Südlicher Happ

The Südlicher Happ stands in the Venediger Group of the Hohe Tauern National Park in East Tyrol. It is a 3 304-metre peak in the Dorfer Crest, north of the village of Prägraten. The name comes from the local dialect word for ‘sheep’, though the spelling has shifted over time. The first ascent was made in 1897 by K. Mittermayer during a traverse of the main ridge. Later, in 1925, H. Peterka and H. Majer pioneered the East Ridge as both an ascent and a descent route. The mountain is a satellite of the higher Grosse Happ to the north. From its summit a six-hundred-metre East Ridge plunges toward the Hinterbichler Dorfertal, forming the southern edge of the Dorferkees glacier. A secondary summit, the Südostgipfel at 3 203 metres, lies to the south-east and is linked by a long ridge to the Türmljoch col. Below these heights the Maurerkees glacier almost reaches the Südostgipfel, and beneath it the Stredacher Winkl basin holds the headwaters of the Maurerbach stream. Climbers usually start from the Essener-Rostocker or Johannishütte and follow the Schweriner Way to the Aderkamm at 2 494 metres. There the marked path ends and the route continues over boulder fields or a steep scree gully on the west flank of the Kleine Happ. After gaining its summit, the climb turns north across slabs to the Südostgipfel and then follows the final ridge to the top of the Südlicher Happ.