Intersport Donnerkogel Via Ferrata

Astonishing views. Adrenaline at an all-time high.

This via ferrata was planned before the summer and we finally did it.

We started from Vienna on Saturday afternoon and booked a small room in a hut near Annaberg im Lammertal, around 33 km from the starting point.

On Sunday, after driving for an hour, we arrived at the parking place. Our excitement went through the roof when we first saw the ladder from down there. We took the Gosaukammbahn that took us near Gablonzer Hütte in 5 minutes. A highly recommended approach, instead of starting the day from the parking place, which saves you around 1 to 1.5 hours.

Once at the start of it, this via ferrata starts immediately. After a short warmup comes what for us was the hardest section: the Kaiserverschneidung. A steep, demanding corner climb that requires arm strength and really introduced us to the level of this via ferrata.

From there, the route settles into mostly B/C terrain until you reach the ladder. The ladder was extraordinary to look at, and we couldn’t wait to step on it. It wobbles, but it’s not hard technically. Adrenaline is high and you start to worry about the next hard section, Donnermandl.

For me, this is where I understood why I’m starting to like this sport more and more. I was a bit worried that Donnermandl was going to be way harder than Kaiserverschneidung, but it wasn’t. This was the section I enjoyed the most. I was completely exposed and enjoyed every steep climb and exposed move. The feeling of having nothing under you and clinging to the rock while you climb is hard to describe.

After this section, there comes an easy scrambling part and we were at the top at 2055 m, where we relaxed and enjoyed the sun for some time before starting our descent through Normalweg 628.

The descent, while it is a non-technical hiking path (no via ferrata gear needed anymore), is steep and full of loose scree. It took us roughly 1.5 to 2 hours to get back down to the cable car.

This was our best via ferrata till now. Enjoyed the days to the fullest. We have our eyes on the next one.