Oelgrubenspitze: Ringing bells on Taschachtal's giants

The Pitztal is one of the great high valleys of Tirol. Starting at less than 1.000 meters above sea level and rising to peaks as high as 3.700 meters, it’s an ideal playground for high alpine tours. After driving 40 km almost straight south, the valley ends at the imposing Mittagskogel and splits into two side valleys: the Mittelbergtal and the Taschachtal.

Today, our goal was to explore the latter and reach a peak high above 3.000 meters. To save energy and time, we biked up the Taschachtal instead of walking, cutting out about 12 km of extra hiking, and left the bikes at the material cable lift for the Taschachhaus, our first checkpoint.

From there, the trail led deeper into the Taschachtal, accompanied the whole time by views of glaciers. Sadly, information boards reminded us just how much ice has melted in recent decades. The landscape shifted further as we gained altitude: first lush and green, then stony grey, and finally iron red, until we arrived at a beautiful alpine lake, with our towering target peak above us.

From here, the hike grew more technical. After a steep section, we reached the Ölgrubenjoch, a high pass linking Pitztal with the Kaunertal offering a small glacier and a turquoise glacial lake. But from here on, the trail turned into more of a hike-climb, made tougher by fresh snow. The path was well marked, but almost every rock felt unstable.

After some scrambling, we finally stood at the summit not traditionally with a cross, but by a summit bell! Behind it stretched a magnificent panorama, dominated by the MASSIVE Gepatschferner, Austria’s second largest glacier (and soon to become the largest).

The way down followed the same route, but not before a well-deserved stop at the Taschachhaus for some excellent Tyrolean dumplings.

Enjoy this beautiful bike & hike alpine tour!

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