Maria Waldrast - Serles (western approach from Maria Waldrast)

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 continue on the highway all the way to the settlement Matrei am Brenner, where we go to the exit 19-Matrei. After this we go on the road B182 and we follow it to the village Mützens, where with the help of reliable marks we go to a narrower road which after the gate (toll is 6 euros for personal car) in few kilometers brings us to the parking lot near the inn and monastery church.

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 19-Matrei at the settlement Matrei am Brenner. From there we continue as described above.

Path description:
From the parking lot at Maria Waldrast, the highest pilgrimage point in Austria, following the signs for Serles we go on the path which immediately behind the church turns to the left into the forest. Through grazing areas we continue on a small footpath which soon crosses scree gully in the eastern walls of Serles. Further a very well-marked path leads through a thinner high mountain forest, which is higher replaced by dwarf pines, and two more times we cross the end of steep gullies, which are on a rocky slope above us. After a good hour of walking from the starting point, we pass on open grassy slopes in the heart of Serles group, and also a nice view opens up towards the south part of the mountain range, where Lämpermahdspitze and Peilspitze stand out. The footpath which in zig-zags crosses moderately steep slope, we follow all the way to the saddle Serlesjöchl, where the path from Maria Waldrast joins the longer path from Kampl in the valley Stubaital.

On the saddle the further path shows up; we go to the right towards the northern Serles and in few minutes we get to the first fixed safety gear on the path. With the help of a metal ladder and steel cables, we ascend over the rocky edge (partly demanding), whereupon we continue on the path which in zig-zags crosses moderately steep slopes of Serles. Not long after the first steel cables we cross the last secured section of the path, and then we for a longer time follow a moderately steep but undemanding path on the upper slope of the mountain. A little below the upper ridge, the path turns sharply to the right towards the west and it reliably leads over a rocky band to a wide upper plateau of Serles. From here to the highest point with a large cross and a great view separates us only a short walk.

It is worth mentioning, that high mountain paths in Tyrol are marked with blue (undemanding), red (moderately demanding) and black (demanding/very demanding) signs. Even though the described path on Serles is marked with black circles and there we face a short easy climbing path, I would rate it as comparable to Slovenian partly demanding paths without very exposed spots and without any serious technical difficulty.

On the way: Serlesjöchl (2384m)