Urbeleskarspitze

Urbeleskarspitze
Urbeleskarspitze
	The Urbeleskarspitze
Highest point
Elevation	2,632 m (AA) (8,635 ft)
Prominence	375 m ↓ Schönecker Scharte
Isolation	8.9 km → Großer Krottenkopf
Coordinates	47°20′12″N10°28′06″E / 47.33667°N 10.46833°E Coordinates: 47°20′12″N10°28′06″E / 47.33667°N 10.46833°E
Geography
	Urbeleskarspitze Tyrol, Austria
Parent range	Allgäu Alps (Hornbach chain)
Geology
Mountain type	Rock summit
Type of rock	Main Dolomite (Triassic)
Climbing
First ascent	1869 Hermann von Barth
Normal route	Hinterhornbach – Kaufbeurer Haus – Urbeleskarspitze

Last updated April 08, 2019

The Urbeleskarspitze is a 2,632-metre-high mountain peak in the Allgäu Alps. It lies within Austria in the state of Tyrol and is the fifth-highest summit in the Allgäu Alps and the second-highest peak in the Hornbach chain. Its neighbours in the Hornbach chain are the Bretterspitze to the southwest and the Zwölfer Spitze to the northeast.

The Allgäu Alps are a mountain range in the Northern Limestone Alps, located in Bavaria in Germany and Tyrol and Vorarlberg in Austria. The range lies directly east of Lake Constance.

Austria, officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in Central Europe comprising 9 federated states. Its capital, largest city and one of nine states is Vienna. Austria has an area of 83,879 km² (32,386 sq mi), a population of nearly 9 million people and a nominal GDP of $477 billion. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Hungary and Slovakia to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west. The terrain is highly mountainous, lying within the Alps; only 32% of the country is below 500 m (1,640 ft), and its highest point is 3,798 m (12,461 ft). The majority of the population speaks local Bavarian dialects as their native language, and German in its standard form is the country's official language. Other regional languages are Hungarian, Burgenland Croatian, and Slovene.

Hornbach chain mountain range in Allgäu Alps

The Hornbach chain is a string of mountains, about 15 kilometres long, in the Allgäu Alps in the Austrian state of Tyrol.

Rock and structure

Like most of the high mountains in the Allgäu Alps the Urbeleskarspitze consists of main dolomite. Its summit has a striking bell-shaped appearance and is easily identified from the north and south from nearby and more distant summits.

First ascent

Who first climbed the Urbeleskarspitze cannt be precisely determined. Candidates include unknown locals or a "Dr. Gümbel" in 1854. It was certainly ascended in 1869 by Hermann von Barth.^[1]

Hermann von Barth was a famous German mountaineer.

Bases

The main starting point for ascents is the village of Hinterhornbach in a side valley of the Tyrolean Lechtal. From there it is roughly 2½ hours to the Kaufbeurer Haus, a self-service hut belonging to the DAV. The hut is regularly manned at weekends from Pentecost to early October but is otherwise only open to members of the Alpine Club with a key.

Hinterhornbach is a municipality in the district of Reutte in the Austrian state of Tyrol.

The Lechtal is an alpine valley in Austria, the greater part of which belongs to the state of Tyrol and the smaller part to Vorarlberg. The Lech river flows through the valley.

Ascent

There is no simple way leading to the summit of the Urbeleskarspitze. The two usable routes from the Kaufbeurer Haus require sure-footedness, a head for heights and Alpine experience and climbing preparedness.

Sure-footedness refers to the ability, especially when hiking or mountain climbing, to negotiate difficult or rough terrain safely. Such situations place demands on a person's coordination and reserves of strength as well as requiring sufficient appreciation of the terrain. A person who is sure-footed is thus unlikely to slip or stumble.

To have a head for heights means that one has no acrophobia, an irrational fear of heights, and is not particularly prone to fear of falling or suffering from vertigo, the spinning sensation that can be triggered, for example, by looking down from a high place.

The only partially marked normal route is graded as UIAA II+ and takes just under 2 hours through steep schrofen terrain over the northwest flank to reach the top.

A normal route or normal way is the most frequently used route for ascending and descending a mountain peak. It is usually the simplest route.

Schrofen, a German mountaineering term, is steep terrain, strewn with rocks and rock outcrops, that is laborious to cross, but whose rock ledges (schrofen) offer many good steps and hand holds. It is usually rocky terrain on which grass has established itself, but it can also refer to purely rocky slopes. Schrofen are found especially where the rock has broken off against its angle of dip.

An alternative climb existed over the north arête. It was a UIAA grade II and ran through broken rock, also taking 2 hours to reach the summit of the Urbeleskarspitze.

Related Research Articles

The Bockkarkopf is a mountain, 2,609 m high, and part of the main ridge of the Allgäu Alps. It is the ninth highest peak in the Allgäu Alps and is located between the Wilder Mann to the southwest and the Hochfrottspitze to the northeast. The busy Heilbronn Way runs over the pyramidal peak.

The Hochfrottspitze is a 2,649 metre high mountain, made of main dolomite, in the Allgäu Alps near Oberstdorf in Germany and the highest German mountain in the Allgäu Alps. The border with Austria runs along its ridge.

