Lungauer Kalkspitze

The Lungauer Kalkspitze stands 2,471 metres above sea level in the Schladminger Tauern range. It lies in the Lungau region of Salzburg, just west of the slightly lower Steirische Kalkspitze. The two peaks form the southern end of the Preuneggtal valley and are separated by the Akarscharte col at 2,315 metres. From the summit a wide circle of summits unfolds: the Hohe Tauern and Hochkönig to the west, the Dachstein to the north, the Hochgolling to the east and the Nockbergen to the south. The mountain owes its name to the unusual rock that makes up most of its bulk. Unlike the crystalline schists and gneisses of the central Alps, the Lungauer Kalkspitze is built largely of carbonate rocks. These include thick layers of Ladinian dolomite and Carnian limestone-marl, with older quartzite at the very top. The sequence dips eastward and includes green-schist facies rocks once assigned to the Radstädter Alps. Today the whole mountain is seen as an overturned slice of the Lower Tauern basement. Two long-distance paths cross the Akarscharte: the Zentralalpenweg 02 and the Arnoweg. Both routes are popular and lead many walkers to the foot of the final climb. The last section to the summit requires sure-footedness on steep limestone slabs. Staging points below include the Oberhütte at 1,859 metres, the Giglachseehütte at 1,955 metres and the Ignaz-Mattis-Hütte at 1,986 metres. From the Ursprungalm the climb takes about two and a half hours, while the route from Obertauern via the Zentralalpenweg 02 takes roughly five hours.