Article Ascent to Sulzkogel

Directly in the pass Kühtai is a big cluster of guest houses serving for the local ski resort. So there are a lot of lifts, columns etc  in the surrounding countryside – nothing nice. It is best to quickly pack up and head towards the dam Finstertaler Stausee, where starts an interesting and nice landscape. Its giant dam can be seen already from the pass.

Landscape is disfigured by the columns of ski lifts.

From the pass the path rises to the top of the dam – you can either go through the curves along the road or tourist trail, which makes it shorter. Anyway, in an hour you're at the top of the dam (2330 m asl), from where there is a last view of Kühtai. From here you finally enter to another world.

Directly above the water level rises the massive Zwölferkogel.

The path runs along a comfortable path in the hillside just above the surface of the dam.

It takes about another hour to bypass the whole dam and you reach the crossroads, from where lead paths to Sulzkogel or to Finstertaler Scharte.

The real ascent does not start until from the dam. After all, there are still 700 vertical meters remaining. You can already clearly see the top Sulzkogel from here.

After another hour of the ascent starts its most difficult part – the narrow valley full of stones leads to the pass and further to the very top.

You will be rewarded for the demanding ascent with amazing views of the dam and surrounding mountains after another hour, the fourth hour altogether.

You can clearly see the limestone massifs on the other side of Inn in the north direction.

View of Ötztal is also impressive. The way back along the same route takes between 2–3 hours.