Kaiserkrone

Austria

August 2025

The "Emperor's Crown" is a circular walk around the Wilder Kaiser mountains in Tyrol, Austria. Our trip was largely inspired by Moon & Honey Travel's excellent blog. We then added a few bits of extra fun, including some via ferrata and the ascent of the 2192m Hintere Goinger Halt which are all described on www.wilderkaiser.info. Our route totals 66km and just over 5000m of height gained (and lost again). We spread it out over 5 days, staying in three fantastic mountain huts and one valley guesthouse.

Day 1

Kufstein to Stripsenjochhaus (16km)

We arrive in Kufstein the night before and settle into our remarkably pleasant road side hotel. The morning brings bright sunshine dappled through the trees outside the window and the bubbling of the river. I get a mildly early start to enjoy the shower and go shopping for lunch food and a plug. The latter takes a few false starts and some persistence with Google translate (my German being so rudimentary it’s almost nonexistent) but then removes the stress of having to worry about never being able to charge the phone. Back to the motel Robbie is up and packed and we’re off for just past 9am. We follow a pleasant cycle path along the edge of Kufstein to the Kaiserlift which is an excellent way to start a walk. We dangle from our single chairlifts in the still morning air, enjoying a great panorama back out over the valley as we rise gently to just over 1200m. At the top, we’re greeted with a full view of the Kaiser mountains - another 1000m of silver white rock rising almost vertically from our little plateau of alpine meadows. Cow bells jangle peacefully as we sit and soak it all in.

Getting started the route follows well manicured tracks and paths. It’s easy going but the air is warm and still and the ups a bit of a slog under the sun. We decide we’ve definitely over-packed the warm layers and stop frequently for snacks and water. Also to admire the view, which is stunning. Over an edge there’s a steep descent down the Bettlersteig where little runs of steps have been carefully laid into the rock and scree. We drop into the woods and stay under the dappled shade of the trees for most of the rest of the day which is fortunate as it takes the worst of the heat out of the final steep ascent. All the way back up again and a bit more we arrive panting at the crest of the next ridge and our home for the night, Stripsenjochhaus. The view is mind-bogglingly excellent. A great vertical wall of cliffs so close you can almost touch them, so tall they don’t fit in the camera. It’s 4pm so we’re a little ahead of the guide times including lunch and rest stops which is good to know. We chill out on the terrace taking it in turns with the monocular to watch a number of climbers abseiling back down the cliffs. The halbpension set dinner comes in three courses with soup and salad, a choice of mains (a mystery something for me which turns out to be a very filling cheesy spinach dumpling and sausage and chips for Robbie) and an excellent raspberry sponge cake to finish. The evening turns golden and the sky burns softly as the sun sets behind lines of far distant peaks. Night falls. We tuck ourselves into bed; two soft mattresses in a corner under the eaves, a well worn wooden chest at your feet for your things. A place to dream of mountains.

Day 2

Spripsenjochhaus to Gasteig (16km)

The window above my mattress catches the sunrise so I spend the dawn wrapped in a blanket watching the clouds that blur the horizon turn from grey to blue to pink to white. Out on the terrace breakfast is a simple affair of bread, cheese and an apple and we’re away by 9 for a short walk uphill to our first via ferrata (or klettersteig to use the Deutsch). This is not part of the Kaiserkrone, but I couldn’t help notice when tracing the route that it passes right next to a few excellent looking lines, so this is our first Add-On. We don harnesses and helmets and clip ourselves to the cables then off we go, straight up. It’s trickier than I’m expecting until we conclude that you’re supposed to pull yourself up the cable and not just hold onto the rock, after which it gets much easier. We opt for the harder end variant (C/D grade) which comes with an awkward and reachy move with the potential for a medium size fall if you slip, followed by the reward of a wire bridge traverse to a mini summit which is just excellent. The views are stunning throughout. Up again, there are another two sections of which the middle is definitely the best - an excellent traverse to an exposed corner then up and round an overhang. The last section comes with the option for an E grade finish which looks like basically hand-over-handing up a wire rope with a fairly sheer/blank wall for the feet. We decide to give it a miss, and conclude that C is our optimum for fun and engaging without feeling scary.

We take a break on the summit from which we can see back to the hut (we have covered remarkably little distance) and soak in that huge mountain panorama from an even better angle. Onwards, we follow a long ridge winding up and down. It stays hot and sunny and just generally beautiful. We pass through knarled dwarf mountain pines which fill the air with their scent, wild flowers and meadows. Cross a 1800m summit which is the highest Robbie’s ever been but relative to its surroundings feels like a hill. We crack out some lunch and are mobbed by butterflies which really want to eat our cheese.

Down time, the ridge descends relatively gently and we join a winding path through pasture then woods back to the road. There are toilets at the carpark which provide much needed water, then we follow a path through lowland meadows and a small climb over to Gasteig. We’re booked in to Mountain Blast guesthouse where we have a spacious double room with balcony and (very importantly) a hot shower. Clean and as presentable as we can be given we don’t have any spare clothes, we wander back into town for an excellent dinner at Mitterjager. We fill up on venison and apple strudel and the waiter is very kind and patient about our somewhat laborious attempts to speak German.

