Lenkstein

The Lenkstein stands at 3,236 metres in the Rieserferner Group where the Austrian and Italian borders meet. It lies 3.5 kilometres north-east of the Hochgall, the range’s highest summit, and its top marks the line between the Hohe Tauern National Park and the Rieserferner-Ahrn Nature Park. The name comes from a local term for a notch in the ridge, ‘Lenke’, referring to the cliff band below the peak.

Two marked routes lead to the summit. From the south-east the climb begins in the Defereggental, passing through the Patscher Tal to the Barmer Hütte at 2,610 metres. After a short descent the path crosses boulder fields before tackling a steep, cable-assisted rock section near the Roßhornscharte at 2,916 metres. From the west the route starts in the village of Rein at 1,595 metres, follows the Ursprungtal, and crosses the western flank to the South Ridge, using the Kasseler Hütte at 2,276 metres as a base.

On the summit ridge the final climb is over reddish rock and patches of firn snow. The view stretches across the wild peaks of the Rieserferner Group and into the Hohe Tauern. Both approaches require sure-footedness and a head for heights, but the high alpine setting rewards every step with sweeping vistas of glaciers and distant valleys.