Türlwandhütte - Hoher Gjaidstein (via Hunerscharte)

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 Tauern tunnel, and the highway towards Salzburg we follow only to exit for Radstadt, Schladming. We continue on the road to the settlement Schladming where we then continue left on an ascending road following the signs Ramsau. In the settlement Ramsau, we continue a good 2 km on the mentioned road, and then we turn right on a payable road, where signs for cable car point us to. We follow this road all the way to a large parking lot in front of the bottom station of the cable car.

Path description:
From the parking lot, we continue past the bottom cableway station following the signs Südwandhütte. The path at first leads on the right side of the cableway through a thin larch forest, later turns to the left and crosses slopes towards the west. Soon the path towards the climbing garden (Klettergarten) branches off to the right. We still cross the slopes towards the west and from the left joins the path from a lower starting point. From the crossing then follows approximately 10 minutes of walking on a scenic slope to the mountain hut Südwandhütte.
At the mountain hut, we continue right following the signs Hunerscharte and we ascend on a short grassy ridge above the mountain hut. The path then brings us on the south mostly grassy slopes below the summit Scheiblingstein. Slopes in a gentle ascent, we cross towards the east and the path brings us into a valley below the cable car. Here the path turns left and starts ascending through the valley upwards. At the ascent through the valley, we have a nice view towards the peaks Türlspitz, and soon opens up also a view towards the summit Hunerkogl on which runs a cable car. The path further runs on the right side of the valley and starts ascending a little steeper. Higher, the path turns slightly to the left and it ascends on the scree, which brings us to a more demanding part of the path.
The path is at first ascending by the steel cable, and then becomes also slightly steeper and we also get help from some iron spikes and stemples. We are still ascending by the steel cable and we soon come below the wall of Hunerkogel where extremely demanding climbing path Skywalk Klettersteig branches off to the left.
Our path here turns to the right and starts ascending steeply by the steel cable with the help of numerous iron spikes and stemples (difficulty B). After that, the path for a short time becomes slightly less steep (difficulty A/B), and then follows again the ascent through a steep groove with the help of iron spikes towards the notch Hunerscharte (B).
On the notch where a view opens up towards the north, we continue left following the signs Bergstation Hunerkogel. At first, we are ascending by the ridge towards the west, and then the path turns to the right towards the glacier. Here the climbing path on Hunerkogl branches off to the left (difficulty C/D), and we continue on the path which starts slightly descending on a glacier. While walking on a glacier we stick to the settled path, because on the glacier there are also cracks. After a short descent, the path brings us to a crossing, where we continue left and we start ascending towards the saddle Gjaidsteinsattel.
On the saddle, we continue right, and to the left there is only a short ascent to the top of Hunerkogel where there is the upper station of the cable car. We continue on the wide path on a glacier to the other side of the saddle where starts ridge of the peak Gjaidstein. Here we leave the path on a glacier and we ascend right to the signposts.
From the crossing at signposts, we continue on the ridge following the signs Simony Hütte. The path leads us past a smaller cottage owned by mountain rescue service and continues to ascend by a wide ridge. Soon increasingly beautiful view starts opening up towards the summit Hoher Dachstein and on other peaks above the glacier. After that, the path becomes slightly steeper and on a shorter part, there is also a steel cable for help. A short ascent follows on a panoramic ridge to the top of Kleiner Gjaidstein.
From the top of Kleiner Gjaidstein we continue on the ridge and at first, we slightly descend by the steel cable. Further, the path again starts ascending and on a shorter part becomes a little more demanding (difficulty A/B). We still walk on a ridge and higher follows another shorter ascent by the steel cable. To the top of Hoher Gjaidstein then only a short ascent follows on an undemanding ridge.

On the way: Dachstein Südwand Hütte (1910m), Hunerscharte (2602m), Gjaidsteinsattel (2640m), Kleiner Gjaidstein (2735m)