Ahornspitze

The Ahornspitze is a 2,973-metre peak in the Zillertal Alps, standing above Mayrhofen in Tirol. It has two summits: the southern top at 2,973 metres and the northern at 2,960 metres, where the summit cross stands. The mountain has no glaciers, but a steep snowfield called Schneekarl clings to its east flank. To the east the land falls away through the Lahnkar to the Bodengrund, a side valley of the Zillergrund. To the west it drops via the Popbergkar into the Stilluptal, while to the north it connects through several cirques directly to the Zillergrund. The first recorded ascent was made on 1 September 1840 by Peter Karl Thurwieser, the Mayrhofen curate Martin Seisl, the vicar Joseph Weinold, the schoolteacher Joseph Thaler, local herdsman Joseph Eberharter as mountain guide, and porter Vitus Kreidl. Thurwieser’s report notes that Eberharter had already climbed the peak barefoot years earlier. This 1840 climb is recognised as the first high tour in the Zillertal Alps to be publicly documented. Most visitors start from the Karl-von-Edel-Hütte at 2,238 metres, reaching the summit in two to three hours. The route leaves the hut eastward up the Föllenbergkar, then turns onto the southwest ridge at about 2,750 metres and crosses to the southern summit before the northern one. Only one short section between the two tops is protected by a rope and graded UIAA I. An alternative approach follows the Berliner Höhenweg to the Popbergschneide before joining the southwest ridge. The hut itself is four hours’ walk from Mayrhofen, but since the Ahornbahn opened in 1968 the climb can now be done in a single day from the valley.