The Schoberköpfe are several ridge-shaped peaks, arranged along the eastern edge of the

Hochkönig The Hochkönig is a mountain group containing the highest mountain (Mount Hochkönig) in the Berchtesgaden Alps, Salzburgerland, Austria. The Berchtesgaden Alps form part of the Northern Limestone Alps. Location It lies to the west of the town ...

plateau in the Berchtesgaden Alps, and which lie in a semi-circular arc that opens towards the east facing the

Salzach The Salzach (Austrian: �saltsax ) is a river in Austria and Germany. It is in length and is a right tributary of the Inn, which eventually joins the Danube. Its drainage basin of comprises large parts of the Northern Limestone and Central ...

valley: * Southwestern Schoberkopf (''Südwestlicher Schoberkopf'', http://www.austrianmap.at/ BEV 1:50,000 series.) * Eastern Schoberkopf (''Östlicher Schoberkopf'', 2,666 m) * ''Teufelskirche'', also called the ''Teufelskirchl'' (2,520 mAlbert Precht: '' Alpenvereinsführer Hochkönig''), a rock tower in front of the Eastern Schoberkopf. The relatively steep, 200-300-metre-high south faces drop into the scree-covered ''Eiskar'' and climb up again opposite into the striking, isolated pillar of the

Torsäule The Torsäule () is a very steep, about 500-metre-high limestone formation on the eastern flank of the Hochkönig massif in the Berchtesgaden Alps. The imposing column (''Torsäule'' means "gateway column"), which bears a summit cross, lies im ...

2,588 m. Somewhat west of 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 frequ ...

, near the ''Schoberschartl'' gap (2,579 m), ends the plateau glacier of the

Übergossene Alm The Übergossene Alm is the name of the summit region of the Hochkönig (2,941 m) in the Berchtesgaden Alps. It contains the remains of a glacier that used to cover almost the entire summit plateau; in 1888 around 5.5 km² of the platea ...

, which covers part of the Hochkönig summit region.

Ascents

The first known tourist ascent of the Schoberköpfe was undertaken on 29 June 1882 by

Ludwig Purtscheller Ludwig Purtscheller (6 October 1849 – 3 March 1900) was an Austrian mountaineer and teacher. Purtscheller pioneered climbing without a mountain guide, who in the 19th century did all the route finding and lead climbing. By the end of his life ...

, but he did not publish any report about the tour. The two Schoberköpfe are accessible from the plateau on an easy climbing, but trackless, route. The normal route to the Teufelskirche requires climbing skills up to grade IV however. Otherwise the Schoberköpfe have numerous climbing routes on their southern faces.

Literature

* Albert Precht: '' Alpenvereinsführer Hochkönig'', Bergverlag Rudolf Rother. Munich, 1989.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schoberkopfe Two-thousanders of Austria Mountains of the Alps Berchtesgaden Alps Mountains of Salzburg (state)