The Vorderseespitze is a mountain in the

Lechtal Alps The Lechtal Alps (german: Lechtaler Alpen) are a mountain-range in western Austria, and part of the greater Northern Limestone Alps range. Named for the river Lech which drains them north-ward into Germany, the Lechtal Alps occupy the Austrian stat ...

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 ...

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 ...

. At it is the eighth highest peak in the

. The Lech Valley Ridgeway (''Lechtaler Höhenweg'') runs over its southeastern flank from Kaiserjochhaus to the Ansbacher Hut. According to the literature it was first climbed in 1855 by locals from

Kaisers :''See also Kaiser.'' Kaisers is a municipality in the district of Reutte 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 Aus ...

in the

Lech Valley The Lechtal is an alpine valley in Austria, the greater part of which belongs to the state of Tyrol and the smaller part to Vorarlberg. The Lech river flows through the valley. Location The valley is bounded geographically by the Lechtal Alps ...

Summit block

The Vorderseespitze is made from the

sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles ...

main dolomite Main Dolomite (german: Hauptdolomit, hu, Fődolomit, it, Dolomia Principale) is a lithostratigraphic unit in the Alps of Europe. Formation was defined by K.W. Gümbel in 1857. Middle to Late Triassic sedimentary record in the Alpine realm is ...

and is the highest main dolomite summit of the

Northern Limestone Alps The Northern Limestone Alps (german: Nördliche Kalkalpen), also called the Northern Calcareous Alps, are the ranges of the Eastern Alps north of the Central Eastern Alps located in Austria and the adjacent Bavarian lands of southeastern Germany. ...

. On its northeast flank lies the little, tongue-shaped and heavily

crevasse A crevasse is a deep crack, that forms in a glacier or ice sheet that can be a few inches across to over 40 feet. Crevasses form as a result of the movement and resulting stress associated with the shear stress generated when two semi-rigid pie ...

d ''Vorderseeferner'', the largest

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its Ablation#Glaciology, ablation over many years, often Century, centuries. It acquires dis ...

of the Lechtal Alps. The mountain is separated from the Aperriesspitze (2,588 m) by the ''Hinterseejoch'' (2,482 m). To the west of this saddle, in a

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 ...

, lies the lake of ''Hintersee'', east of the col is lake of ''Vordersee'' which gives the mountain its name. The neighbouring peak to the north is the

Feuerspitze Feuerspitze ("Fire-Peak") is a mountain in the Lechtal Alps of Tyrol. The elevation at its peak is . Feuerspitze is located southeast of Holzgau Holzgau is a municipality in the district of Reutte in the Austrian state of Tyrol Tyrol ( ...

Base and tours

The base for an ascent is the Ansbacher Hut at 2,376 metres. The

normal route A normal route or normal way (french: voie normale; german: Normalweg) is the most frequently used route for ascending and descending a mountain peak. It is usually the simplest route. Overview In the Alps, routes are classed in the following way ...

, the easiest climb, runs either along the north arête, according to the literature at

climbing grade In rock climbing, mountaineering, and other climbing disciplines, climbers give a grade to a climbing route or boulder problem, intended to describe concisely the difficulty and danger of climbing it. Different types of climbing (such as spo ...

II, or up the northeast flank, also at UIAA grade II. An ascent along the east arête is slightly more difficult. The journey time is generally 3½ hours from the Ansbacher Hut.Dieter Seibert: ''Alpenvereinsführer Lechtaler Alpen'', Munich, 2002, pp. 248 ff., Rz 950 ff. The northeast flank is also possible as an extreme

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 ...

Literature and map

*Dieter Seibert: ''

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 Ge ...

Lechtaler Alpen'', Munich, 2002, *

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 3/3, ''Lechtaler Alpen, Parseierspitze''

References

{{reflist Two-thousanders of Austria Mountains of Tyrol (state) Mountains of the Alps Lechtal Alps