Katschberg Pass (el. ) is a high

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since mountain ranges can present formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human and animal migration t ...

in the

Central Eastern Alps The Central Eastern Alps (), also referred to as Austrian Central Alps () or just Central Alps, comprise the main chain of the Eastern Alps in Austria and the adjacent regions of Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Italy and Slovenia. South of them is ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

between

Rennweg am Katschberg Rennweg am Katschberg is a market town in the district of Spittal an der Drau District, Spittal an der Drau in Carinthia (state), Carinthia, Austria. Geography Rennweg is located in the Katsch Valley (''Katschtal'') between the Hohe Tauern ran ...

in the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Carinthia Carinthia ( ; ; ) is the southernmost and least densely populated States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The Lake Wolayer is a mountain lake on the Carinthian side of the Carnic Main ...

and

Sankt Michael im Lungau St. Michael im Lungau is a market town in the district of Tamsweg District, Tamsweg in the Austrian state of Salzburg (state), Salzburg. Geography It is located in the historic Lungau region, in the valley of the upper Mur (river), Mur river, nor ...

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

Geography

It connects the Carinthian Katsch Valley in the south with the historic

Lungau Bezirk Tamsweg is an administrative district (''Bezirk'') in the federal state of Salzburg, Austria. It is congruent with the Lungau region (). The administrative centre of the district is Tamsweg. Geography The area of the Lungau plateau is 1 ...

region of Salzburg (present-day

Tamsweg Tamsweg () is a market town in the Austrian state of Salzburg near the border with Styria. It is the administrative centre of the eponymous Tamsweg District (''Bezirk'') and the largest town of the Salzburg Lungau region. Geography Tamsweg is loca ...

district) and the Mur river in the north, from where the road leads further on to the

Radstädter Tauern Pass Radstädter Tauern Pass (el. ) is a high mountain pass in the Austrian state of Salzburg, connecting the town of Radstadt in the Pongau region with Mauterndorf in Lungau. Geography The pass separates the Radstadt Tauern in the west and the Sch ...

. The federal-state border between Salzburg and Carinthia runs along the top of the pass. Katschberg also separates the

Ankogel Group The Ankogel Group () is a sub-group of the Central Eastern Alps. Together with the Goldberg Group, the Glockner Group, the Schober Group, the Kreuzeck Group, the Granatspitze Group, the Venediger Group, the Villgraten Mountains and the Rieserfern ...

of the

Hohe Tauern The High Tauern ( pl.; , ) are a mountain range on the main chain of the Central Eastern Alps, comprising the highest peaks east of the Brenner Pass. The crest forms the southern border of the Austrian states of Salzburg, Carinthia and East Tyr ...

range in the west from the

Nock Mountains The Nock Mountains ( or ''Nockgebirge'') are the westernmost and highest mountain range of the Gurktal Alps in Austria, spread over parts of the federal states of Carinthia, Salzburg and Styria. Their appearance is characterised by numerous dome ...

, part of the

Gurktal Alps The Gurktal Alps (, ) is a mountain range in the Central Eastern Alps in Austria which is named after the valley of the Gurk river. The range stretches west to Lake Millstatt and east to Neumarkter Sattel (north-northwest of Neumarkt in Steie ...

, in the east. Parallel to the ''Katschberg Straße'' (B 99), which is now a regional highway (''

Landesstraße ''Landesstraßen'' (singular: ''Landesstraße'' ) are roads in Germany and Austria that are, as a rule, the responsibility of the respective German or Austrian federal state. The term may therefore be translated as "state road". They are road ...

''), since 1974 the

Tauern Autobahn The Tauern Autobahn (A 10) is an autobahn (motorway) in Austria. It starts at the Salzburg junction with the West Autobahn (A1), runs southwards, crosses the Tauern mountain range on the main chain of the Alps and leads to the Süd Autobahn ...

crosses the chain through the long

Katschberg Tunnel Katschberg Pass (el. ) is a high mountain pass in the Central Eastern Alps in Austria between Rennweg am Katschberg in the States of Austria, state of Carinthia (state), Carinthia and Sankt Michael im Lungau in Salzburg (state), Salzburg. Geogra ...

