The Nordkette, also variously called the North Chain, Northern Range, rarely the Inn Valley Range or Inn Valley Chain (''Inntalkette''), is a range of mountains just north of the city of

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...

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 ...

. It is the southernmost of the four great

mountain chain A mountain chain is a row of high mountain summits, a linear sequence of interconnected or related mountains,Whittow, John (1984). ''Dictionary of Physical Geography''. London: Penguin, p 87. . or a contiguous ridge of mountains within a larger m ...

s in the

Karwendel The Karwendel is the largest mountain range of the Northern Limestone Alps. The major part belongs to the Austrian federal state of Tyrol (state), Tyrol, while the adjacent area in the north is part of Bavaria, Germany. Four mountain chain, chain ...

. To the west it is linked by the Erl Saddle to the

Erlspitze Group The Erlspitze Group (german: Erlspitzgruppe), also called the Seefeld Group, is the southwesternmost side range of the Austrian part of the Karwendel mountains in the Alps. It forms a horseshoe-shaped highland around the valley of Eppzirler Tal an ...

, to the east via the ''Stempeljoch'' saddle () to the Gleirsch-Halltal Range. To the south it is bounded by the

Inn valley , image = UnterinntalWest.JPG , image_caption = Lower Inn valley from Rattenberg castle , source1_location = Swiss Alps (Lägh dal Lunghin) , source1_elevation = , source1_coordinates= , mouth_location = Danube (Passau) , mo ...

. Its highest summit is the

Kleiner Solstein The Kleiner Solstein is a mountain, high, in the Nordkette in the Karwendel Alps in the Austrian state of Tyrol. Despite its name ("Small Solstein") it towers above its western neighbour, the Großer Solstein ("Great Solstein") () by almost a ...

() in the west of the range. The Nordkette is served by the

Nordkette Cable Car The Nordkette Cable Car (german: Nordkettenbahn) in the Austrian state of Tyrol is a gondola lift from Innsbruck to the Nordkette, the southernmost mountain chain of the Karwendel. It runs in two sections from the Innsbruck quarter of Hungerburg ...

, which offers easy access to the

ski area A ski area is the terrain and supporting infrastructure where skiing and other snow sports take place. Such sports include alpine and cross-country skiing, snow boarding, tubing, sledding, etc. Ski areas may stand alone or be part of a ski resort. ...

and the

Innsbruck Klettersteig Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol and the fifth-largest city in Austria. On the River Inn, at its junction with the Wipp Valley, which provides access to the Brenner Pass to the south, it had a p ...

. The latter starts in the east, near ''Hafelekar'' station () on the Nordkette Cable Car, and runs via the Seegrubenspitze, the Kemacher and the ''Langen Sattel'' to

Frau Hitt The Frau Hitt () is a peak in the ''Nordkette'', the southernmost mountain chain of the Karwendel in Austria. In appearance it resembles a woman (German: ''Frau'') on a horse, hence the name. According to legend the peak is a petrified giant quee ...

and the Frau Hitt Saddle in the west. In addition, the Goethe Way (''Goetheweg'') runs from Hafelekar Station along the

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 ...

eastwards to the Pfeis Hut north of the Rumer Spitze. Below the Hungerburg - Seegrube section of the Nordkette Cableway runs the ''Nordkette Singletrail'', one of the most challenging routes in Europe for freeride

mountain biker Mountain biking is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and pe ...

s. The following

Alpine Club hut Alpine club huts (german: Alpenvereinshütten) or simply club huts (''Clubhütten'') form the majority of the over 1,300 mountain huts in the Alps and are maintained by branches, or sections, of the various Alpine clubs. Although the usual English ...

s in the area of the Nordkette offer

climbers Climber may refer to: *Climber, a participant in the activity of climbing *Climber, general name for a vine *Climber, or climbing specialist, a road bicycle racer who can ride especially well on highly inclined roads * Climber (BEAM), a robot that ...

bases for multi-day tours taking in numerous summits: the

Solsteinhaus The Solsteinhaus is an Alpine Club hut belonging to the Austrian Alpine Club located at a height of on the Erl Saddle (''Erlsattel'') between the mountains of the Nordkette and Erlspitze Group. It was opened in 1914 and totally renovated in 200 ...

, the Neue Magdeburger Hut, the Pfeis Hut and the Bettelwurf Hut (in the Gleirsch-Halltal Range). In the southwest, there is a small massif in front of the Nordkette, the Hechenberg, which reaches a height of at the ''Kirchbergköpfl'' and which is separated from the Nordkette to the northeast and east by the ''Kranebitter Klamm''.

Important summits

The most important summits of the Nordkette from west to east are the: *

Großer Solstein The Große Solstein is a mountain, high, on the western corner of the Nordkette range in the Karwendel mountains near Zirl in the Austrian state of Tyrol. Its summit may be ascended on various mountain tour routes either from the Solsteinhaus or ...

() *

() * Hohe Warte () *

Hintere Brandjochspitze The Hintere Brandjochspitze () is a summit roughly 200 metres northwest of the Vordere Brandjochspitze in the Nordkette range above Innsbruck. It rises above its "forward" neighbour by around 40 metres. The summit may be reached in 20 minute ...

() *

Vordere Brandjochspitze The Vordere Brandjochspitze is a peak, high, in the Nordkette in the Karwendel range and is one of its highest and most striking peaks. In its immediate vicinity to the north-northwest is its sister summit, the Hintere Brandjochspitze, which is ...

() * Hippenspitze () * Brandjochkreuz () *

() * Westliche Sattelspitze () *

Kemacher Kemacher is a summit of the Nordkette (North Chain) range 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 wa ...

() * Kumpfkarspitze () * Seegrubenspitze () *

Hafelekarspitze The Hafelekarspitze is a mountain in the so-called North Chain (''Nordkette'') north of Innsbruck in Austria. Location and landscape Below and west of the summit is the top station of ''Hafelekar'', the second section of the Nordkette Cable Car ...

() * Gleirschspitze () * Mandlspitze () * Gleirschtaler Brandjoch () * Rumer Spitze () * Thaurer Jochspitze () * Pfeiser Spitze () * Lattenspitze () * Wildangerspitze () * Thaurer Zunterkopf () * Haller Zunterkopf () * Hochmahdkopf ()

External links

www.nordkette-austria.net
– Website about the North Chain {{authority control Mountain ranges of the Alps Two-thousanders of Austria Mountain ranges of Tyrol (state) Karwendel Innsbruck