Grossglockner Guided Climb – Stüdlgrat Ridge
Tackle the Studlgrat ridge on Grossglockner, a more technical climb than the normal route
Conquer technical challenges, reaching III+ on the UIAA scale, making for an exhilarating ascent on Austria’s highest peak
Experience the unique thrill of navigating Grossglockner’s Stüdlgrat, combining rock climbing with high-altitude mountaineering
Enjoy expert guidance from IFMGA-certified guides, ensuring a safe climb across demanding terrain
Relish in unparalleled views from the summit, looking out over the Eastern Alps’ prominent peaks
Witness the sunrise over the Pasterze Glacier as you ascend the Studlgrat ridge
Witness dawn on the Stüdlgrat ridge
Tackle the challenging Stüdlgrat
Discover high-altitude serenity
Witness ice and granite wonders
Ascend beyond the conventional paths
Conquer Austria's highest peak
Climb to sleep under the stars
Navigate glaciers with our guides
Challenge your limits on Grossglockner
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, where you’ll spend the night before making tomorrow’s final ascent along the Stüdlgrat ridge. The section to Stüdlhütte isn’t technically challenging. Therefore, there’s no problem in undertaking it alone.
5 km and 900 m of elevation gain
Stüdlhütte
The interesting part of the climb awaits you today. The Stüdlgrat ridge branches off from the normal route at the hut, so you’ll avoid most of the crowds, which will take the less technically challenging path across the Pasterze Glacier. With the technical difficulties reaching III+ on the UIAA scale, you’ll need a good head for heights and some climbing prowess to tackle the ridge. Upon reaching the summit, you’ll descend via the normal route, passing Erzherzog-Johann-Hütte and Stüdlhütte before returning to the starting point at Lucknerhaus.
12 km and 1000 m of elevation gain / 1900 m of elevation loss
Guided
Included in price
What to bring to the tour
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.
