The Zettenkaiser is a 1,968 m high mountain with a summit cross in the Kaiser Mountains (Kaisergebirge) in the Northern Limestone Alps in Austria. It rises to the west of the almost 150-metre-higher Scheffauer, from which it is separated by a col. It is one of the more rarely visited summits in the Kaiser. There are great views south to the main chain of the Alps, north to the Zahmer Kaiser and west into the Inn Valley; to the east at the foot of the summit is the rock needle known as the Kaindlnadel and then the mighty Scheffauer.

Zettenkaiser
The Zettenkaiser from the NE
Highest point
Elevation1,968 m (AA) (6,457 ft)
Prominence76 m ↓ col with the Scheffauer
Isolation0.19 km → Scheffauer
Coordinates47°33′25″N 12°14′08″E / 47.556993°N 12.235664°E / 47.556993; 12.235664
Geography
Zettenkaiser is located in Austria
Zettenkaiser
Zettenkaiser
Parent rangeKaiser Mountains
Climbing
Normal routeKufsteinKaindl Hut – Großer and Kleiner Friedhof – Zettenkaiser
The Zettenkaiser (centre rear) of the right hand mountain chain. View from Vomp

Routes edit

The waymarked normal route starts by the privately run Kaindl Hut (1,293m), runs via the Großer and Kleiner Friedhof (two cirques), up a 3 to 4-metre-high rock step (grade I/II) and gullies in mountain pine terrain in order to reach the western arête at about 1,700 metres. The arête is not particularly difficult (grade I), but is exposed in places however and requires a head for heights and sure-footedness. There is no protection and the waymarks have faded in places (as at 2013); if one leaves the route the ascent becomes markedly more difficult.

Literature and map edit

  • Horst Höfler, Jan Piepenstock: Kaisergebirge alpin. Alpenvereinsführer alpin für Wanderer und Bergsteiger (= Alpenvereinsführer). 12th edn. Bergverlag Rother, Munich, 2006, ISBN 3-7633-1257-9.
  • Pit Schubert: Kaisergebirge extrem. Alpenvereinsführer für Kletterer (= Alpenvereinsführer). Bergverlag Rother, Munich, 2000, ISBN 3-7633-1272-2
  • Alpine Club Map 1:25,000, Kaisergebirge, Sheet 8.