Kreuzkogel

The Kreuzkogel stands at 2,027 metres in the Ankogel group of the Central Alps, marking the meeting point of three villages in Salzburg’s Gastein valley. Its slopes drop away to the north-west and south, where the Fulseck and Krämerkogel peaks rise nearby. Three mountain farms cling to its flanks: Gehwolfalm on the north-east, Kühager-Heimalm on the west, and Mandlbacher-Heimalm on the south-east. Two small streams born here feed the Unterbergbach and Harbach, which join the Großarler Ache below. The peak is one of fifty-five included in the Gasteiner Gipfelkranz, the highest badge awarded by the Austrian Alpine Club for completing the range’s summits. Several ski runs cross the Kreuzkogel, served by lifts such as the Panoramabahn Großarltal cable car and the Kreuzkogel chairlift. A summer mountain-bike route also crosses the summit plateau, linking the lifts and farms. The mountain’s rock is mostly phyllite, quartzite and metabreccias from the Tauern window, with marble and schists appearing on the northern side. The contrast between these layers is clear on the eastern and western faces. Visitors find open ridges where chamois graze in summer, though the south-east slope becomes a protected wildlife zone from December to May. Where the soil is thin, patches of rusty-leaf alpenrose and green alder thickets cling to the slopes. The lifts carry walkers and cyclists up through meadows and larch woods, while the farms offer simple food and shelter. On clear days the Hohe Tauern peaks rise to the south, their glaciers catching the late light.