Climbing Hoher Dachstein will remain one of the toughest mountain challenges I’ve ever faced. Fifteen hours of physical effort, 2,200 meters of elevation gain (including 1,200 meters of climbing across three connected via ferratas), a glacier crossing, and a sunset watched from the terrace of an alpine hut… all in one day, August 3, 2022. Join me for a story about my unforgettable adventure on the highest peak of the Dachstein massif!
Table of contents
- Hoher Dachstein – pratical information
- From the campsite in Ramsau to the Anna via ferrata
- Super Via Ferrata – exhausting, but incredibly satisfying
- Hoher Dachstein – the final ascent
- Hoher Dachstein – across the glacier and descent to Ramsau
- Route map
Hoher Dachstein – pratical information
The Dachstein is a massive limestone range located in central Austria, on the border between two federal states – Styria and Upper Austria. Its highest summit, Hoher Dachstein, reaches 2,995 meters above sea level, making it the second-highest peak in the entire Northern Limestone Alps!
In the upper parts of the Dachstein range lie the easternmost glaciers of the Alps – the largest of them are the Hallstätter Gletscher, Großer Gosaugletscher, and Schladminger Gletscher. Unfortunately, due to ongoing climate change, the Dachstein glaciers are steadily retreating. It is estimated that if the current negative trend continues, they could disappear completely within the next 80 years. Fortunately, extensive protective measures are currently being taken in the ski area that includes these glaciers. In addition, the northwestern part of the massif is a nature reserve, and in 1997 the entire cultural landscape of the region was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Mountaineering in the Dachstein region has been practiced for nearly 200 years! The first recorded ascent of Hoher Dachstein was made by Peter Gappmayr in 1832. In 1843, Friedrich Simony built the world’s very first via ferrata right here.
Before heading to the Dachstein, I had read that it’s one of Austria’s most popular mountain regions. After returning, I can reassure you – although we did meet quite a few people on the final, summit via ferrata, overall it wasn’t crowded at all. In short, any Polish hiker who has ever visited the Tatras in August has a completely different understanding of what “crowded mountains” really mean!
This post describes our ascent of Hoher Dachstein from the southern side via the Super Via Ferrata route. It’s actually a combination of three ferratas of varying difficulty levels – Anna Klettersteig, Johann Klettersteig, and Schulteranstieg – which together involve a total of 1,200 meters of elevation gain! For clarity, there are also alternative routes leading to Dachstein from the north (from Hallstatt) and west (from Gosau).
The most popular starting point for ascents of Hoher Dachstein is the lower cable car station of Dachsteinbahn in Ramsau am Dachstein, located at about 1,700 meters above sea level. There’s only one issue – it’s reached by the private alpine road Dachsteinstraße, and the toll costs… 20 euros. Only cable car passengers can drive for free (but you must validate your ticket at the upper station). Until recently, the road was also free for holders of the Schladming-Dachstein Sommercard, but since 2021 this is no longer the case. This change resulted from a complex legal dispute between the cable car company and the Ramsau municipality – apparently, stubborn highlanders are not unique to Poland 😄. The alternative option is to take local buses, but they don’t start running until 7–8 a.m. because, as the owner of our campsite put it, “at 6 o’clock, everyone here is still asleep.” Faced with two options – an extra 700 meters of elevation or paying 20 euros for a 6-kilometer ride – the latter seemed scarier. So the decision was made: we’d climb Hoher Dachstein straight from our campsite in Ramsau, starting from 1,000 meters. Adventure awaits!
From the campsite in Ramsau to the Anna via ferrata
Wake-up call at 6:00 a.m., quick coffee, instant noodles, and by 6:45 we leave the campsite (approx. 1000 m a.s.l.) with full backpacks. Morale, as always in the morning — rather average. The weather, however, lifts our spirits — a cloudless sky and warm sunshine promise that the forecast was right, and we’re in for a beautiful mountain day.
We follow the trail called Dureggrundweg. The first two kilometres are fairly flat, leading us along the L711 road. After reaching the Dachsteinruhe restaurant, the trail turns slightly right and continues as a pastoral dirt road. A bit further, we encounter the first cows — after all, what would an Alpine hike be without them? The path suddenly turns right and begins to climb steeply in zigzags — the ascent starts. The cows, as usual, look at us indifferently, as if to say: “Why are you humans doing this to yourselves?”
After five kilometres of walking, we reach the Glös-Alm hut, located by the Dachsteinstraße road (approx. 1500 m a.s.l.), but there’s no time for long breaks yet. We quickly turn left and, after a short section on a dirt road, take the path leading towards the Dachsteinsüdwandhütte hut. The ground becomes rockier for a while (especially when crossing the dry riverbed), but soon we’re back on alpine pastures, zigzagging slowly uphill and gaining more elevation. After a few more minutes, we reach the picturesque summit of Schönbühel (1830 m a.s.l.). The place is wonderfully idyllic: in front of us looms the massive Dachstein range, and behind us stretches a wide panorama of the nearby Low Tauern and the highest Austrian range — the High Tauern. In the middle of the meadow there’s a bench, just asking for a break — and of course, we oblige. We’ve already climbed 800 metres of elevation, after all!
