Freihut

The Freihut is a mountain in the Stubai Alps of Tirol, standing at 2 625 m above sea level. It rises above the village of Gries im Sellrain and marks the end of a ridge that separates the Lüsens valley from the Gleirsch valley to the west. Two lower summits lie in front of the main peak: the Kleine Freihut at 2 582 m and the Jöchlegg at 2 107 m. The summit cross is not placed on the highest point but on a spur about 300 m to the north-east. Below the summit a broad green high plateau stretches out.

The mountain’s rock is mainly granodiorite gneiss and amphibolite. On the eastern side the Steinlehnen slope, a moving landslide, descends from the Jöchlegg into the Lüsens valley. The active section, sloping at 30 to 40 degrees, covers a vertical drop of about 800 m. Rockfalls have repeatedly threatened the villages below and the road to Praxmar; in 1852 three farmsteads were destroyed by rockslides. In 2003 a 400 m long and 15 m high dam was built to protect the houses from falling stones.

Two main routes lead to the top. One starts at St Sigmund and follows the Gleirsch valley, crosses the western flank and the Kleine Freihut. The other, gentler ascent begins at Praxmar in the Lüsens valley and follows the eastern flank. The first recorded climb was made on 7 June 1888 by Julius Pock and August Endres from Innsbruck.