The Gefrorene-Wand-Spitzen are two summits on the Tux Crest (''Tuxer Kamm''), a mountain chain in the

Zillertal Alps The Zillertal Alps ( it, Alpi Aurine; german: Zillertaler Alpen) are a mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps on the border of Austria and Italy. Name The range is named after the Zillertal (Ziller river valley) on its north. Geography The ...

, one of the ranges of the central

Eastern Alps Eastern Alps is the name given to the eastern half of the Alps, usually defined as the area east of a line from Lake Constance and the Alpine Rhine valley up to the Splügen Pass at the Alpine divide and down the Liro River to Lake Como in t ...

in the Austrian state of

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

. The north summit (''Nordgipfel'') is recorded as 3,286 metres high in the literature, but is 3,288 metres high according to the

Federal Office for Metrology and Survey The Federal Office of Metrology and Surveying of Austria (german: Bundesamt für Eich- und Vermessungswesen, BEV) is the body responsible for official surveying, geo-information and weights and measures ( metrology) in Austria. It belongs to the ' ...

. The south summit (''Südgipfel''), by contrast, is only 3,270 metres high. The two peaks are about 300 metres apart. They appear from the north as a stubby, cone-shaped,

firn __NOTOC__ Firn (; from Swiss German "last year's", cognate with ''before'') is partially compacted névé, a type of snow that has been left over from past seasons and has been recrystallized into a substance denser than névé. It is ice that ...

-covered dome, but from the east as a forbidding, dark rock face. Sharp, prominent ridges radiate from the peaks to the northeast and southwest, along the main crest of the mountain range. The twin peaks are the highest points in the summer skiing area of the

Hintertux Glacier The Hintertux Glacier (german: Hintertuxer Gletscher) is the tourist name for the glaciers of the Gefrorene-Wand-Kees, also called the Tuxer Ferner, and the nearby Riepenkees at the top of the Tuxertal, a side valley of the Zillertal in the Austr ...

and, since the end of the 1990s, have been accessible from

Hintertux Tux is a municipality in the Schwaz district in the Austrian state of Tyrol. Geography The parish of Tux covers the higher and largest part of the Tuxertal, a side valley of the Zillertal that branches off at Mayrhofen. The territory of the par ...

on cable cars and

ski lift A ski lift is a mechanism for transporting skiers up a hill. Ski lifts are typically a paid service at ski resorts. The first ski lift was built in 1908 by German Robert Winterhalder in Schollach/Eisenbach, Hochschwarzwald. Types * Aerial ...

s; which makes them a popular destination for day trippers. The north summit was first conquered in 1867 by Dr. Berreitter, the south summit on 7 September 1872 by the brothers, Max and Richard von Frey from Salzburg.

Surrounding area

The Gefrorenen-Wand-Spitzen are surrounded by

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as ...

s. To the west the vast ''Gefrorene-Wand-Kees'' reaches up to the summits; to the southwest the ''Große Riepenkees'' reaches the 3,000 metre mark; to the northeast lies the little ''Friesenbergkees'' and, to the southeast is the ''Kleine Riepenkees''. Their neighbouring peaks are: along the northeast ridge (''Nordostgrat''), separated by the Friesenbergscharte (2,904 m), the Riffler; along the southwest ridge (''Südwestgrat''), separated by the broad Riepen Saddle (''Riepensattel''), lies the

Olperer The Olperer is a mountain in the Zillertal Alps in the Austrian federal state of Tyrol. It is the main summit on the Tux Crest (''Tuxer Kamm'') and is often crossed in the summer as climbers transit from the Olperer Hut to the Geraer Hut. It was ...

, at 3,476 metres, the highest peak on the Tux Crest. To the northwest the terrain falls away into the Tuxer Tal, and to the southwest into the Zamser Grund. An important settlement is

, some 6 kilometres away to the north

as the crow flies __NOTOC__ The expression ''as the crow flies'' is an idiom for the most direct path between two points, rather similar to "in a beeline". This meaning is attested from the early 19th century, and appeared in Charles Dickens's 1838 novel ''Oliver ...

. The

Finkenberg Finkenberg is a municipality in the Schwaz district in the Austrian state of Tyrol. Geography Finkenberg lies about 3 km southwest of Mayrhofen at the entrance to the Tuxer valley. Sightseeing * Garnet Chapel near the Penken The Penken is a mo ...

village of ''Ginzling'' lies just under 11 kilometres to the east.

Sources and maps

* Heinrich Klier / Walter Klier: ''

Alpine Club Guide The ''Alpine Club Guides'' (german: Alpenvereinsführer, commonly shortened to ''AV Führer'' or ''AVF'') are the standard series of Alpine guides that cover all the important mountain groups in the Eastern Alps. They are produced jointly by the G ...

Zillertaler Alpen'', Bergverlag Rother, Munich, 1996, {{ISBN, 3-7633-1269-2 * Eduard Amthor (ed.): ''Der Alpenfreund. Monatshefte für die Verbreitung von Alpenkunde unter Jung und Alt in populären und unterhaltenden Schilderungen aus dem Gesammtgebiet der Alpenwelt und mit praktischen Winken zur genußvollen Bereisung derselben'', Gera 1870, page 245 * Eduard Richter (editor): ''Die Erschließung der Ostalpen, III Band'', Verlag des Deutschen und Oesterreichischen Alpenvereins, Berlin 1894, page 101 * Alpine Club map 1:25,000 series, Sheet 35/1, ''Zillertaler Alpen, westliches Blatt''

Gallery

File:Gefrorene Wand.jpg, North Summit of Gefrorene Wand File:View from North Summit of Gefrorene Wand.jpg, View from North Summit Mountains of the Alps Mountains of Tyrol (state) Alpine three-thousanders Zillertal Alps