The Hochvogel is a 2,592-metre-high (8,504 ft) mountain in the Allgäu Alps. The national border between Germany and Austria runs over the summit. Although only the thirteenth highest summit in the Allgäu Alps, the Hochvogel dominates other parts of Allgäu Alps and the other ranges in the immediate neighbourhood. This is due to the fact that the majority of the higher peaks are concentrated in the central and western part of the Allgäu Alps. The Hochvogel stands on its own in the eastern part of the mountain group; the nearest neighbouring summits are 200 to 300 metres lower. Experienced climbers can ascend the summit on two marked routes.

The Krottenspitze (2,551m) is a mountain in the Allgäu Alps. It is one of the few rocky summits of the main ridge that is visible from Oberstdorf.

The Mädelegabel is a 2,645 metre high mountain, made of main dolomite, in the Allgäu Alps near Oberstdorf. It is one of the best-known and most-climbed high peaks in the German Alps, Within the Allgäu Alps it is the fourth-highest summit, with rock faces up to 400 metres high. Together with the Trettachspitze and the Hochfrottspitze it forms the famous triumvirate of peaks on the main crest of the Allgäu. Its name comes from Mähder - a mown mountain pasture in the vicinity - and gabel from the appearance of the triumvirate to the north which recalls a fork. Originally the Mädelegabel was the name for all three peaks of the triumvirate; only later were they distinguished from one another by name.

Mußkopf is a mountain in the Allgäu Alps which are located in Bavaria, Germany. It is a peak above a steep couloir, below the Rappensee Hut alpine hut. There is no marked trail to the peak.

The Trettachspitze is a 2,595 metre high mountain in the Allgäu Alps in Germany. Due to its striking appearance it is one of the best-known mountains in the Allgäu Alps.

The Salober ist a 2,088 -high grass mountain in the Allgäu Alps. It lies northeast of the Laufbacher Eck.

The First Schafalpenkopf or Southwestern Schafalpenkopf is a 2,272-metre-high mountain in the Allgäu Alps. It is part of the Schafalpenköpfe and the Mindelheim Klettersteig.

The Großer Krottenkopf is the highest mountain in the Allgäu Alps of Austria. It is 2,656 m (AA) and is part of a side branch of the Hornbach chain, which branches off the main chain of the Allgäu Alps and runs for about 15 km eastwards.

The Steinschartenkopf is a rocky peak, 2,615 m, in the Hochlicht range in the Allgäu Alps. It is located between the Wilder Mann to the north and the Hohes Licht to the south and is the sixth highest summit in the Allgäu Alps. The popular Heilbronn Way runs over the summit.

The Marchspitze is a prominent summit, made of main dolomite, in the Hornbach chain of the Allgäu Alps. It is located 1.5 kilometres east of the much better known Großer Krottenkopf and is entirely on Austrian soil.

The Bretterspitze is a 2,608-metre-high summit in the Austrian state of Tyrol. It is part of the Hornbach chain in the Allgäu Alps. Its neighbouring peaks in the Hornbach chain are the Gliegerkarspitze to the west and the Urbeleskarspitze to the northeast. The broad summit block of the Bretterspitze is made of main dolomite.

The Großer Widderstein is a mountain, 2,533 m (AA), in the west Austrian state of Vorarlberg. Topographically it belongs to the Allgäu Alps. It is the highest peak in the subgroup of the Southeastern Walsertal Mountains.

The Kellenspitze, often also called the Kellespitze or Köllenspitze, at 2,238 m (AA) is the highest peak in the Tannheim Mountains. It lies in the Austrian state of Tyrol. Originally the mountain was known locally as the Metzenarsch, but when in 1854 Marie Frederica of Prussia visited the hunting lodge on the Tegelberg and was having the surrounding peaks pointed out, they called it after In der Kelle, the name of a strip of land at the foot of the mountain, because its original name referred to a Matz, in other words a prostitute, and seemed inappropriate.

Gimpel (mountain) mountain in the Allgäu Alps, Austria

The Gimpel is a peak in the Tannheim Mountains, a sub-range of the Allgäu Alps. It is 2,173 m high. The name is derived from the Gimpelalpe alp in der "hollow" (Mulde). The Gimpel is made of Wetterstein limestone.

The Noppenspitze is a rocky summit, 2,594 metres high, in the central part of the Hornbach chain of the Allgäu Alps.

The Kreuzkarspitze is a 2,587-metre-high Austrian mountain in the Hornbach chain of the Allgäu Alps.

References

↑ Ernst Zettler, Heinz Groth: Alpenvereinsführer - Allgäuer Alpen. 12th full revised edition. Bergverlag Rudolf Rother, Munich, 1985, ISBN 3-7633-1111-4 (p. 385).

Literature/ Maps

Zettler, Ernst (1979). Allgäuer Alpen : e. Führer für Täler, Hütten u. Berge. München: Bergverlag Rother. ISBN 3763311017.
Seibert, Dieter (2004). Allgäuer Alpen und Ammergauer Alpen alpin (in German). ISBN 3763311262.
Alpine Club map 2/2 Allgäuer-Lechtaler Alpen – Ost 1:25,000 map series, 7th edition, 2002
Thaddäus, Steiner (2007). Allgäuer Bergnamen (in German) (3rd ed.). Fink Kunstverlag Josef. ISBN 9783898703895.

External links

Tour report

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] Ernst Zettler, Heinz Groth: Alpenvereinsführer - Allgäuer Alpen. 12th full revised edition. Bergverlag Rudolf Rother, Munich, 1985, ISBN 3-7633-1111-4 (p. 385).