Ruderhofspitze 3474m

This winter has not been a good winter for ski touring, with a distinct lack of precipitation and plenty of warm days, so running up to this weekend I was unsure if we would actually be able to make the tour. However thankfully there was some fresh snow in the last few weeks, and the weekend ended up having a good, if warm, forecast.

Our plan for the weekend was to stay in the Franz-Senn-Hütte for two nights, with the primary objective being the Ruderhofspitze, a tall but relatively isolated peak, with a stunning snow arête up to the summit from the ski depot, so it looked like an excellent mountaineering objective.

We headed down to the Stubaital early on Friday morning, with the thought that we would get to the hut and then go up and do something relatively short, however this was not to be as by the time we got to the hut it was really warm in the afternoon sun and we all needed to cool off after the ascent in the sun!

The next morning we got up for first breakfast and were leaving the hut by 06:30, the initial ascent was gradual but a good way to warm up in the morning, as none of us were feeling too great after our first night sleeping at altitude in a while. Soon the ascent started to steepen and eventually we climbed up onto the glacier and into the warmth of the sun.

After crossing the flatter section of the glacier we roped up for the traverse over some fairly large Seracs and up to the ski depot, this was probably unnecessary but it felt sensible to use one of the ropes that we had carried all this way up! Crossing the glacier without another group in sight was fantastic as it was so quiet and we felt so alone. As we arrived at the ski depot, we were greeted with our first “Oh Wow!” view of the day, as there was a window which opened up a fantastic view into the Stubai Alpen.

After some food and an exchange of our skis&poles for crampons/an axe we made our way up the aerate, which was in perfect condition with good snow and stunning views. As we climbed up to the start of the best section of the arête, we had our second “Oh Wow” moment, as the views to the south fully opened up, and we could see the Tuxer Alpen, the Dolomites (incl. Marmolada), the Stubai Alpen, the Otztaler Alpen (incl. Wildspitze) and may others. As we continued up the arête there was a massive smile on my face, despite my tiring legs and pounding heart, I certainly wasn’t feeling acclimatised!

A short rock scramble then took us up to the summit, which opened up the most spectacular 360 degree panorama. It was just outstanding, with clear air in every direction giving wonderful views of snow covered mountains which contrasted with the clear rocks and grassy valleys. There was also no wind on top, and it was relatively spacious, so we were able to sit down and enjoy some food before we made a hasty retreat back down the ridge before it became too soft.

The descent back down the ridge was just as magical as the ascent, as the views in the other direction were equally spectacular, however it was starting to warm up and the snow was distinctly worse than on the way up. We were shortly back at our skis and just had the ski descent back to the hut to complete.

The skiing certainly left some room for improvement, with crusty snow which was difficult to ski on the glacier and the steeper section around the nose. It did briefly improve as we got lower, and I enjoyed making some fresh turns in spring snow. Lower down it was a mixture of ice and spring snow, with plenty of rocks hidden in the snow!

After a delayering and water stop we just had the final flat section back to the hut to complete, something we thought was going to be horrible on the ascent, but it was actually fine. With only a small amount of skating/poling we were back at the hut, for a well earned cold drink.

The next day we decided just to head down due to a mixture of sore feet, tired legs, broken skis and poor sleep, combined with the terrible snow conditions making a short tour less desirable. The ski down in the morning was, well, combat skiing, as it was basically down a footpath covered in icy snow, with a significant amount less snow than when we came up it. I managed to ski until the snow ran out, which then led to a short walk to get back to the Oberissalm and the prepared track back to the car.