Hellböden

The Hellböden is a mountain peak standing at 2,711 metres in the Villgratner range where East Tirol meets South Tirol. It marks the watershed between the Defereggental to the north, the Villgratental to the south-east and the Gsieser Tal to the south-west. The summit sits between the higher Hochkreuzspitze and the Tisch, with the Pfoisattel saddle and two cols called the Vordere and Hintere Gsieser Lenke nearby. Climbers reach the top by several marked routes. One starts in the Arntal valley and follows the Klapfbach stream to the Schwarzsee lake, then crosses the Seealm alpine meadow to the main ridge before turning onto the Hellböden ridge. Another route leaves the Arntal, crosses a col west of the Pfannspitze and makes a rough ascent to that summit before joining the connecting ridge to the Hellböden. From the north, walkers leave the village of Rinderschinken and climb through the Stallebach valley to the Hintere Stalle-Alm before turning west into the upper valley and up the south-east flank. The southern approach follows the Pfoibach stream from Gsieser Tal to the Pfoisattel or uses the Vordere Gsieser Lenke and then follows the ridge itself. The surrounding flanks drop steeply to the Seealm meadow on one side and the Klapfbach source on another, while the Stallebach valley and Pfoibach stream carve deep gashes below the peak.