Böcksteinkogel

The Böcksteinkogel is a 2,527-metre peak in the Ankogel range of the Central Alps, standing in the Salzburg district of Bad Gastein. It lies within the Hohe Tauern National Park, where alpine meadows give way to rugged granite slopes. A deep notch called the Böcksteinkogelrinne cuts into its western flank, while two streams, the Böcksteinkogelgraben and the Prossaugraben, rise on its flanks and feed the Kötschachbach. Climbers value the Böcksteinkogel as one of the fifty-five summits that form the Gasteiner Gipfelkranz. Walkers who complete all of them receive the highest grade of the Gastein Wandernadeln from the Austrian Alpine Club. Geologists recognise the mountain’s rock as mainly granitic gneiss and orthogneiss, with patches of clastic sediment lower down on the north-east side. On the lower north-west slopes stands the Alpenhaus Prossau, a mountain refuge belonging to Bad Gastein village. Below the bare summit zone a belt of dwarf pine gives way to a mixed larch and Swiss stone-pine forest on the western flank. The Kesselkar area to the north is a protected chamois resting zone from December to May, keeping the high trails tranquil outside that season.