to the village Reisach. In the mentioned village, we turn right and the ascending road we follow to boarding house Reißkofel near of which we park.

Path description:
By the road near the cottage we will notice signposts, which point us to the left on a footpath (signs Reißkofel Biwak). After few meters of walking, we come to a crossing where we go left (signs Schmalzgruben Welzberg). After a short descent, we are again at the crossing, this time we go right following the signs Ochsenschlucht Alm (path 233). The path then starts ascending through the forest and it brings us to a meadow. The path runs on the right side of a meadow and then past few houses brings us to signposts (we follow the signs for Reißkofelbiwak). We again ascend through a meadow, this time on the left side. At the end of the meadow then the path turns right in the forest and is at first ascending on a worse cart track which quickly passes into a footpath. The path is then for quite some time steeply ascending through the forest and few times crosses a mountain road. In the last part of the path towards the bivouac we come out of the forest on grassy slopes, where nice views open up on neighbouring Torkofel and on Carnic Alps.
At the bivouac we follow the signs Reißkofel (path 223). The path little above bivouac turns to the right and starts ascending through dwarf pines, which gradually becoming rarer. When we come on the ridge a view opens up on steep slopes of Reißkofel. The path on a wide grassy ridge soon brings us to the entry of a climbing part of the path.
First, we are ascending by the steel cable by the ridge and then the path turns slightly to the left on northwestern slopes and steeply ascends by the steel cable. The path on some spots is almost vertical and we need to be especially careful, because the slope is quite crumbly, and on the path, there is also quite a lot of thin gravel. When we come again on the ridge we go left and we continue on narrow unsecured ridge. After that, the path turns slightly to the left and crosses steep slopes. Here the path becomes a little less demanding, but because of thin gravel on the path still a considerable caution is needed. Next follows a shorter descent and then we cross steep northern slopes. On the path we cross also few gullies in which in the early summer, there can still be some snow. The path on more dangerous parts is secured with a steel cable or with a rope. In the last part, the path becomes a little less demanding and few meters below the summit from the left joins also an easier path which leads on the eastern ridge. Next follows a shorter ascent to a panoramic summit.

On the way: Reißkofel Biwak (1799m)