Gahwinden Round
Technical difficulty: 5/10
Fitness: 6/10
Objective danger: 5/10
Landscape: 9/10
Busy: 4/10
A relatively short but very steep round in the Pitztal valley with a technical traverse between two valleys and amazing views of the high peaks of Pitztal.
Starting point: Rüsselsheimer Hütte Parking
Ending point: Rüsselsheimer Hütte Parking
Length: 14.5km
Vertical: 1400m
Speed: Technical trails.
Route:
We start from the parking lot following the river downstream through the valley. We cross the river in the settlement of Weißwald to the left hand side and continue on the trail downstream for a couple of kilometers of runnable terrain until the village of Trenkwald. Here we cross the river back and start ascending eastwards steeply uphill on the Hundsbachsteig trail into the valley. The vegetation thins, eventually the valley broadens and gets less steep, and with ever-improving views we continue climbing towards the ridge.
Once reaching the ridge, we connect to the ridge trail and start heading south, still slowly ascending towards the first saddle - Kaputzinerjöchl. From here, a short steep descent is in front of us and then a traverse of another broad valley on technical boulder-y trails. After traversing the valley, a short steep ascent leads us to the summit cross of Gahwinden (2640m) on the side ridge. There is a potential side mission to the summit of Hohe Geige possible from here (adds at least 2-3 very technical hours to the loop).
We continue traversing the mountain side southwards, descending on technical trails until we reach the Rüsselheimer Hütte. This is a great place to have a break. Afterwards a very steep downhill awaits us to close out the loop. First descending on pretty great and runnable zig-zags, eventually just heading straight out of the valley and back towards the parking lot.
# Pro tip: tour is accessible by public transport as well. There is a bus stop in Weißwald.
# Pro tip #2: on a hot day, Kneippanlage Stillebach is a great place for a swim.
Photos by @bennibru and @the.running.nomad
