Northern Salzburg Alps

The Hochkönig is a mountain group containing the highest mountain (Hochkönig) in the Berchtesgaden Alps, Salzburgerland, Austria. The Berchtesgaden Alps form part of the Northern Limestone Alps.

Hochkönig is a large ski area on the Hochkönig massif in Salzburger Land, Austria. Hochkönig is part of Ski Amadé, a network of 28 ski areas on the same ski pass which make up the largest ski areas in Europe. The Hochkönig ski area consists of the five resorts of Maria Alm, Hintermoos, Hinterthal, Dienten am Hochkönig, and Mühlbach am Hochkönig and is an hour's drive from the city of Salzburg. The ski area spans eight mountains. There are 32 ski lifts and 112 km of prepared pistes; 52 km of them being classified as easy, 41 km as intermediate and 19 km as difficult. Hochkönig furthermore has 8 km of off-piste bowls with one of the highest tree lines in Europe. Due to its special microclimate, Hochkönig has one of the best snowfall records in Austria and has a long ski season, usually from early December to the middle of April.

The Berchtesgaden Alps (German: Berchtesgadener Alpen, pronounced [bɛʁçtəsˈɡaːdənɐ ˈʔalpn̩]) are a mountain range of the Northern Limestone Alps, named after the market town of Berchtesgaden located in the centre. It is crossed by the Austria–Germany border: the central part belongs to the Berchtesgadener Land district of southeastern Bavaria, Germany, while the adjacent area in the north, east and south is part of the Austrian state of Salzburg (Salzburger Land).

The Übergossene Alm is the summit region of the Hochkönig (2,941 m) in the Berchtesgaden Alps. It contains the remains of a glacier that used to cover almost the entire summit plateau; in 1888 around 5.5 km2 of the plateau was covered by an ice sheet. Since then the glacial surface has melted until it now covers just 1.5 km2 and the glacier has split into three, small crevasse-free areas. The name of the glacier goes back to a local legend.

The Bratschenköpfe, consisting of the Großer Bratschenkopf (2,857 m (AA)) and Kleiner Bratschenkopf (2,686 m (AA)), are two peaks in the Hochkönig massif in the Berchtesgaden Alps. The lie in the district of St. Johann im Pongau in the Austrian state of Salzburg. The Großer Bratschenkopf may be climbed on a trackless route from the north from the crossing between the Arthurhaus and the Matrashaus (grade: easy). The Kleiner Bratschenkopf to the east may be reached from the same route (grade I). Across the south face of the Großer Bratschenkopfs runs the climbing route known as Freier als Paul Preuß by Albert Precht (first climb, 1986, free solo, grade VII, face height 900 metres).

The Lamkopf (also Lammkopf) is a mountain, 2,846 m (AA), in the Hochkönig massif within the Berchtesgaden Alps. It lies in the Zell am See in the Austrian state of Salzburg. The peak can be climbed from the north the crossing between the Hochkönig and the Hochseiler or Übergossene Alm (climbing grade easy). The first summit cross was erected in 1960, but destroyed by lightning in 2011. In 2013 a new summit cross was erected.

The Hochseiler (also Hochsailer) is a mountain, 2,793 m (AA), in the Hochkönig massif within the Berchtesgaden Alps. It lies on the boundary between the districts of Zell am See and St. Johann im Pongau in the Austrian state of Salzburg. The summit can be gained from the north along the Mooshammersteig path or from the Teufelslöcher over the Übergossene Alm along the southeastern arête (climbing grade I–II).

The Schoberköpfe are several ridge-shaped peaks, arranged along the eastern edge of the Hochkönig plateau in the Berchtesgaden Alps, and which lie in a semi-circular arc that opens towards the east facing the Salzach valley: Southwestern Schoberkopf (Südwestlicher Schoberkopf, 2,708 m (AA)) Eastern Schoberkopf (Östlicher Schoberkopf, 2,666 m) Teufelskirche, also called the Teufelskirchl (2,520 m), a rock tower in front of the Eastern Schoberkopf. The relatively steep, 200-300-metre-high south faces drop into the scree-covered Eiskar and climb up again opposite into the striking, isolated pillar of the Torsäule 2,588 m. Somewhat west of the arête, near the Schoberschartl gap (2,579 m), ends the plateau glacier of the Übergossene Alm, which covers part of the Hochkönig summit region.

The Torsäule (2,588 m (AA)) is a very steep, about 500-metre-high limestone formation on the eastern flank of the Hochkönig massif in the Berchtesgaden Alps. The imposing column (Torsäule means "gateway column"), which bears a summit cross, lies immediately north of the ascent route to the Hochkönig from the Arthurhaus, a thousand metres below, and measures about 500 × 200 metres at its base. In an east-west direction it looks like a giant column, but on reaching the high plateau of the Übergossene Alm it slowly disappears below the local horizon. Its south face which tapers towards the top is almost vertical, whilst the other faces have average gradients of about 60 to 80°. Structurally, the Torsäule rises in front of the mountain ridge which the high plateau of the Hochkönig massif and its plateau glacier bound on the eastern side and which opens like a rock arena in a semi-circle facing the column and looking towards the Salzach valley. The Torsäule rises, as the crow flies, roughly between the eastern top of the Schoberköpfe (2,666 and 2,708 m) and the Königs- and Bratschenköpfe (2,630 to 2,857 m). On the other side (north-facing) it drops down to the Eiskar, beyond which the Teufelskirche mountain and cave lie on the steep slopes of the Schoberköpfe. The elongated, rocky cirque on the south side, past the foot of which the path runs, has the name, rather common in Salzburg, of Ochsenkar. If one times it well – starting off before dawn – one can experience the sunrise at the foot of the Torsäule or as one passes. If one continues to climb for about an hour to the side of the Torsäule one sees its rounded tip for a last time in front of the background of the Tennengebirge and the morning clouds, before it sinks beneath the plateau of the Hochkönig. The south face of the Torsäule, with its 36 prepared tours, is the most climbed face on the Hochkönig. Several of these routes are very frequently used and are some of the top routes of the Northern Limestone Alps: Jolly Joker 9, Opera Vertikal 8+, Afrika 8.

The Dienten Saddle (German: Dientner Sattel) is a mountain col at a height of 1,342 metres (4,403 ft) in the Austrian federal state of Salzburg. The pass is open all-year round and traversed by the Hochkönig Road (B 164) that links Bischofshofen in the east with Saalfelden in the west. Between these two places there is also the Filzen Saddle.