Grossglockner Guided Climb – Normal Route
Experience the thrill of climbing Austria’s highest peak at 3,798 meters in the heart of the High Tauern National Park
Traverse lush alpine meadows and navigate the vast expanse of the Pasterze Glacier
Spend a night at StüdlHütte, one of the more comfortable mountain huts in Austria
Tackle technical climbs with the support of IFMGA-certified mountain guides
Witness breathtaking panoramas from the summit, including the sea of peaks stretching across the Eastern Alps
Embrace the challenge of glacier crossing and technical ridges
Conquer Austria's highest peak
A moment of fulfillment - reaching the summit of Grossglockner
Witness ice and granite wonders
Discover high-altitude serenity
Traverse rugged trails to unforgettable moments
Journey from meadows to glaciers
Gear up for glacier crossing
Itinerary
Your Grossglockner climbing adventure begins at Lucknerhaus, the starting point for most expeditions aiming to summit Austria’s highest peak. Depending on your preferences, your guide will pick you up there or at Stüdlhütte.
The section to Stüdlhütte isn’t technically challenging. Therefore, there’s no problem in undertaking it alone in your own pace. A good trick is also to bring (e)bikes for the road to Lucknerhutte and ask for the backpack to be transported with a gondola to Stüdlhütte to arive there as fresh as possible.
8 km and 1500 m of elevation gain
Stüdlhütte
After gearcheck, we will start the day with passing the Pasterze glacier. Then, the fun part follows – the final ascent along the ridge to the summit of Grossglockner. You’ll need between 1.5 and 2 hours to reach the top and enjoy magnificent views. This final part of your journey requires a certain amount of experience in height-exposed technical terrain, with the technical problems reaching the II grade on the UIAA scale. The guide has fixed belay bars at his disposal to help you safely navigate this terrain up and down the mountain. After the climb, you’ll descend to the starting point at Lucknerhaus, stopping for a meal en route at Stüdlhütte.
10 km and 250 m of elevation gain / 1900 m of elevation loss
Guided
Included in price
What to bring to the tour
Description
Embark on a journey to conquer Austria’s highest peak, Grossglockner, where glaciers and granite form a path to the summit. This two-day guided climb is an invitation to step beyond the ordinary and discover the allure of high-altitude mountaineering.
The climb to Austria’s highest peak at 3,798 meters takes you from lush meadows to the Pasterze Glacier, the largest in the Eastern Alps.
Along the way, you’ll pass by the Stüdlhütte and Erzherzog-Johann-Hütte, crucial stops for climbers. This journey offers a mix of technical challenges against a backdrop of ice, rock, and stunning alpine scenery.
Reaching the summit, you’ll be rewarded with sweeping views of the Eastern Alps, including prominent peaks such as the Glocknerwand and the Kleinglockner, which flank the main summit, adding to the grandeur of the Grossglockner.
Our guided climb to Grossglockner pairs you with IFMGA-certified guides known for their route knowledge and safety skills. This climb is for those with some experience, as it includes glacier crossing and technical sections rated II on the UIAA scale.
We ensure your experience is smooth by taking care of the logistics, like booking your stay at the high-altitude huts and sorting out any needed transfers. We also offer equipment rental in case you don’t own crampons, an ice ax, and a climbing harness.
Pack your backpack and conquer Austria with us!
Location
Start planning today!
Things to know
If you have no previous mountaineering experience or proper alpinistic education, you’re most likely not ready to undertake Grossglockner by yourself. Therefore, acquiring a guide is a step in the right direction if you want to get off the mountain in one piece. The guide has essential skills like glacier crossings and belay and rappelling techniques. Without these, you cannot safely ascend and descend the Grossglockner.
Our agency works with various experienced IFMGA-licensed guides. All of them meet the highest standards in mountain climbing and guiding, with 10+ years of experience in this field. You can check them out on Our Mountain Guides page.
Grossglockner is a very popular mountain, attracting thousands of climbers every year. Consequently, the chance that you’d be alone on the mountain is virtually nonexistent, especially during summer. It’s much likelier that you’ll have lots of company, even in your group, as each guide can lead up to 3 clients on the mountain. If you prefer to hire a guide individually, you’ll have to pay a higher price.
Grossglockner isn’t among the most dangerous mountains in the world, as many people safely summit it annually. The only danger could stem from ignorance of the mountain world and your own lack of skills. By joining a guided tour, you rule out 99% of the possibility of a life-threatening mistake.
It depends on how well you are acclimated to the altitude. Normally, an altitude of 3500-4000 meters shouldn’t be severely problematic but can cause some issues for climbers who are physically less prepared. Therefore, climbers usually take two days to summit the Grossglockner, allowing themselves enough time to acclimatize.
If you don’t think the normal route presents enough of a challenge to you, then you can try summiting the Grossglockner along the Stüdlgrat ridge, which includes sections of III+ climbing grade per UIAA, or book a ski-touring ascent if you’re a skilled off-piste skier.
Depending on availability, your ascent of the Grossglockner includes lodging at Erzherzog-Johann-Hütte or Stüdlhütte. Both provide basic accommodation and meals, allowing climbers to gather their strengths before the final push towards the summit.
Given its extreme popularity and dependence on the availability of one of the two mountain huts, we would suggest booking a tour with us as much as six months in advance so that we can guarantee a spot for you.
If climbing the Grossglockner presents too big of a challenge to you, then you can look into booking one of our hut-to-hut hiking tours, which can be done without a guide:
Most people begin their ascent of the Grossglockner from the starting point above Kals am Grossglockner, Lucknerhaus. There’s a large parking space there, meaning you can access it on an asphalt road by car. Getting to Kals is fairly easy by taking a train from one of the nearest airports, such as Munich and Innsbruck.
