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

Berchtesgaden Alps The Berchtesgaden Alps (, ) are a mountain range of the Northern Limestone Alps, named after the market town of Berchtesgaden located in the centre. It is crossed by the Austria–Germany border: the central part belongs to the Berchtesgadener Lan ...

, 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 (river), Inn, which eventually joins the Danube. Its drainage basin of comprises large parts of the Northern Limeston ...

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 2,588 m. Somewhat west of the

arête An arête ( ; ) is a narrow ridge of rock that 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, 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 mountaineering, 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 ...

, 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 (federal state)