Ski Touring on the Hählekopf in Kleinwalsertal
A ski tour with the splitboard from the Schwarzwasserhütte to the Hählkopf.
This mountain has beckoned us for a while now. The 2,058-metre high Hählekopf marks the westernmost point of the Schwarzwassertal and is the perfect place to enjoy a fabulous ski tour. The conditions happened to be just right, so we set off on a ski tour to the summit.
It is not clear how the mountain acquired its name. Some people speculate that it could have something to do with the word Hahn (cockerel) which connects this ski run with the similarly named Hahnenkamm mountain in Kitzbühel. Other people think that the summit acquired its name from the word häi which in the local dialect used to mean slippery or slithery. We could neither confirm nor refute any of these theories. We certainly did not encounter any cockerels or anything slithery during our trip!
The terrain is initially only moderately steep as we head west along the path. One thing is certain, however; a ski tour on alpine terrain can be dangerous. Before we set off on our adventures, we asked Martin to advise us on the terrain and we also studied the weather and avalanche reports. An avalanche warning in the grade 1 zone and a weather forecast predicting stable high pressure gives us the green light to embark on the tour.
After two and a half hours, we are standing right at the top covered in sweat. Although there isn’t a cross at the summit of the Hählekopf, we didn’t actually need one to know that we had arrived at the top. The view is obviously spectacular. To the west, the mountainous state of Vorarlberg and Lake Constance, to the south the Three-Thousander peaks, to the east Kleinwalsertal and to the north the distinctive outline of the Ifen.
Chris Lemke runs the website Bergwasser which offers outdoor experiences such as canyoning and rafting. He keeps himself fit through the winter with ski touring and other winter sports.
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