Standard Ski Route

Overview

Mountain terminal of the Schaufeljoch cable car - Gaisskarferner ("Ferner" = glacier) - lower terminal of the Gaisskarferner T-bar lift - Pfaffenferner - Pfaffenjoch - Sulzenauferner - summit of Wilder Pfaff
 

Route Description

The mountain terminal of the Schaufeljoch cable car (3,158 m) is the starting point for the ski tours to Wilder Paff and to Zuckerhuetl. First you ski down the well-groomed piste on Gaisskarferner to the lower terminal of the Gaisskarferner T-bar lift. From this terminal there are 3 routes to Pfaffenferner: an upper route, a middle route, and a lower route. The upper route is a track which begins right at the terminal (see photo entitled "Ants' trail"). For the middle and the lower routes you have to go down the valley on your right a bit, and catch the respective tracks leading up to Pfaffenferner. Then you go up Pfaffenferner to Pfaffenjoch (3,212 m) and head across Sulzenauferner towards Wilder Pfaff. You will be on the track which also leads to Zuckerhuetl. Zuckerhuetl will appear on your right. Below Zuckerhuetl, the track to Wilder Pfaff branches off to the left. It then leads up to the summit on the left hand side of the mountain.

The route is not difficult.

Ascent to Pfaffenjoch

Crossing Sulzenauferner

At the top


Also see the Zuckerhuetl trip report plus photos by Sebastian Hamm.

Gear

Depending on conditions, ski crampons ("harscheisen") may come in handy in the lower section of the way up from Sulzenauferner to the summit.

Getting There

Innsbruck - motorway direction Brenner/Brennero (A13) - exit Schoenberg/Stubaital (toll) - road into the Stubaital (183) to the very end - car park (free) at Mutterbergalm/Stubaier Gletscherbahn - Eisgrat station - Schaufeljoch cable car/mountain terminal

Accommodation

You can also use Hildesheimer Huette as a base. The hut has a "winter house". Contact the hut warden, Gustav Fiegl, Windau 608, A-6450 Soelden, Austria: +4352542090 (home phone) or +436645217906 (mobile phone). You go to the hut from Gaisskarferner, branching off to the right about half way between the mountain terminal of the Schaufeljoch cable car and the lower terminal of the Gaisskarferner T-bar lift. From the hut, you go back the same way, or take a short cut to a place further down (closer to Pfaffenferner), and you will be on the route to Wilder Pfaff and Zuckerhuetl (or to Sonklarspitze). You can also go up to the hut from Soelden via the Windachtal ("Tal" = valley) and Gaiskar.

Online Maps

Austrian Map online
Online digital maps of Austria (OEK 50, OEK 200 and OEK 500) by the BEV (Bundesamt für Eich- und Vermessungswesen) - in German

When to Climb

March - June

Mountain Conditions

Weather

Current avalanche conditions

External Links

Vom Eisjoch auf das Zuckerhuetl - description of the standard ski route in German
Comment: Nowadays the best approach is the one via Eisgrat station to the mountain terminal of the Schaufeljoch cable car. This terminal, the Jochdohle restaurant, and the Eisjoch terminal are very close to each other.

Stubaier Gletscherbahn (Stubai cable car)

Images

View Standard Ski Route Image Gallery - 11 Images