Similaun is one of the classical glacier mountains of Austria, surrounded by glaciers all around and is the 7th highest mountain of Austria. Similaun is located at the border between Austria and Italy. An ice mummy "Ötzi" was found in the area in 1991. They analized the strontium (chemical element) stored in his teeth and were able to tell he was coming from Bolzano.
This route is a high alpine tour and requires glacier traversal. It's recommended to stay in the hut Refugio Similaun and do this tour in two days.
Ascent: The hike start from a very beautiful small village in Austria called Vent. This is also the starting point of more famous mountain: Wildspitze. After 2.5 hours of walk in rather flat mountain road, you will reach Martin-Busch-Hütte. The path from this hut to Refugio Similaun becomes a little bit steeper and more rocky but not difficult (T3). You need approximately 1.5 hours depending on your pace to reach Refugio Similaun.
From Refugio Similaun, you need to cross the glacier to reach the summit. There are two possible paths, we took the one that stays a bit longer on the reach and arrives at the glacier much later. In this route, you will also see a frozen mountain lake. Soon after climbing the ridge, you will reach the glacier. The glacier is mostly easy but just before arriving the final ridge to the peak, there are crevasses. The final part of the ridge (UIAA I+ scrambling) has some ice and snow so it's good idea to use crampons there. From Refugio Similaun, sign post says 1:50 hours to the peak.
Descent: After traversing the ridge same way, you can either follow the same path to Refugio Similaun or through much longer glacier traversal. We decided to skip the hut and directly started towards Martin-Busch-Hütte through very long glacier traversal. The views of Niederjochferner and surrounding peaks are just spectacular. There we followed the ridge to Martin-Busch-Hütte (T4 sections). The path is sometimes narrow and steep but not dangerous. From the hut, we followed the same path as ascent.
Note: You can also start from Vernagt Stausee in Italian side.
Skitouring: For the skitouring you can follow the ascent described and stay far away from the ridge than the normal route.
3D map: https://www.relive.cc/view/gh39495035700