History

Though the pass was probably already known to the Celtic

Taurisci The Taurisci were a federation of Celtic tribes who dwelt in today's Carinthia and northern Slovenia (Carniola) before the coming of the Romans (c. 200 BC). According to Pliny the Elder, they are the same as the people known as the Norici. Et ...

and later was part of a

Roman Road Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...

from

Teurnia Teurnia (later Tiburnia) was a Roman Empire, Roman city (''municipium''). Today its ruins lie in western Carinthia (state), Carinthia. In Late Antiquity, late antiquity it was also a bishop's see, and towards the end of Roman times it was mention ...

to Iuvavum (Salzburg), it was first mentioned in a 1459 deed, then at the border between the

Duchy of Carinthia The Duchy of Carinthia (; ; ) was a duchy located in southern Austria and parts of northern Slovenia. It was separated from the Duchy of Bavaria in 976, and was the first newly created Imperial State after the original German stem duchies. Car ...

and the

Archbishopric of Salzburg The Prince-Archbishopric of Salzburg (; ) was an ecclesiastical principality and state of the Holy Roman Empire. It comprised the secular territory ruled by the archbishops of Salzburg, as distinguished from the much larger Catholic diocese f ...

. Mail was first sent over the pass in 1764. In 1929, J. Kastner built the first inn at Katschberghöhe. Matthias and Gertrude Bogensperger took over the inn in 1956 and expanded it to a 4-star hotel. These days, there are numerous hotels, holiday resorts and apartments in the region. In 1957, the first ski lift to the Tschaneck peak was built.

Tourism

Today, the

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area–a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North Am ...

'Schischaukel Katschberg-Aineck' includes 16 lifts that cover of slopes with 100% snow-making facilities from Tschaneck () to Aineck () until

Sankt Margarethen im Lungau St. Margarethen im Lungau is a municipality in the district of Tamsweg in the state of Salzburg in Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation ...

Winter & Ski tourism

Ski runs

The longest ski run is the “A1” from the summit of the Aineck Mountain to St. Margarethen, a run of . The steepest and most difficult runs are from the Aineck to Katschberg valley - the black

piste A ''piste'' () is a marked ski run or path down a mountain for snow skiing, snowboarding, or other mountain sports. This European term is French

: Diretissima with up to 100% incline gradient at the unpisted first section making it one of the steepest runs in Austria – , and the Tschaneck "Nord" run (black piste with 55% incline gradient – but also suitable for families – ). For beginners, the platterlift, Minijet and “Königswiesen” chairlift at Katschberg as well as the family run and Branntweiner run at Aineck are perfectly suitable.

Connection lifts

The connection lifts are the 8-person gondola Silverjet 1 from valley station St. Margarethen to Aineck as well as the 6-person Tschaneck cable car from Katschberghöhe to Tschaneck.

Further lifts

;Carinthia The 6-person Gamskogelexpress cable car, the Königswiesen cable car, and the Sonnalm cable car are available at the Carinthian side of the mountain. Furthermore, there is the Aineckbahn cable car as well as three platter and drag lifts. ;Salzburg At the Salzburg side of Katschberg-Aineck, there are three modern gondolas Silverjet 1, Silverjet 2 and the Aineck Gipfelbahn gondola.

Summer tourism

With the development of the ski resort, also summer tourism has been developing. These days, there is a 200-km-wide

hiking A hike is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century. Long hikes as part of a religious pilgrimage have existed for a much longer time. "Hi ...

trail network as well as numerous summer activities and accommodations in the region.Summer
Retrieved 16 May 2019.

References

External links

Profile on climbbybike.com
{{Authority control Mountain passes of Salzburg (federal state) Mountain passes of the Alps Mountain passes of Carinthia Lavanttal Alps