The Dachsteinsüdwandhütte hut sits at 1871 m a.s.l. We don’t stay long there either — the sign tells us that it’s still a 30-minute walk to the start of the Anna Klettersteig. It’s worth noting that from the hut, you can also take an alternative route directly to the start of the Johann Klettersteig (skipping the Anna section). But we’re determined to tackle the entire Super Via Ferrata — no giving up! To my disappointment, the trail now goes sharply downhill — Anna Klettersteig begins 100 metres below the hut’s level. Losing altitude at this point feels a bit frustrating.
Super Via Ferrata – exhausting, but incredibly satisfying
At 9:45, after three hours of hiking, we reach the start of the Anna Klettersteig, the first stage of the Super Via Ferrata. We quickly put on helmets, gloves, and harnesses with lanyards — and get to work. This stage involves 300 metres of elevation gain. The difficulties reach level D (on a scale from A to F), though most of the route stays around B–B/C. [Topo link]. Despite my initial plan to use mainly rock holds, I end up relying heavily on the iron cable. Martyna goes first — she climbs really well and soon disappears from sight. Behind me appears a pair of climbers moving swiftly along the route. I block their way for a moment, but soon find a safe spot to let them pass. They thank us and cheerfully ask where we’re from. By the way — both of them look at least sixty, yet they move like mountain goats. Meeting people like that instantly puts things in perspective.
The Anna Klettersteig via ferrata led us to the summit of Mitterstein (2097 m a.s.l.), a peak branching off from the main Dachstein massif. A short break, a quick snack, and we move on — Johann is waiting. According to online guides, Anna takes about 2 hours to complete; we managed to do it in 1 hour and 40 minutes. That gave us a small sense of satisfaction — not bad! (especially considering that at the time, we were just taking our first steps in climbing). From the summit of Mitterstein, we follow a well-marked trail that connects the end of Anna with the start of Johann. I strongly recommend watching your step here — the path is full of tiny loose rocks where it’s very easy to slip.
After about half an hour of walking, we reach the start of the Johann Klettersteig — considered, both technically and physically, one of the most demanding via ferratas in Austria [Topo link]. The Johann Klettersteig begins at around 2200 m a.s.l. and ends at 2730 m a.s.l., meaning that it covers an impressive 540 metres of vertical gain! The technically hardest section is an overhang right at the beginning, rated D/E. It requires some strength, but it’s short enough not to cause us major trouble. Johann impresses me much more than Anna — the route is more engaging, I find a good rhythm, and the exposure is absolutely stunning. One characteristic feature of this ferrata is the large number of completely vertical walls. We climb them using iron pegs, almost like ascending a ladder.
It’s hard to forget the feeling that came when we reached Dachsteinwarte (2730 m a.s.l.), marking the end of the Johann ferrata. It was a mix of satisfaction, relief, pure joy, freedom, and fulfillment. Physically, it was tough — but we did it! Once again, with nothing but our willpower and muscle strength, we made it to the glacier! Our time was also quite good — we completed Johann in 2.5 hours, while the online guide suggested 3. Feeling accomplished, we head to the Seethalerhütte hut, located at Dachsteinwarte, for a short break. On the terrace, we meet the same couple we let pass earlier on Anna — they enthusiastically congratulate us on finishing Johann. We also spot… snow groomers! Apparently, the Austrians groom the glacier even in August to make it easier for tourists to get from the upper cable car station to the hut we’re now sitting in. Still, the break can’t last too long — it’s approaching 3 p.m., and our main goal of the day is still ahead of us.
Hoher Dachstein – the final ascent
The last stage of the Super Via Ferrata is Schulteranstieg. This is the easiest part – the initial section is rated B/C, while the rest is mostly B, and sometimes even A. The route starts at an altitude of 2,750 m and ends right at the summit – so there’s still 250 meters of elevation gain ahead of us. [See topo]. For accuracy’s sake, I’ll add that there’s another option: you can approach the rock via the glacier up to about 2,900 m and start climbing from there – but I would only recommend this to those who have proper glacier safety and rope skills. It was quite slippery and wet there, and on such steep ground, crampons alone might not be enough. Since we (not yet!) have no glacier experience, we chose to climb the longer ferrata both ways. Our decision was confirmed by one of the Polish climbers we met along the route – he told us that although he originally planned to descend the glacier, he changed his mind after seeing another tourist slip, fall five meters, and disappear into a crevasse. It seems others witnessed it too – we had to let about a dozen descending teams pass us, and almost no one chose the icy route down. We were the only ones still going up… and for the first time, the thought crossed my mind that finishing this Alpine adventure before nightfall might be tough.
