The First Schafalpenkopf (german: Erste Schafalpenkopf) or Southwestern Schafalpenkopf (''Südwestlicher Schafalpenkopf'') is a 2,272-metre-high

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...

in the

Allgäu Alps The Allgäu Alps (german: Allgäuer Alpen) are a mountain range in the Northern Limestone Alps, located in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg in Germany and Tyrol and Vorarlberg in Austria. The range lies directly east of Lake Constance. Character ...

. It is part of the

Schafalpenköpfe The Schafalpenköpfe are a small mountain formation, consisting of three peaks, the First (2,272 m), Second (2,302 m) and Third Schafalpenkopf (2,320 m). A 2.4-kilometre-long klettersteig of medium difficulty (grade C), the Mindel ...

and the Mindelheim Klettersteig.

Location and surrounding area

The border between

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

runs over the summit of the First Schafalpenkopf, simultaneously dividing the states of

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

and

Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( , ; gsw, label=Vorarlbergisch, Vorarlbearg, , or ) is the westernmost States of Austria, state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is ...

. On the Bavarian side it belongs to the administrative areas of the county of

Oberallgäu Oberallgäu is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Unterallgäu and Ostallgäu, the Austrian states Tyrol and Vorarlberg, the district of Lindau, and the state of ...

and the market town of

Oberstdorf Oberstdorf ( Low Alemannic: ''Oberschdorf'') is a municipality and skiing and hiking town in Germany, located in the Allgäu region of the Bavarian Alps. It is the southernmost settlement in Germany and one of its highest towns. At the&nb ...

, on Austria soil to the district of

Bregenz Bregenz (; gsw, label= Vorarlbergian, Breagaz ) is the capital of Vorarlberg, the westernmost state of Austria. The city lies on the east and southeast shores of Lake Constance, the third-largest freshwater lake in Central Europe, between Switze ...

and the parish of

Mittelberg Mittelberg is a municipality in the district of Bregenz in the Kleinwalsertal,in the Austrian state of Vorarlberg. It is accessible by road only from Germany. Geography The town of Mittelberg lies in the Kleinwalsertal, a valley that is access ...

. To the northeast the Second Schafalpenkopf (2,302 m) follows the First, the two being separated by a 2,170-metre-high

arête An arête ( ) is a narrow ridge of rock which separates two valleys. It is typically formed when two glaciers erode parallel U-shaped valleys. Arêtes can also form when two glacial cirques erode headwards towards one another, although frequen ...

. It is the reference point for the First Schafalpenkopf's

topographic prominence In topography, prominence (also referred to as autonomous height, relative height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop or relative height in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contou ...

of 102 metres. Its isolation is 500 metres, reaching to the Second Schafalpenkopf. To the south of the First Schafalpenkopf is the valley of Rappenalptal. To the southwest the First Schafalpenkopf transitions across to the

Kemptner Kopf Kemptner Kopf is a mountain of Bavaria, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member stat ...

(2,191 m). To the north of the mountain is the valley of Wildental, which leads into the

Kleinwalsertal Kleinwalsertal is a valley in the Austrian province of Vorarlberg and part of the Bregenz district. It includes the municipality of Mittelberg and consists of three villages along the River Breitach. Due to the geographic location in the Allgä ...

.Kompass hiking, cycling and ski touring map: Sheet 03 – ''Oberstdorf, Kleinwalsertal'' (1:25,000). Innsbruck, 2009, .

Geology

The First Schafalpenkopf is composed of

main dolomite Main Dolomite (german: Hauptdolomit, hu, Fődolomit, it, Dolomia Principale) is a lithostratigraphic unit in the Alps of Europe. Formation was defined by K.W. Gümbel in 1857. Middle to Late Triassic sedimentary record in the Alpine realm is ...

.Ernst Zettler, Heinz Groth: ''Alpenvereinsführer - Allgäuer Alpen''. 12., fully revised edition.

Bergverlag Rudolf Rother Bergverlag Rother is a German publisher with its headquarters in Oberhaching, Upper Bavaria. Since 1950 the company, that formerly went under the name of ''Bergverlag Rudolf Rother'', has published the Alpine Club Guides in cooperation with the Ge ...

, Munich, 1985, (p. 491).

Origin of the name

For the origin of the name ''Schafalpenköpfe'' see

Alpinism

Bases

Bases for tours of the First Schafalpenkopf are the Fiderepass Hut and the Mindelheim Hut (2,013 m). In addition it is also possible to climb it from Mittelberg through the Wildental valley and from the

top station A top station or upper stationFor example, se''Chairlift Blausee (upper station)''at www.outdooractive.com. Retrieved 15 May 2019. is usually the highest station of an aerial lift, a funicular, a T-bar lift or a rack railway. The lowest station is ...

of the Kanzelwandbahn.

Routes

The

normal route A normal route or normal way (french: voie normale; german: Normalweg) is the most frequently used route for ascending and descending a mountain peak. It is usually the simplest route. Overview In the Alps, routes are classed in the following way ...

for the First Schafalpenkopf is the Mindelheim Klettersteig. This medium-difficulty ''

klettersteig A via ferrata (Italian language, Italian for "iron path", plural ''vie ferrate'' or in English ''via ferratas'') is a protected climbing route found in the Alps and certain other locations. The term "via ferrata" is used in most countries and ...

'' (C) crosses the mountain from northeast to southwest, from the Second Schafalpenkopf. Climbers are assisted by cables, iron rungs and a ladder. The routes from the time before the construction of the ''klettersteig'' are hardly used today. The old normal route had a

climbing grade In rock climbing, mountaineering, and other climbing disciplines, climbers give a grade to a climbing route or boulder problem, intended to describe concisely the difficulty and danger of climbing it. Different types of climbing (such as spo ...

of UIAA II and ran through the Wildental valley to the top. File:Erster Schafalpenkopf.JPG, From the Walser Hammerspitzehttp://www.alpenverein.de/chameleon/public/37de4fb5-980d-c393-f816-6890a6e6d2d8/0727-hammerspitzen_22486.pdf File:Erster Schafalpenkopf02.JPG, Summit block File:Erster Schafalpenkopf Gipfel.JPG, Summit region File:Erster Schafalpenkopf Mindelheimer Klettersteig.JPG, Klettersteig passage

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schafalpenkopf, First Two-thousanders of Austria Mountains of the Alps Mountains of Bavaria Mountains of Tyrol (state) Allgäu Alps Oberallgäu