At the Vordere Kesselschneid is the highest summit in the Zahmer Kaiser, the northern chain of the

Kaiser Mountains The Kaiser Mountains (german: Kaisergebirge, meaning ''Emperor Mountains'') are a mountain range in the Northern Limestone Alps and Eastern Alps. Its main ridges – are the Zahmer Kaiser and south of it the Wilder Kaiser. The mountains are s ...

in 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 ...

n 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 ...

. Its summit is located southeast of the oft-visited

Pyramidenspitze The Pyramidenspitze is a mountain, 1,998 metres high, of the Kaisergebirge in the Austrian state of Tyrol. The Pyramidenspitze is only the second highest summit in the Zahmer Kaiser after the largely unknown, Vordere Kesselschneid, but is the ...

and is separated from it by a ca. 50 m deep saddle. To the east of the mountain is a long, rocky

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 ...

, partly covered with

mountain pine ''Pinus mugo'', known as bog pine, creeping pine, dwarf mountain pine, mugo pine, mountain pine, scrub mountain pine, or Swiss mountain pine, is a species of conifer, native to high elevation habitats from southwestern to Central Europe and Sou ...

s which runs over the Hintere Kesselschneid (1,995 m) to the Roßkaiser (1,970 m). To the north its steep rock faces drop into the Winkelkar

cirque A (; from the Latin word ') is an amphitheatre-like valley formed by glacial erosion. Alternative names for this landform are corrie (from Scottish Gaelic , meaning a pot or cauldron) and (; ). A cirque may also be a similarly shaped landform ...

, to the west lies the long plateau of the Kaisergebirge and the Pyramidenspitze and to the south the mountain falls sharply into the

Kaisertal The Kaisertal (formerly ''Sparchental'') is a striking mountain valley between the mountain chains of the Zahmer and Wilder Kaiser in Austria's Kaisergebirge range in the Tyrol. In the ravine (''Sparchenklamm'') on the valley floor flows the str ...

Routes

The easiest and most-frequented route to the Vordere Kesselschneid is from the Pyramidenspitze to the northeast. From there you have to descend about 50 metres to a saddle and then make your way without the help of a path, but without any difficulties, across a grassy slope to the

cairn A cairn is a man-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the gd, càrn (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehis ...

on the summit. The walk from the Pyramidenspitze takes 20 minutes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kesselschneid, Vordere Mountains of the Alps Mountains of Tyrol (state) Kaiser Mountains Two-thousanders of Austria