Koschutahaus - Koschutnikturm (Košutnikov turn) (via Cjajnik / Lärchenturm)

Access to the starting point:
Cross the Ljubelj border crossing into Borovlje / Ferlach, where you turn right towards the village of Sele / Zell-Pharre. Shortly before the signpost marking Sele / Zell-Pharre, the road turns right towards the Koschutahaus / Koschutahaus. Follow this road all the way to the hut, where you park in a large parking lot.

Path description:
From the parking lot, head south-east following the signs Lärchenturm / Cjajnik, Koschutnikturm / Koschutnikturm. At the start of the trail you will also see a large sign with a picture of Kosuta and the exact trails to Cjajnik and Koschutnikturm. The trail then passes through the forest to the east for some time and leads to a crossroads where you turn right after the Cjajnik markers. Soon you will come out of the forest to a scree slope which you then cross westwards (towards Cjajnik) as you ascend. When crossing the scree slope, follow the red and white markings, but do not be confused by the large yellow markings on the rocks, which lead you up the scree slope towards the gully leading to Cjajnik's notch.

When entering the climbing part of the route, be sure to wear a helmet and self-protection kit, and climbing gloves are highly recommended. The route climbs steeply from the start and then crosses a steep wall to the right. The route is well protected by a rope throughout, with the occasional rock to help, but much less than one might expect. There are not many steps and a lot of the climbing has to be done by hand. The path then goes slightly to the right for quite some time and climbs almost vertically a few times. Later the path turns left and climbs a slightly easier, slightly vegetated slope. The top of Cjajnika also appears briefly, and then we re-enter the wall. Again the climb is very steep and the exposure is also increasing. The steepness subsides only rarely, then the path turns slightly to the right and leads to a crossroads below the summit tower. We have a choice of two routes leading to the summit, but whichever one we choose, we are in for some very challenging climbing. The left route is marked with difficulty level D and the right route with difficulty level C.

The Austrians rate the difficulty of climbing routes from A to E, with A being the easiest and E the most difficult.

The easier right-hand route first goes around the summit on the right-hand side and then ascends to the summit from the west. The left-hand path climbs vertically from the crossroads to the summit. The climbing is really very difficult here as there are not many holds in the rock. The only help is a few crampons and a vertical rope.
From the summit, you will then descend on a slightly easier but still extremely challenging route of difficulty C. First you have to cross a narrow notch from the north tower with the help of a rope and then you start descending on an almost vertical wall. Soon we will reach the crossroads of the route in the west face of Cjajnika. Bear left towards the Cjajnika Lärchenscharte, while to the right the path leads to the Koča pod Košuto (Hut under Košuta). From the crossroads, head gently south, and the steepness continues until you reach the Cjajnik notch. Once on solid ground in the stubble, you can breathe a little easier as the worst is behind you. On the stub we will also see old markings leading from the stub down the eastern gully into the valley. This path is not suitable for descending as it is closed due to the high fragility.

From the stub we then continue along the track, which first leads south-west and then starts to climb steeply on the steep grasses towards Užnik. There is a slightly crumbly climb up a narrow ravine and soon you reach the main ridge of Košuta.

At the ridge, turn left and continue along the south side of the ridge. The path initially runs along relatively steep grassy slopes, but later when we get back to the ridge the path becomes somewhat exposed and we are helped by a couple of small rocks. From the left side we then join the climbing route to Koschutnikturm from the Austrian side (ÖTK Steig Neu), and a few metres later the western route from Mountain pasture lower Dolga njiva joins from the right side. Continue along the south side of the ridge and, following a path that becomes slightly steeper, you will soon reach the summit.

The route described is extremely difficult, especially the ascent to Cjajnik and the descent to Cjajnik's stub. This part of the trail is only suitable for the most experienced mountaineers with sufficient strength in their arms and with compulsory self-belaying. The Cjajnik route is one of the most difficult in Karawanks and more difficult than most of the extremely difficult Italian routes in the Julian Alps.
You can descend via the climbing route to Koschutnikturm (ÖTK Steig Neu).

On the way: Cjajnik / Lärchenturm (1965m), Užnik (2079m)

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