Difficulty level: Moderate
Altitude meters: about 1,600 meters
Total ascent time: about 4.5 hours (without break, good walking pace)
Even though a small part of the Karwendel mountain range is located in the neighboring Bavaria, 80% is found on Tyrolean soil. The Pleisenspitze is a mountain in the Karwendel and is often chosen for ski tours that require a bit more stamina.
Technically, no particularly large hurdles are placed in one's way, but the 1,600 altitude meters want to be conquered. Those who want to take it easier can find a night's lodging in the Pleisen Hut and continue the tour refreshed the next day.
The starting point is in Scharnitz, where you follow the signs to the Karwendel valleys after the church, cross a bridge over the Isar river, and finally find parking spaces that are subject to a fee.
Now it's first 1.7 kilometers along the river, always towards Gasthof Wiesenhof. Shortly before the inn, a forest road branches off, which you walk along. After the Wasserlegraben, you can take a steep shortcut through the forest in good snow conditions and save yourself some switchbacks. Later, the paths meet again and at an altitude of 1,757 meters you have reached the Pleisen Hut. Here you have already covered half the distance and can now choose whether to stay overnight in the hut or to do everything in one go.
Behind the hut, the trail continues towards the northeast. After a short steep section, you reach the Vorderkar. Then it gets a bit flatter and soon you are at the highest point of the Pleisenspitze at 2,569 meters, which has been crowned with a summit cross.
After this test of stamina, you can proudly let your gaze wander into the distance and, if weather conditions allow, the Grossglockner or also the Zugspitze as well as the Wildspitze can be seen from here.
The way down is basically the same as the ascent route. However, with enough snow, one or the other steep gully in the forest can also be included and serve as a shortcut.
By the way: The builder of the Pleisen Hut, Toni Gaugg or also known as "Pleisentoni", was considered the "Luis Trenker of the Karwendel". In his activity as a cave explorer, he made a significant discovery in the Vorderkarhöhle, where he found a skeleton of an elk calf that was about 7,000 years old. Toni himself found his final resting place next to the hut near the chapel.
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