Großer Krottenkopf

Bases and ascent routes

• From Oberstdorf, the Kemptner Hut at summit can be reached in four hours via the Spielmannsau using the E5 European long distance path.
• The Kemptner Hut is the northern base for an ascent on the Krottenkopf using the normal route. The path runs from the hut initially southwards, then swings east to theOberer Mädelejoch on the border between Germany and Austria. It then runs over scree eastwards to the col of Krottenkopfscharte and, following the numerous red dots, requires an easy climb over stone-covered slabs to the summit in just under three hours. Sure-footedness and, in the summit region, a head for heights are required.
• Another path leads from Holzgau in the upper Lech valley to the Großer Krottenkopf. The E 5 path runs through the Höhenbachtal valley northwards and past the Simms Waterfall and on to the Untere Roßgumpenalpe. Just below the lower Mädelejoch the path forks off to the Krottenkopfscharte. This tour takes just under four hours.
• Alternatively there is an ascent from the Bernhardseck Hut, past the Mutte and the Strahlkopf, or from Elbigenalp in the Lech valley up the Bernhardstal valley.
• There is a climbing route along the north arête. This involves two short and one longer vertical passages at UIAA grade III. The starting point is the notch of Hermannskarscharte, which is reached on a trackless route from the Kemptner Hut through the cirque of Öfner Kar.

  Literature and maps

• Dieter Seibert, Allgäuer Alpen, Alpine Club Guide, Munich, 2004,
• Alpine Club map 1:25,000 series, Sheet 2/1, Allgäuer- Lechtaler Alpen, West