The Schulteranstieg ferrata didn’t cause us any major problems – we climbed it in about 45 minutes. We reached the summit of Hoher Dachstein around 3:45 p.m., after nine hours of intense effort. Satisfaction? Absolutely! 2,000 meters of elevation in our legs and breathtaking views in every direction. Twenty minutes later, however, we were already heading back down – our watches reminded us that we couldn’t afford long breaks yet. On the way down we met only one team – a group of three guys we had overtaken back on Anna. Well, I just hope they had good headlamps.
Hoher Dachstein – across the glacier and descent to Ramsau
Descending the summit ferrata took us about an hour. Climbing down iron paths is usually a bit harder than going up, but this one didn’t give us too much trouble – except for the B/C section near the start. There, the cable wasn’t anchored firmly at the bottom, which meant it was hanging loosely over a massive gaping crevasse… so yes, that spot provided a little adrenaline rush. Once on the glacier, we quickly put on our crampons – we had to cross a flat section (the one groomed by snowcats) leading from the hut to the upper Dachsteinbahn cable car station. Walking through the ice field felt surreal, as if we had stepped into another season entirely. Still, it was clearly August – the glacier’s surface had turned into a wet, slippery slush. Thankfully, the crampons did their job and we moved steadily forward. Silence surrounded us: Dachsteinbahn stops running at 5:15 p.m., so most tourists were already down in the valley. Only we remained on the glacier – and a lone excavator operator diligently digging in the ice. Exhausted, we finally reached Hunerkogel, the summit with the upper cable car station – there we took off our crampons, only to… put them right back on. It turned out our descent ferrata started a bit further away – at the Hunerscharten Pass (2,602 m), so we had to go around Hunerkogel first.
We descended via the Hunerscharten Klettersteig – losing about 180 meters of elevation, which took roughly an hour. The ferrata is very easy – most of it is rated A, at most B, so it shouldn’t pose any problems. Just don’t confuse it with the Sky Walk route straight from Hunerkogel – that one goes up to grade E, so descending it would be a lot less fun! After the via ferrata, we faced the most mentally exhausting section of the entire day: a long stretch of trail made up of loose scree and tiny pebbles. Sadly, this kind of terrain is common in this region, around 1,900–2,100 m. Despite full concentration, every now and then one of us would slip on the gravel, which was both frustrating and tiring. Meanwhile, the sun was slowly, inevitably setting…
We reach the Dachsteinsüdwandhütte hut just before 9 p.m., with the last rays of sunlight still lighting up the sky. Since it’s clear we won’t make it down before dark anyway, we decide to order something to drink and take a short rest. That decision turned out to be perfect. We were completely exhausted — but the €5 lemonade helped us regain a bit of energy and lifted our spirits. Time to head down! Just a bit more to the asphalt! Luckily, the trail from the hut was very comfortable — with our phone flashlights lighting the way, we quickly lost altitude. Around 10 p.m., we reached the Dachsteinstraße road — still quite far from our campsite, but on asphalt we felt much safer. The Dachstein massif at night looked both beautiful and slightly intimidating.
On the way back, I quietly hoped to find some late tourist near the lower cable car station who might give us a lift down — at least a little closer to our campsite. Unfortunately, the empty parking lot crushed those hopes. There was nothing left to do but start walking down the Dachsteinstraße and hope for a miracle. Spirits remained high — it was that stage of exhaustion when everything becomes funny, you laugh at the dumbest things and start singing songs. But our legs were screaming for mercy after fifteen hours on the move. And ahead of us, in the worst-case scenario, was still a 10-kilometer walk… Then suddenly, we spotted headlights of a car coming down the mountain. We didn’t think twice — we started waving our flashlights frantically. The driver slowed down… slowed down… and stopped! We ran up quickly, explained that we needed to get to Camping Dachstein. The elderly man behind the wheel smiled and invited us in. We jumped into the car, repeating cheerful “danke schön” every few seconds. It turned out he owned one of the nearby guesthouses and spoke some English. He even mentioned visiting Poland 40 years ago — on a ski trip to Szczyrk! See? Our Beskids are so beautiful that even Austrians want to ski there! Meanwhile, our kind rescuer dropped us off right in front of the campsite. We thanked him again and rolled out of the car, completely done. We opened the tent around 10:30 p.m. and got ready for bed as quietly as we could. On one thing we both agreed — tomorrow, we definitely wouldn’t be waking up at 6 a.m.
Date of the hike: August 3, 2022
Hike stats: 26 km, 2,300 meters of elevation gain
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very good article , thank you for sharing.