Vorderer Wilder Turm (3177m) from Franz-Senn-Hütte

Technical difficulty: 9/10 (~50m of III climbing to the summit. Glacier crossing.)
Fitness: 6/10
Objective danger: 7/10
Landscape: 8/10
Busy: 7/10

Starting point: Franz-Senn Hütte
Ending point: Franz-Senn Hütte
Ascend: 1100vm / 3.5h
Exposition: North-east

Starting from the winter approach from Seduck to the Franz-Senn Hut (+7km and 700vm), this demanding ski mountaineering tour leads via the Verborgener Bergferner Glacier and the striking Turmscharte notch to a panoramic three-thousand-meter peak with an interesting technical summit in the central touring area of the Stubai Alps.

Route:

From the Franz Senn Hut, the ascent follows the Alpeiner Valley with only a slight gain in elevation. Bearing left, a step is climbed to reach the Alpeiner Glacier. Crossing the flat glacier basin, the route ascends to around 2700 m. Here it branches right and follows the right-hand edge of the remnants of the Verborgener Bergferner Glacier, without major steep sections, to the Turmscharte at 3126 m. The notch is crossed in easy climbing, carrying skis to the ridge.

At the Turmscharte, turn directly right and in a few meters you are the the base of the summit tower of Vorderer Wilder Turm (3177m). The summit tower is about 50m of scrambling up to III-grade in difficulty. It can be tricky in icy or snowy conditions. There are fixed secure points along the way so you can use a rope to secure yourself. After the scramble a small rocky plateau opens up at the summit with a cross and 360 degree views of the surrounding glaciers.

Descent:

The descent follows either the ascent route back to the Franz Senn Hut or a variant directly down north-east through the Berglass glacier.

Pro tip: You can connect the route with other summits around the Berglas glacier, like Wildes HInterbergl (3288m) or Hinterer Wilder Turm (3294m)

Photos by @the.running.nomad