The Hoher Eichham (also ''Hocheichham''), at , is the most dominant mountain in the southeastern part of the

Venediger Group The Venediger Group (german: Venedigergruppe) is a mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps. Together with the Granatspitze Group, the Glockner Group, the Goldberg Group, and the Ankogel Group, it forms the main ridge of the High Tauern. The hi ...

in the

High Tauern The High Tauern ( pl.; german: Hohe Tauern, it, Alti Tauri) are a mountain range on the main chain of the Central Eastern Alps, comprising the highest peaks east of the Brenner Pass. The crest forms the southern border of the Austrian states of ...

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 ...

. Four

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 ...

s radiate from its summit towards the north, east, south and southwest. To the southeast is the

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#Glaciology, ablation over many years, often Century, centuries. It acquires dis ...

of ''Nilkees'' and, to the northeast, is the ''Hexenkees''. The ''Großer Eichhamkees'' to the northwest and the ''Kleiner Eichhamkees'' to the southwest have shrunk to insignificant slabs of ice. On the North Arête is a rock tower, the ''Eichhamturm'' (). Along the continuation of the arête lies the Großer Hexenkopf (), which is roughly 600 metres as the crow flies from the Hoher Eichham. On the East Arête is the Niederer Eichham ("Lower Eichham", ). From this subpeak a ridge branches southeast linking it with the Sailkopf; the lowest notch on this arête being the ''Sailscharte'' (). The Hoher Eichham may have first been climbed during a military survey using

triangulation In trigonometry and geometry, triangulation is the process of determining the location of a point by forming triangles to the point from known points. Applications In surveying Specifically in surveying, triangulation involves only angle me ...

in the 1850s. The first visit to the summit by tourists was on 16 July 1887 by Berlin alpinists, Carl Benzien and Hermann Meynow using the South Arête. They were led by the Zillertal

mountain guide A mountain guide is a specially trained and experienced professional mountaineer who is certified by local authorities or mountain guide associations. They are considered to be high-level experts in mountaineering, and are hired to instruct or ...

, Hans Hörhager, from Dornauberg.

Ascent

The mountain is usually ascended from the Bonn-Matreier Hut. Here, the climber initially heads for the Sailkopf using its

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 ...

, then drops about 130 metres of height along its northwest arête to the Sailscharte. Next the Nilkees is crossed, heading westwards to the Eichhamscharte notch(). Alternatively one can start at the Nilljoch Hut () heading straight up the Niltal valley to the Nilkees glacier and the Eichhamscharte. From the Eichhamscharte the route now climbs the southern flank up to about 3,200 metres. The climbing route that now follows involves a short, steep section of rock face and a descent into a notch just before the summit block ( grade II). The route is very exposed but may be secured by climbing bolts. From the Bonn-Matreier Hut to the top takes about 3½ hours. In crossing the Nilkees, the risk from

crevasse A crevasse is a deep crack, that forms in a glacier or ice sheet that can be a few inches across to over 40 feet. Crevasses form as a result of the movement and resulting stress associated with the shear stress generated when two semi-rigid pie ...

s is quite low, however, depending on the conditions,

crampons A crampon is a traction device that is attached to footwear to improve mobility on snow and ice during ice climbing. Besides ice climbing, crampons are also used for secure travel on snow and ice, such as crossing glaciers, snowfields and ice ...

and an

ice axe An ice axe is a multi-purpose hiking and climbing tool used by mountaineers in both the ascent and descent of routes that involve snow, ice, or frozen conditions. Its use depends on the terrain: in its simplest role it is used like a walking ...

may be useful.Willi End: ''Alpenvereinsführer Venedigergruppe'', Munich, 2006, pp. 312 ff., Rz 1145 ff.

References

Literature and maps

*Georg Zlöbl: ''Die Dreitausender Osttirols im Nationalpark Hohe Tauern.'' Verlag Grafik Zloebl, Lienz-Tristach, 2005, *Willi End: ''

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 ...

Venedigergruppe'',

Bergverlag 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, 2006, *

Alpenvereinskarte Alpine Club maps (german: Alpenvereinskarten, often abbreviated to ''AV-Karten'' i.e. AV maps) are specially detailed maps for summer and winter mountain climbers (mountaineers, hikers and ski tourers). They are predominantly published at a scale o ...

1:25.000, Sheet 36, ''Venedigergruppe'', {{DEFAULTSORT:Eichham, Hoher Mountains of the Alps Mountains of Tyrol (state) Venediger Group