Arnspitze

The Arnspitze Group (german: Arnspitzgruppe) is a free-standing mountain chain in Austrian and Germany, in the states of Tyrol and Bavaria, between Seefeld in Tirol and Mittenwald, and between the Leutasch valley in the west and the Isar valley near Scharnitz in the east. In the literature, the Arnspitze Group is classed as part of the Wettersteingebirge. The majority of the group belongs to Tyrol, a northeastern part of the chain lies in Bavaria. The border between Bavaria and Tyrol runs over the summit of the ''Große Arnspitze''.

Peaks

* Große Arnspitze (2196 m AMSL)
* Middle Arnspitze (''Mittlere Arnspitze'') (2091 m AMSL)
* Arnplattenspitze (Hintere Arnspitze) (2171 m AMSL)
* Weißlehnkopf (2002 m AMSL)
* Arnkopf (1934 m AMSL)
* Zwirchkopf (1773 m AMSL)

(along the main chain from the northwest)

File:Arnplattenspitze from Arnspitze.JPG, View from the Große Arnspitze over the twin peaks of the Middle Arnspitze to the Arnplattenspitze
File:Arnplattenspitze vom Wildsee.JPG, The Arnplattenspitze (left) and Middle Arnspitze (right) from Wildsee
File:Arnplattenspitze von Süden.JPG, The Arnplattenspitze from the south

Roads and paths

There are no public roads in the region; only a very steep forest road from ''Ahrn'' in the municipality of Leutasch to the ''Hoher Sattel''. From the hamlet of ''Ahrn'' and from the hunting lodge on the ''Hoher Sattel'' there are 5 paths to the individual summits.
Whilst the ''Große Arnspitze'' and the ''Arnplattenspitze'' may be reached either from Mittenwald via the Riedberg or from Scharnitz on a partially exposed climbing route, the ridge path of the three peaks, including the ''Mittlere Arnspitze'' requires climbing expertise of grade II standard.
The most scenic route to the ''Große Arnspitze'' runs from the Leutasch over the ''Riedbergscharte'' and the ''Achterköpfe''. Below the summit at a height of 1,930 m is the unmanned hut of ''Arnspitzhütte''.

Geology

The Arnspitze Group is part of the Northern Limestone Alps and belongs tectonically to the Inn Valley range (''Inntaldecke''), only the northernmost part from the Riedberg ridge (''Riedbergscharte'') is part of the Lech Valley range (''Lechtaldecke''). The Arnspitze Group is, for the most part, made up of rocks of Wetterstein limestone, which dip towards the southeast. In the area of the ''Hoher Sattel'', a band of Raibler strata runs from west to east, while the ''Zunteregg'', which is 1682 m above sea level and lies south of the Arnspitze, is made of main dolomite (''Hauptdolomit'') rock. Lead used to be mined at the foot of the Große Arnspitze. The mine lay on Bavarian territory just north of the Austrian border in the Isar valley, at the southwestern end of the Riedboden.

Arnspitze Nature Reserve

The Arnspitze Group is a nature reserve. The ''Arnspitze Nature Reserve'' was established on 19 November 1942. That part which is nowadays in Austria, on the territory of the municipalities of Leutasch and Scharnitz in the district of Innsbruck Land, is designated a nature reserve by the Tyrolean nature conservation law, and has an area of 10.8 km²,But tiris gives its area as 11,659.22 ha and is the oldest nature reserve in the Tyrol. The Bavarian part has an area of 1.7 km².

Fire disaster

At the end of August 1947 a devastating fire broke out on the southeastern slopes of the Arnspitze as a result of extreme drought. The fire was fought for weeks by thousands of firemen from Upper Bavaria and Tyrol. This side of the mountain has remained bare ever since.Alpenpark Karwendel Magazin 2006/06, p. 13 f

References

Sources

* Oberhuber, W. (1995). ''Naturschutzgebiet Arnspitze'' Naturinventar. Im Auftrag der Abteilung Umweltschutz, Amt der Tiroler Landesregierung.

External links

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Wetterstein
Nature reserves in Austria
Mountain ranges of the Alps
Innsbruck-Land District
Mountain ranges of Tyrol (state)
Mountain ranges of Bavaria