The Rietzer Grießkogel (also: ''Grieskogel'') is a mountain, , and the highest peak in the Northern Sellrain Mountains, part of the

Stubai Alps The Stubai Alps (in German ''Stubaier Alpen'') is a mountain range in the Central Eastern Alps of Europe. It derives its name from the Stubaital valley to its east and is located southwest of Innsbruck, Austria. Several peaks form the border betwe ...

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 summit is easily climbed on path no. 153. The first documented ascent was undertaken in 1829 by Innsbruck botanist, Andrä Sauter, a brother of Anton Sauter. As a result of its easy accessibility on well marked paths from

Telfs Telfs is a market town in the district of Innsbruck-Land in the Austrian state of Tyrol, west of Innsbruck. It is the third largest municipality in Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical regio ...

in the

Inn Valley The Inn ( la, Aenus; rm, En) is a river in Switzerland, Austria and Germany. The river is long. It is a right tributary of the Danube and it is the third largest tributary of the Danube by discharge. The highest point of its drainage basin is ...

and from the Sellrain Valley, it is a popular destination. Its name is derived from the village of Rietz at its northern foot in the district of

Imst Imst (; Southern Bavarian: ''Imscht'') is a town in the Austrian federal state of Tyrol. It lies on the River Inn in western Tyrol, some west of Innsbruck and at an altitude of above sea level. With a current population (2013) of 9,552, Im ...

in the upper Inn valley.

Location and surrounding area

The Rietzer Grießkogel lies just under eight kilometres

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 ...

south of

, 27 kilometres west of Innsbruck and five kilometres northwest of St. Sigmund im Sellrain. Its neighbouring summits are the ''Bachwandkopf'' (2,758 m) to the west, the ''Hocheder'' (2,798 m) to the northeast and the ''Schartenkogel'' (2,603 m) to the southeast. To the southwest the Rietzer Grießkogel drops into the Alpine pasture of ''Oberer Zirmbachalm'' (2,100 m) with gradients of 30 to 50°.

Geology

Geologically viewed, the Northern Sellrain Mountains belong to the Ötztal

Gneiss Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures a ...

, which forms the rocks here. Particularly strong elements of this rock are biotite-granite gneiss, a mixed crystal from the Annite-Phlogopite series. Because this rock is easily weathered and eroded, for example by frost weathering, the mountains in this region are less rugged and easier from climb from an alpinistic perspective.

Bases and routes

The Rietzer Grießkogel may be reached from the north from the Peter Anich Hut (1,909 m), which lies above Telfs to the south. Path no. 153 runs in a southerly direction initially over the Bachwandkopf peak, then along the west

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 frequ ...

to the summit in, according to the literature, 3½ hours. From the south it takes about 4½ hours on the path from

Kühtai Kühtai is a winter sports village in the Stubai Alps on the Kühtai Saddle between the Nedertal valley in the west and the Sellrain valley in the east. It is part of the municipality of Silz, in the district of Bezirk Imst, Imst, in the Austria ...

Haggen Haggen Food & Pharmacy is a grocery retailer in Washington State. Haggen is headquartered in Bellingham, Washington, where it started in 1933 when Ben Haggen, Dorothy Haggen, and Doug Clark opened the first store on Bay Street in Bellingham. Fo ...

in the Sellrain valley along the Zirmbach stream and up the southwestern flank of the mountain. This ascent is also one of the most popular

ski tour Ski touring is skiing in the backcountry on unmarked or unpatrolled areas. Touring is typically done off-piste and outside of ski resorts, and may extend over a period of more than one day. It is similar to backcountry skiing but excludes the ...

s of the region. Another path runs from

Flaurling Flaurling is a municipality in the district Innsbruck country in Tyrol (Austria). It lies in the Inn valley between Innsbruck and Telfs south of the Inn River. The municipality consists of the areas: ''Flaurling village'','' Flaurling station'' ...

via the ''Flaurlinger Alm'' from the east to the top.Walter Klier: ''Alpenvereinsführer Stubaier Alpen'', Munich, 2006, p. 167, Rz 1221 ff.

References

Literature and maps

*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 ...

Stubaier Alpen'', Munich, 2006, *

Alpine Club map 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 31/2 ''Stubaier Alpen, Sellrain'' (the Rietzer Grießkogel lies on the extreme upper edge of the map) * Kompass hiking map 1:50,000, Sheet WK 35, ''Imst-Telfs-Kühtai''

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rietzer Griesskogel Two-thousanders of Austria Mountains of Tyrol (state) Mountains of the Alps Stubai Alps