Wennig - Handschuhspitze Round

Technical difficulty: 7/10
Fitness: 7/10
Objective danger: 7/10
Landscape: 6/10
Busy: 3/10

A great loop close to Nassereith. Runnable at both ends with a technical ridge in the middle. A bit of everything.

Starting point: Gasthaus Arzkasten
Ending point: Gasthaus Arzkasten
Length: 18.5 km
Vertical: 1650m
Speed: runnable trails at the start and end. very technical ridge in the middle.

Route:

We start running on the road west from the parking lot, through the small settlements of Weisland. Shortly after we do a short trail uphill and come out in another small settlement of Aschland. Shortly after the last houses, we turn off from the road to a trail and continue running westwards on a flowy rolling trail until we see the village of Nassereith below us on the left.

We come to a T-shaped crossroad and get going on the right trail, climbing steeply northwards towards the mountain-side. We keep following the signs to Nassereither Alm. The trail gets a bit less steep soon and climbs at a gently slope through beatiful forests, switching between a forest road and a trail. A short distance before reaching the hut, we turn off right (east) and start climbing steeply towards the summit ridge.

We climb out of the forest and into rocky outcrops, going every more steeply before reaching the summit of Wannig (2480m). From here the technical part of the route starts. We are done with most of the elevation gain. The route continues westwards passing the summits along the way from the south side. The trail is very narrow, at times not obvious (although well-marked) and very very exposed. Overall it does not allow for a very fast movement. We follow the ridge until the summit cross at the top of Handschuhspitze (2319m).

From here, we continue north-east on a much steeper trail downhill. The trail still follows the ridge loosely, with a well-visible valley floor below us. At the end of the steep trail, we connect to a forest road that shortly leads us into Marienberg Alm. From here a trail called Obstieg leads us back to the start. For the most part the trail is really flowy and runnable, sloping gently downhill and it is a real pleasure to move through it.

Pro tip: there is not water on the trail between the two huts. Make sure you bring enough with you to get to Marienberg Alm.

Photos by @the.running.nomad and @bennibru