Becherhaus - Wilder Pfaff (via eastern ridge (II+/I-II))

Access to the starting point:
From Ljubljana, take the motorway past Salzburg towards Munich. At the Dreieck Inntal multi-level junction, take the A93 towards Innsbruck/Kufstein/Brenner. On your return to Austria, continue to the Innsbruck-Mitte exit. Here, do not turn towards Innsbruck, but continue on the A13 motorway towards the Brenner Pass. Turn off the motorway at exit 10-Schönberg and follow the comfortable road through the Stubai Valley to Neustift im Stubaital, the centre of the Stubai Valley, and Volderau, where the still wide asphalt road starts to climb a little more steeply towards Mutterbergalm and the Stubaier Gletscher ski resort. Soon on the left we see the large Grawa waterfall and the parking lot of the eponymous mountain pasture; here is the first starting point for the climb up to the Sulzenauhütte. After a few minutes of further driving, we park in a rather spacious dedicated parking lot, which gives us the easiest approach to the hut, and where we see a large information board at the starting point, highlighting the ascent to Sulzenauhütte.
To reach the Becherhaus hut, follow the path that crosses under the Wilder Freiger peak (see description of the ascent to the hut: http://www. hribi. net/izlet/parkirisce_sulzenauhutte_becherhaus_mimo_sulzenauhutte_in_preko_sedla_seescharte/51/3381/8129)

An alternative is to drive through northern Itali: in this case, take the A2 motorway from central Slovenia to one of the border crossings with Austria and continue to Lienz. Here you continue on the 100 road and pass the Prato alla Drava crossing into Itali. In Itali, follow the SS49 all the way to the junction with the A22 motorway in the direction of the Brenner Pass. After the pass, continue in the direction of Innsbruck to the Schönberg exit. From there, follow the route described above.

The hut can be reached more quickly from the Ridnauntal valley in Itali, but in this case it would be advisable to return only by the route described above, which is even more difficult on the descent.

Path description:
From the hut, descend the ridge leading to Wilder Freiger and further into the Stubajska valley. After a few minutes of descending the carved steps, at the foot of the Becherfelsen escarpment, turn left onto the path that turns sharply down towards the Übeltalferner glacier. The steep but short descent to the glacier is aided by a ropeway and a few steps.
At the edge of the glacier, prepare to cross the glacier in the direction of the clearly visible Müller Hütte and the east ridge Wilder Pfaff to the west of it; orientation is difficult in the fog.
In high season, gauzes will help us cross the glacier, but there are usually several of them - it is better not to get too low and to follow the tracks, which are occasionally confirmed by marker sticks. The glacier is cracked in places, but the holes are visible and usually marked.
Below the rock mass hosting the Müller Hütte, first turn slightly south, then cross south under the wall of the connecting ridge between Wilder Freiger and Wilder Pfaff to a favourable passage to a ridge about 200 long metres to the west of the lowest point of the ridge. The most favourable approach to the ridge will normally be guided by steps.

At a suitable point, climb steeply over crumbly rubble to the ridge cut and follow it westwards. As long as you have not approached too low, you will soon come across signs which will lead you continuously from then on to the summit. Warning: up to the point where the markers appear, the ridge is quite uneven and distinctly crumbly, so it is wise not to approach it too early.
After crossing a small rise in the ridge, the ridge descends slightly on a rather crumbly terrain, which requires caution. It then widens out a little and offers quite attractive grade I climbing with a few short grade II places. This leads to a spot marked with a stick and/or a big man somewhere in the middle of the route. After that the ridge is much more upright and the rock is better from there.

The ridge is more difficult in the upper part, but there are several anchorages which allow us to belaying quite reliably. Shortly after crossing the stone blocks on the route, we find ourselves in front of a key spot: a steep, exposed but short jump, which reaches a high grade II. After it, the only conventional fixed safety gear on the route - a rope and steps - help us over an inclined slab. To the top, there is a less demanding but in places airy scramble along and south of the ridge cut. The ascent along the ridge usually takes 1-1. 30 h.
The East Ridge Wilder Pfaff is an easier, short and quite popular climbing route, usually done by mountaineers as part of the classic Stubai Alps high mountain tour, which links the ascents of Wilder Freiger, Wilder Pfaff and Zuckerhütl. The climbing is mostly grade I with a few grade II places; the ridge is not too airy except in parts, but it is quite crumbly in places, so it requires constant concentration and careful pacing. In the most difficult places, a well-equipped route allows for a proper belaying, and a few metres of rope over an awkwardly sloping slab also helps.
For the less experienced I recommend belaying with a rope or accompanied by a mountain guide.

Insofar as we approached Berherhaus from the Stubai Valley in Austria, I recommend a much easier and shorter route for the return, which descends from the summit on the western slope of Wilder Pfaff and crosses the Sulzenauferner glacier below Zuckerhütl, and later descends towards the Fernaujoch Pass. From there, you can continue to the Schaufeljochbahn and take it down to the lower cable car station at Mutterbergalm, or you can walk down to the latter via the "Stubaier Gletscher" ski area and past the Dresdner Hütte. From the lower cable car station, it's about half an hour downhill on a pleasant forest path to the starting point.

We can extend the trip to the following destinations: Zuckerhütl (1 h 15 min)

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