Day 3

Gasteig to Gaudeamushutte (14km)

There’s a light covering of cloud and a couple of drops of rain as we set off this morning but it doesn’t last and we’re back down to t-shirts within an hour of setting off. We start the day with a not especially inspiring wander into Kirstoff which adds a few km but gets us to a shop where we can re-stock on lunchables. After a bit of map studying I manage to find a route out the other side which avoids a complete turn around and follows the WKS back up into the mountains to re-join the Kaiserkrone on the next ridge. It’s a steep and very hot climb with a little chapel half way up which provides a good opportunity for a breather. We meander our way up the side a fairly sheer and very impressive cliff and up onto the ridge line which falls away vertically to the left and very very steeply to the right. Awesome stuff. We eat a couple of luxuriously juicy pears and get mobbed by more butterflies.

Following the ridge we climb steeply up and down along its narrow crest. There are a few improbable little sections with a cable and the occasional metal rung that without a path to follow would feel like serious scrambling. The mountains re-appear ahead and far away South a line of snowy peaks shimmer in the haze.

Finally we come to the end of the ridge, into which we have put a lot of time if not all that much distance. We join a 4x4 track then an easy path and progress speeds up dramatically. The mountains ahead unfold to be every bit as spectacular as the other side and wispy high clouds form to take the worst out of the heat. There’s a final uphill slog to an excellent view point then a steep descent down to our hut for the night which is invisible in the trees until we are right on top of it. We’re in the Winter Room, an 8 bed dorm with just us and a father and son from Lichtenstein. We sit about on the terrace enjoying the view until dinner, which comes with a set menu and a seating plan where they seem to have carefully put together tables of people with common languages. We find ourselves sharing with our room-mates and a Finish couple who are also walking the Kaiserkrone but from a different start point. It’s great to compare our experiences and hear from the Lichtenstein pair who have been up doing the big klettersteig over Ellmaur Halt. The forecast for tomorrow is promising thunderstorms in the evening but a sunny morning so after a week of can-we-can’t-we I think our own summit excursion is on.

Day 4

Gaudeamushutte to Gruttenhutte (5km)

Lots of inconsistent snoring and a persistent flashing red light combine to give a poor night’s sleep. We shuffle down to breakfast at 7am and are off for just after 8, keen to get up high (and down again!) before the weather turns. This is another extra and absolutely not part of the Kaiserkrone, but it seemed rude to circle such a beautiful set of mountains and not venture up into their heights. Our target for the day is Hintere Goinger Halt (2192m) which is supposedly the easiest summit to reach, and a walk rather than a climb.

Setting off, the peaks are clear and the skies blue. We follow a steep zig-zag path up through scree to the pass. Cliffs rise vertically around us and I know I’ve already said that many of the views are excellent and stunning but these are even excellenter and stunninger. Quick stop for some chocolate then we turn up onto the peak, following blobs of paint along a scree covered path. There is some light scrambling and a section with a chain, but significantly easier than I was expecting (which is probably a reflection of my main sources of information being tourist orientated). We reach the summit for 10:20 so plenty of time to sit in the shelter of the summit rock and soak in the sunshine and the view (and more chocolate and another of those luxuriously juicy pears). We can see down the other side to Stripsenjoch, so close it feels like it would quite literally be a stone’s throw away, and a very cool and presumably unmanned hut high up in the corrie to the East.

Light clouds start to build as we descend, following the little paint blobs back to the pass and down the scree to the junction with the Jubliaumsteig. Harnesses and helmets go on just in case but this is significantly easier than the klettersteig we’ve previously done and clipping in generally feels unnecessary. It’s a very cool path. The rock here is different, harder, less crumbly. The path passes through a small rock arch and then winds along through the middle of the cliff. Occasionally a ladder or a few rungs ease a tricky step and for the most part we have it to ourselves.

The path ends pretty much exactly at Gruttenhutte and it’s 1pm and that’s us done for the day. Spits of rain start to fall but for the most part the cloud remains high. We have lunch out on the terrace then leave our bags and go and find the Klamml Klettersteig which ascends just under the hut on the Kaiserkrone path (though again, absolutely not part of the walk and completely avoidable). It’s much longer and more continuous than the last and the rock is crumbly and starting to become slightly damp. We exit at the mid point and return to the hut as the clouds drop down around us. There is a hazy view downwards and a damp cool feel to the air which after a week of baking sun is very welcome.

Day 5

Gruttenhutte to Kufstein (15km)

The clouds remain low and the rain drums down all night, easing up just as we set out on our final day. Fortunately this is an easy one. We set out on a descending vehicle track but soon leave it behind for a quiet path that contours around the hillside. Our trail is mostly in the trees, the cliffs of the mountains rising as they have all week to our right. The weather is cooler, with a damp feel to the air and streaks of cloud that speak of a change in the weather to come. We really have timed this whole thing incredibly well.

We find an honesty stall of cooled drinks sitting in a trough of water. Robbie takes one and a waist-high tap tops up the water level by spurting a jet straight at him. Refreshed (inside and out) we carry on round. We are still quite high above the valley and have a perfect aerial view of Hintersteiner Lake as we pass above it. Then a descent. It’s gradual enough, down through more forest, the air getting warmer as we lose the mountain breeze. When we’re almost at the road the end is shut for forestry operations and a detour takes us through an industrial estate, then down to a stream and back up again. Eventually we are back in Kufstein, the trail popping out right on our hotel which is the same place we stayed on the first night. We just have time to deposit our bags, head into town and take a tour around the castle before it closes, then enjoy a fancy dinner out for our last night. Home tomorrow.