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The Austrian mountains are a popular tourist attraction, and some mountains are good for skiing and hiking. The mountain scenery around the Alps is heavily used for hiking and skiing among other recreational and sports activities.
Unfortunately, this has left serious marks on sensitive ecosystems in this region. Young trees are being destroyed as a result of widespread hiking, which disturbs the local fauna and damages the soil and vegetation.
In addition, global warming has reduced the size of many of the glaciers that cover the mountains. Environmentalists and climate researchers are warning that the continued impact of global warming could increase the number of avalanches, heavy rains and landslides.
If you are into any kind of recreation like hiking and mountain climbing, this list will fit perfectly on your top list of goals, but even if you do not have the opportunity to climb one of these peaks, you can still look at the peaks, admire them and find inspiration.
We bring to your attention a rating of the 10 highest mountains in Austria: names and their heights, interesting facts about their discoveries.
10 Great Wiesbachhorn, 3564 m
Großer Wiesbachhorn located in the province of Salzburg in Austria, the second largest massif of the Glockner group. Grosses Wiesbachhorn is an impressive mountain. Its proportions are perfect, and none of the surrounding peaks can match it in height.
Alpine authors End and Peterka describe him as “Grossglockner’s rival” in their guide to the Glockner and Granazpitz group. The southeast side drops from a height of 2418 meters – the biggest difference in height between a peak and a valley in the Eastern Alps! For a long time in the history of mountaineering, it was mistaken for the highest mountain in the Hohe Tauern.
The first ascent was made by two farmers from Fusch named Zanker and Zorner in the 18th century along the southeast route. First winter ascent across the southwest face on March 2, 1906.
The mountain is very popular with climbers and is especially suitable for beginners because it is quite easy to climb the normal route called “Kindlgrat”.
9. Front Brochkogel, 3565 m
Front Brochkogel offers various climbing routes, especially in summer. This route is easy, starting from the Breslauer hut. The ascent to the summit follows a natural line through the snow field.
From the top of the Vorderen Brochkogel you have a fantastic view of the Ötztal valley, the famous Wildspitze and the Ortler ridge.
8. Similaun, 3599 m
Similaun is one of the classic glacial mountains of the Ötztal Alps – or perhaps the most classic for some reason.
It is located on the border between Austria and Italy, which means “north and south”, “cold and warm”, even “beer and wine”, and therefore is in the most central position.
The nearby Niederjoch Pass (3019m) is a popular mountain pass that is often crossed by hikers, even mountain bikers, although you are touching the (rather safe) Niederjochferner glacier. This exceeds the “magic” height line of 3000 meters. Similaun is the dominant mountain nearby and therefore attracts many people.
In 1991, the Ötzi ice mummy was discovered in the area. Although the exact place where it was found is west of Nederjoch, halfway to the Finilspitze, it was named “Similown Man“because Similaun is simply the more popular name. A visit to the cairn that was built in this place made the area even more popular.
7. Rear Brochkogel, 3628 m
Hinterer Brochkogel is a small mountain with an interesting northwestern face. Combined with the northern faces of the Petersenspitze and Tashachvand, it forms part of the so-called “Pitztaler Eisexpress”.
But since the northern part of Tashachvand is rather snowless and therefore objectively dangerous in summer, people today usually only climb the north side of the Petersenspitze and the northwestern border of the Broskogel Hinterer and add the northwestern ridge to the Wildspitze instead of the Tashakhvand.
6. Rear Black, 3628 м
Back Blackness located on the main alpine ridge on the border with Italy (Italian name Cime Nere). It is the sixth highest mountain in Austria, although the slightly lower neighboring Similaun is more popular and accessible. Almost the entire ascent leads along the Marzelferner glacier.
5. Grosfenediger, 3666 m
Großvenediger – the main peak of the Venediger group with a height of 3666 m – the fourth highest mountain in Austria. Name “majestic all over the world” descended from Ignaz von Kürsinger, the initiator of the first ascent of the Grand Voyage. He was not entirely wrong, for the Großvenediger is one of the most impressive glacial mountains in the Eastern Alps, and with its stellar crests forms a huge, majestic roof of ice and snow. Due to its open position, the view of the summit in good weather extends to Bernina and Ortler.
4. Glocknerwand, 3721 м
Mountain Glocknerwand located in the Austrian Central Alps and lies on the border between East Tyrol and Carinthia. This mountain has very steep rock faces, making it one of the most difficult to climb.
The summit of Glocknervand has thick drifts that can sometimes be unpredictable. It is certainly not one of the safest mountains to climb.
3. Weisskugel, 3739 m
Weisskugel (Italian title: White straw) is the second highest mountain in the Ötztal Alps and the third highest in Austria. And this is the highest point of today’s frontier between Austria and Italy.
The Weiskugel is a very impressive rock and ice pyramid where 4 ridges and 4 glaciers culminate in the western center of the Ötztal Alps.
Since the locals on the Italian side are native German speakers, the Italian name “Palla Blanca” is just a translation.
2. Wildspitze, 3770 m
Wildspitze, located on a white ridge, is the second highest mountain in Austria and the highest mountain in the Ötztal Alps and North Tyrol. The mountain has double peaks that are heavily glaciated, making it popular for “ice climbing”.
North face 55 degrees, suitable for climbing in July, August and September. The first recorded successful ascent was in 1861.
1. Grossglockner, 3798 m
Grossglockner is the highest mountain in Austria, as well as the most famous. It lies on the border between the Austrian states of Carinthia and Tyrol (East Tyrol), near the Brenner Pass, which forms the border between Italy and Austria.
The name Grossglockner comes from the German: glocke, which means bell to refer to the characteristic shape of the mountain. With the construction of a high-altitude alpine road that runs near the mountain, the region experienced a boom in tourist attraction.
The construction of the road in the 1930s solved the unemployment crisis and led to the development of the Alpine regions of Salzburg. Today, the road is the second most popular tourist destination in Austria after Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna. Museums and exhibition centers on the side of the road tell about the flora and fauna of the National Park, about the hard work in the construction of the road and the impact it had on the local economy.