Spitzegel

Park beside the stream after the small bridge in the northern part of Obervellach, between Hermagor and Villach. Walk up the road along the Vellacher Bach and, about 200 m past the last house, turn right onto trail 248. A long forest path crossing several gravel roads reaches the Obervellacher Stand, a former pasture, in about 1½ hours. The track then crosses a ditch below rock faces and climbs steeply north past an intermittent spring and a clearing with a hunting hut (about 1,530 m) to the Laudinzenhaus at the Obervellacher Alm (1,676 m), staffed in summer, just under 3 hours from the start. From the alm, trail 229 (the Gailtaler Höhenweg) climbs through sunny larch woods and clearings, then over dwarf-pine knolls to the foot of the summit block. A well-stepped, slanting rock gully (grade I) leads in about 10 minutes to the ridge, where there is a memorial plaque; the last 60 m cross steeper scree and rock to the summit cross. Allow about 1¼ hours from the alm. Descend the same way in 3–4 hours. Very experienced parties can continue along the partly exposed ridge to the Vellacher Egel (2,108 m, about 2 hours) and descend via the Vellacher Sattel, trail 249 and the Untervellacher Stand to Khünburg; this is long and steep, with exposed scrambling.