Gamsroas – 10-Summit Loop

Technical difficulty: 4/10
Fitness: 5/10
Objective danger: 4/10 (some exposure on the Tristkogel ridge)
Landscape: 8/10
Busy: 5/10

The Gamsroas is a fantastic loop in the Kitzbühel Alps, covering several mostly non-technical summits with stunning views and plenty of runnable terrain.

Guest post by @bennibru.

Starting point: Pochwerk parking lot
Ending point: Pochwerk parking lot
Length: 18km
Vertical: 1550m
Speed: Mostly runnable trails with short technical sections before Tristkogel and after Gamshag. Beginning and end on forest roads.

Route:

This loop includes several easy summits, along with the slightly more technical Tristkogel (2096 m) and the tour’s highest point, Gamshag (2178 m). In good
weather, you’ll be treated to beautiful views of the Wilder Kaiser, Loferer Steinberge, and the Venediger Group. While the Kitzbühel tourist board estimates this as a
demanding 11-hour hike, you should be able to complete it in about 4 hours with a mix of power hiking on the climbs and running on flats and descents.

The tour begins at the Pochwerk parking lot, accessible via a well-maintained gravel road (free for guests of Kelchalm / Bochumer Hütte). It’s also suitable for a bike-and-
run setup starting from the Kitzbühel area. Just after the parking lot, you turn left onto a steep forest road, which climbs in switchbacks to the Kelchalm and the serviced Bochumer Hütte. After the hut, follow the road briefly before taking the marked left turn heading north toward Laubkogel. A mostly flat, runnable trail leads to the
summit, with a short steeper section at the end. From here, you get a great overview of the loop still ahead.

Next is a pleasant up-and-down section over Hahnenkampl, offering great views into the neighboring valley around Hochwildalm. The trail then follows a fence line along a
grassy ridge – expect wet shoes here, as the path crosses a boggy area before Rauber, thick with cotton grass. From there, you head over Saalkogel and drop into
Saaljoch, now right on the border between Tyrol and Salzburg. This leads to the most technical part of the tour: 100 meters after Saaljoch, take the
trail leading up the east ridge of Tristkogel. The steep, switchback path climbs sharply, making this section one of the main reasons to do the tour in this direction.

Near the summit, the trail becomes briefly alpine—some light scrambling is needed to reach the cross on the exposed peak. If you’d rather skip this part (e.g., with
children), Tristkogel can be bypassed to the south. The descent is easy via the grassy west slope, requiring only a short rocky step to reach the saddle called “Tor” at
1933 m. Although Gamshag looms ahead, we first detour southwest to the beautiful Torsee lake, located above the Toralm (a serviced hut in summer). There’s a direct climb up along the lake’s outflow, which is steeper and trickier than the marked trail that leads to the southern shore. After the lake, follow a slightly rocky trail past a few ponds, relatively flat, until you reach Hochtor. From here, a short detour takes you to the summit cross at Mittagskogel (this one is the 10 th summit not on the official route), offering a great view of the Toralm plateau we’ve just crossed. Back at Hochtor, we tackle the final major climb up to Teufelssprung, where we’re greeted by a curious sight – two summit crosses, one small and one even smaller.

With most of the elevation gain behind us, we now enter what trail runners will likely find the most enjoyable part of the loop. The grassy ridge toward Gamshag features
flowing trails and great views over the Kitzbühel Alps. From Gamshag’s summit, you get a nice look down at the before traversed Tristkogel and ahead toward the final two peaks: Kleiner Schütz and Schützkogel. We reach them via a varied trail with short technical bits and brief climbs. After Schützkogel, the long downhill begins. Follow the ridge down to about 1800 m, then turn right onto a faint but marked meadow trail that leads to Schlichtenalm. From there, take the wide forest road, which first heads into the valley briefly, then down on the opposite side to return to the parking lot.

At Niederkaseralm, you could take a detour right to gain a bit of elevation and finish the loop with a well-earned stop at Bochumer Hütte. Alternatively, there’s a welcome/ surprise back at the Pochwerk parking lot: a cool box stocked with drinks on a “pay what it’s worth to you” basis.

Pro Tip: At the start, check out the information board at the parking lot about the region’s historic mining activity. Keep an eye out for remnants of the old mining structures along the way!

Photos by @bennibru, @the.running.nomad, @sontschi2604 and @isale04