Ortles

With its 3,905 m of altitude, the Ortles overtowers all the mountains of Tyrol and is for this reason also called “king Ortles”.

This 3,905 m high mountain towers above all the other mountains in Tyrol and is therefore called “King Ortles”. It is the main peak of the mountain chain with the same name: the Ortles-Cevedale mountain range. Located in the south-west of South Tyrol in upper Val Venosta, the Ortles is not only the highest mountain of South Tyrol, but also of the entire Tyrol region.

The Ortles mainly consists of Main Dolomite, a considerably solid type of rock tending to form deep crevices, and is heavily glaciated. By the way: the north face of this majestic mountain is considered to be the largest ice face of the Eastern Alps.

Numerous routes snake to the top of the Ortles, several of which, however, have not been repeated after their first ascend. In 2004, the Ortles celebrated its 200 years’ anniversary of the first ascent: in 1804 the archduke Johann from Austria ordered to explore the Ortles mountain. It was Josef Pichler to be the first alpinist on the Ortles. He climbed the mountain via the difficult north west flank from Trafoi. Today this ascend is considered to be one of the most remarkable successes in alpinism in the opening of the Eastern Alps.

The normal trail, however, begins at the Payer refuge and terminates at the top of the Ortles. Another common route is the “Hintergrat” ridge, which is scenic and popular, but more difficult than the normal route.