Stubai Alps Snowshoe Tour

It’s all in the planning

This year we managed to convince a few more friends that snowshoeing was easy, so with a group of 8, the tour was planned. Flying into Innsbruck from Bristol on Easyjet is simple, the flight times are not too unreasonable and the Austrian huts are incredible, so that was the decision made, Austria again. This time just down the road from Innsbruck in the Stubai Alps.

As is normally the case when planning a trip, there is a significant amount of preparation required for a hut to hut tour. Even more so in winter and on snow-shoes where travel times are slower than ski touring and where managing the avalanche risk is essential. We used the OutdoorActive website alongside maps to plan the route. OutdoorActive has both winter and summer overlay options and has some intelligence built in to avoid planning routes that wouldn’t be suitable for snowshoeing (it’s not completely infallible though!). The maps also show the huts that are available. Once planned on OutdoorActive I exported the routes as GPX files and loaded them into FatMap. This gave me a better feel for the routes in 3D terrain maps. FatMap also gives aspect and slope angle overlays, making the avalanche route planning simpler. For more information on mapping and apps, see my Favourite Sites page.

Booking huts and accommodation

With the route planned, time to book the huts and pensions. English was not widely spoken, so a combination of my GCSE German and Google Translate and a few phone calls soon had us all booked in. As we were travelling in March, our first choice of hut was already fully booked, Kuhtai is a large ski resort and is very popular. As an alternative we managed to find a B&B in Oetz, with the added advantage that they let us store our flight hold bags there whilst we trekked the circuit. We were returning to them at the end of the route.

Arrival in Austria

We arrived in a warm and sunny Innsbruck and using the ÖBB app were soon on the train and bus to Oetz and a short walk to our excellent Bed and Breakfast, Haus Gertraud expertly run by Andy. As it was still early in the afternoon, we took a taxi to Ochsengarten so that the team could get used to their Snowshoes and to practice the Transceiver, Probe and Shovel techniques for avalanche companion rescue. These skills are essential to understand when heading into the backcountry.

Ochsengarten to Kuhtai – 11km, 869m ascent, 7hrs 53m

After a good breakfast we took the bus to Ochsengarten for our first days hike to Kuhtai. This was really a kit and team check, because we would be hiking between resorts. Kit or team issues could be addressed whilst we were still in civilisation. The start of this days hike was a marked snowshoe trail, but it was a rude awakening as the trail rises 400m vertically in 1.5km, although the marked trail finishes at the Balbach Alm restaurant, so at least we could have a mid-morning coffee. The next part of the route was a traverse across to Kuhtai, however we were the only people to use that route and the snow was quite deep, so a considerable trail breaking opportunity for me. The terrain also meant there was a lot of up and down through the trees, so it was a tired team that arrived at our accommodation in Kuhtai.

Kuhtai to Schweinfurter Huette – 11km, 962m ascent, 7h 47m

After a night in the fabulous “Schneckenhaus” linked to the Jagdschloss Hotel which served an incredible breakfast, it was time to start the full tour. The morning was bright, sunny and warm when we left the hotel. Fortunately the early stage of the route was in the shade, albeit not for long. We made good time on the start due to using a combined hut access road/toboggan run. The route heads up to a large dam which is a popular ski touring access route. The first “challenging” section was just after the dam, I wondered why the ski tourers were putting their harschiesen (touring ski crampons) on as the snow conditions were good, it soon became apparent that this was because we had to traverse above the reservoir along a fairly narrow corridor with a large steel net below us. I created a bit of a track for the team and once past this point the trail became easier. After a quick lunch stop it was on up to the col and then up to the summit of the Schartenkopf for a quick summit photo,before the long descent to the Schweinfurter Huette for a well earned beer.

Schweinfurter Huette to Pforzheimer Hut – 7km, 780m ascent, 4h 52m

This day dawned overcast and the forecast was not overly inspiring, with it set to continue with light snow and overcast for the whole day. The route followed the valley floor, which in the breaks in the clouds gave us views of the surrounding mountains. Before long we had started up the sometimes steep slopes towards the col that we had to cross to descend to the Pforzheimer. There were not many places to hide from the chilly wind that was blowing, but we did our best and ate a spot of lunch. We then picked our way up a fairly hard packed steep slope where we were thankful to have good snowshoes with a good crampon. This slope was also relatively steep and a slip would have resulted in quite a slide. Once up to the col, the next challenge was to find a way off it. Because of the wind a cornice had built up on the side we needed to descend. Whilst I scouted a suitable descent route, the team added clothing layers as it was really windy on the col. I found a safe route through the corniced ridge and I set about setting a nice trench for the others to follow whilst also checking the slope for snow stability. The weather really came in for this descent, it took quite a lot of work to find a safe path down for the team. Once off this slope it was a relatively easy route to the hut and some nice warm drinks, oh and a few beers of course.

Pforzheimer Hut to St Sigmund – 5.8km, 30m ascent, 2h 8m

On this day we should have been heading over another col to get to a B&B in Praxmar, however the 5cm of forecast snow ended up as 30cm of new snow and deposited with quite a bit of wind. We could also see the route we’d need to take and the terrain looked quite complex. After a quick chat with the hut guardian (always a useful approach), we were advised that the winter route over the col approached 40 degrees steepness, this would be fine with crampons, but would be pushing the limits of snowshoes. Therefore we re-routed, as part of the planning we knew we had escape points to be able to get to the roads. So this day was a relaxing downhill hike to St Sigmund where we could get the bus to Praxmar. We also managed to get a coffee and cake in St Sigmund, so not all was lost. We had booked a Pension (B&B) in Praxmar and whilst the host didn’t speak any english, we managed to get by and the breakfast she provided was incredible.

Praxmar to Winnebachseehuette – 15.5km, 1266m ascent, 8h 23m

This was always going to be a long day on snowshoes. The start of the day from Praxmar was a nice 5km stretch along the valley following some langlauf tracks, so  a nice warm up. Before long though, it was time to ascend, steeply at first, but this opened into a nice valley. Our route for this day passed via the Westfalenhaus hut, so after a good few hours of snowshoeing and as a bit of a snowstorm came in, we decided to have a coffee and for some, cake, in the hut. After warming in the hut, it was quickly time to continue the journey. The weather had worsened so it was an ascent in the “white room” to the col. The final ascent to the Winnebachjoch at 2782m was a bit steep and with hard packed snow, so with a bit of effort I enlarged the path for the others to follow. We had a short stop for a hot drink and some food on the col before continuing the descent to the hut. The weather closed in again, so finding a suitable descent route was a challenge, but after a short while the weather cleared to reveal a lovely valley for us to descend to the Winnebachseehuette for some well earned beers (and Kaiserschmarrn).

Winnebachseehuette to Gries – 5.6km, 784m descent, 1h 33m

This was our final day, all that was left was the descent from the hut. The start of the descent was quite steep and with a fairly firm snow pack, it required careful placement. Once this short section was out of the way, it was a lovely descent all the way to Gries. There was a small river crossing that required a bit of care, but the skies were blue and the scenery was incredible. We were hoping to get a bus from Gries to Oetz, but we missed one and they were not that frequent. There was only one thing for it, a celebratory lunch in the Hotel Schöpf. The advantage of this being that they organised a taxi for the 7 of us to return to Oetz and back to Haus Gertraud.

This was a fantastic trip in lovely huts and through amazing scenery. The terrain was quite complex, so probably not for novices and some of the days were very long, although the longest day could have been split. Avalanche hazard could also be problematic in this terrain as we certainly passed through prime avalanche territory.