Hochplattig

From the Waldschwimmbad car park at Barwies/Obermieming on the Mieming plateau (about 900 m) a forest road and marked path climb over the Henneberg (about 1,355 m; many parties cycle to here) to the Gacher Blick viewpoint (1,909 m), about 2 hours, where the marked path ends. Go about 30 m down to a saddle and follow a faint path west through the dwarf pine; the old path to the east has been undercut by the Judenbach gorge and is impassable when wet. Trackless steep grass and broken rock lead up the Plattig to the foot of the cliffs. At about 2,350 m enter the slanting gully that runs north-west from below the Albeleköpfe to the ridge. Old snow, often nearly ice, fills its lower and middle parts well into summer; climb easy rock (I–II) on its right edge, follow a rib to a fork, cross the top of the snowfield, then a broad slab area and ledges to the crest at the Westeck (2,749 m), about 4–5 hours from the valley. The west top carries the only intact summit cross. The main summit (2,768 m) is an indistinct high point about halfway along a 700–800 m ridge to the east top (2,698 m). The crest is continuously exposed at about grade II, with a bypass on the south side into a sharp notch and a traverse along the edge of a smooth slab; allow about an hour. Most parties continue to the east top (brittle pinnacles and steps of II+, about 1 h 20 min from the Westeck in total) and descend south-west from it into the Oberplattig and down the long scree to the Gacher Blick path. Beware of following the descent gully too far, as it ends above high cliffs into the Jude. The range is notorious for brittle rock, the south side is in full sun, and there are no huts or water on the route.