Katschberg Pass (el. ) is a high mountain pass in the

Central Eastern Alps The Central Eastern Alps (german: Zentralalpen or Zentrale Ostalpen), also referred to as Austrian Central Alps (german: Österreichische Zentralalpen) or just Central Alps, comprise the main chain of the Eastern Alps in Austria and the adjacen ...

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 ...

between

Rennweg am Katschberg Rennweg am Katschberg is a market town in the district of Spittal an der Drau in Carinthia, Austria. Geography Rennweg is located in the Katsch Valley (''Katschtal'') between the Hohe Tauern range in the west and the Gurktal Alps (Nock Mountai ...

in the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

of Carinthia and Sankt Michael im Lungau in

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label= Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...

Geography

It connects the Carinthian Katsch Valley in the south with the historic Lungau region of Salzburg (present-day

Tamsweg Tamsweg () is a market town in the Austrian state of Salzburg near the border with Styria. It is the administrative centre of the eponymous Tamsweg District ('' Bezirk'') and the largest town of the Salzburg Lungau region. Geography Tamsweg is loc ...

district) and the Mur river in the north, from where the road leads further on to the Radstädter Tauern Pass. The federal-state border between Salzburg and Carinthia runs along the top of the pass. Katschberg also separates the

Ankogel Group The Ankogel Group (german: Ankogelgruppe) is a sub-group of the Central Eastern Alps. Together with the Goldberg Group, the Glockner Group, the Schober Group, the Kreuzeck Group, the Granatspitze Group, the Venediger Group, the Villgraten Mounta ...

of the

Hohe 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 ...

range in the west from the

Nock Mountains The Nock Mountains (german: Nockberge or ''Nockgebirge'') are the westernmost and highest mountain range of the Gurktal Alps in Austria, spread over parts of the federal states of Carinthia, Salzburg and Styria. Their appearance is characterised ...

, part of the

Gurktal Alps The Gurktal Alps (german: Gurktaler Alpen, sl, Krške Alpe) is a mountain range located in the Central Eastern Alps in Austria, named after the valley of the Gurk river. The range stretches west to Lake Millstatt and east to Neumarkter Sattel ...

, in the east. Parallel to the ''Katschberg Straße'' (B 99), which is now a regional highway (''

Landesstraße ''Landesstraßen'' (singular: ''Landesstraße'') are roads in Germany and Austria that are, as a rule, the responsibility of the respective German or Austrian federal state. The term may therefore be translated as "state road". They are roads t ...

''), since 1974 the

Tauern Autobahn The Tauern Autobahn (A 10) is an autobahn (motorway) in Austria. It starts at the Salzburg junction with the West Autobahn (A1), runs southwards, crosses the Tauern mountain range on the main chain of the Alps and leads to the Süd Autobahn (A2) a ...

crosses the chain through the long

Katschberg Tunnel Katschberg Pass (el. ) is a high mountain pass in the Central Eastern Alps in Austria between Rennweg am Katschberg in the state of Carinthia and Sankt Michael im Lungau in Salzburg. Geography It connects the Carinthian Katsch Valley in the sou ...

History

Though the pass was probably already known to the Celtic

Taurisci The Taurisci were a federation of Celtic tribes who dwelt in today's Carinthia and northern Slovenia (Carniola) before the coming of the Romans (c. 200 BC). According to Pliny the Elder, they are the same as the people known as the Norici. Etym ...

and later was part of a Roman Road from

Teurnia Teurnia (later Tiburnia) was a Roman city (''municipium''). Today its ruins lie in western Carinthia. In late antiquity it was also a bishop's see, and towards the end of Roman times it was mentioned as the capital of the province of Noricum me ...

to Iuvavum (Salzburg), it was first mentioned in a 1459 deed, then at the border between the Duchy of Carinthia and the Archbishopric of Salzburg. Mail was first sent over the pass in 1764. In 1929, J. Kastner built the first inn at Katschberghöhe. Matthias and Gertrude Bogensperger took over the inn in 1956 and expanded it to a 4-star hotel. These days, there are numerous hotels, holiday resorts and apartments in the region. In 1957, the first ski lift to the Tschaneck peak was built.

Tourism

Today, the

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In Nort ...

'Schischaukel Katschberg-Aineck' includes 16 lifts that cover of slopes with 100% snow-making facilities from Tschaneck () to Aineck () until Sankt Margarethen im Lungau.

Winter & Ski tourism

Ski runs

The longest ski run is the “A1” from the summit of the Aineck Mountain to St. Margarethen, a run of 6 km. The steepest and most difficult runs are from the Aineck to Katschberg valley - the black

piste A ''piste'' () is a marked ski run or path down a mountain for snow skiing, snowboarding, or other mountain sports. This European term is French

: Diretissima with up to 100% incline gradient at the unpisted first section making it one of the steepest runs in Austria – 3 km, and the Tschaneck "Nord" run (black piste with 55% incline gradient – but also suitable for families – 1.8 km). For beginners, the platterlift, Minijet and “Königswiesen” chairlift at Katschberg as well as the family run and Branntweiner run at Aineck are perfectly suitable.

Connection lifts

The connection lifts are the 8-person gondola Silverjet 1 from valley station St. Margarethen to Aineck as well as the 6-person Tschaneck cable car from Katschberghöhe to Tschaneck.

Further lifts

;Carinthia The 6-person Gamskogelexpress cable car, the Königswiesen cable car, and the Sonnalm cable car are available at the Carinthian side of the mountain. Furthermore, there is the Aineckbahn cable car as well as three platter and drag lifts. ;Salzburg At the Salzburg side of Katschberg-Aineck, there are three modern gondolas Silverjet 1, Silverjet 2 and the Aineck Gipfelbahn gondola.

Summer tourism

With the development of the ski resort, also summer tourism has been developing. These days, there is a 200-km-wide

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

trail network as well as numerous summer activities and accommodations in the region.Summer
Retrieved 16 May 2019.

References

External links

Profile on climbbybike.com
{{Authority control Mountain passes of Salzburg (state) Mountain passes of the Alps Mountain passes of Carinthia (state) Lavanttal Alps