Bosruck

The Bosruck stands on the border between Upper Austria and Styria as the westernmost summit of the Haller Mauern range. Its long ridge rises between the Pyhrn Pass to the west and the Arlings Sattel to the east, giving the mountain an isolated character. Two interpretations of its name exist: one from ‘Bocksrücken’ for the goat-like shape, the other from ‘böser Rücken’ for the rugged, exposed ridges. Three separate peaks—Lahnerkogel, Kitzstein and the main summit—each carry wooden crosses, making the west ridge route known as the Three-Crosses Tour. The main cross, erected in 1952 by the Spital am Pyhrn mountain rescue service, can be seen from far away. The mountain’s geology of alternating anhydrite and gypsum layers caused repeated water inflows and rock movements during the building of the railway tunnel in the early 1900s. Later plans to store nuclear waste in the Bosruck met fierce local opposition in 1991. A citizens’ initiative gathered 5,000 signatures and staged a 7,000-person human chain over the Arlings Sattel. Public pressure led the government to abandon the project in February 1992. Three official routes lead to the top. The Pyhrn Pass approach crosses the Fuchsalm, climbs to Lahnerkogel and follows the exposed ridge via Kitzstein to the summit. The Ardningalm route also reaches the top via Kitzstein. The Arlings Sattel route uses the Wildfrauensteig via the Wildfrauenhöhle, a secured climbing path graded A/B. From the summit the long ridge stretches eastward, while the Kleine Bosruck to the south-east offers a gentler viewpoint reached across meadows from the Ardningalm.