> October 31st, 2007 - Images attached/detached.
> August 8th, 2005 - A complete redesign of the page.
> August 3rd, 2005 - A chapter for the neighbouring Vajnez/Weinasch added.

Overview

Northern slopes from Vajnez

General remark: (When reading Slovenian words on maps or in books, you will find special characters for ch, sh, and zh. They are written with c, s and z with a caron - little v above them.)

The rocks of Stol/Hochstuhl

Stol is the highest mountain in the about 120 km long Karavanke Range on which the border between Slovenia and Austria runs. As it is typical for these mountains it shows high grassy slopes towards south and rocky walls and scree slopes towards north. Towards south the altitude difference between Sava river and the top is more than 1600 m, towards north valleys and ridges make a longer distance but Drava river (Drau) lies even lower. On this page I shall describe not only Stol/Hochstuhl summit but also some minor mountains in its narrow group.

Stol is known by its immense panorama. From mountains in Istra over the whole Julian Alps to Dolomites, Hohe Tauern and Gurktaler Alps. In its close surroundings there are many mountain huts which make the ascent more pleasant. By the nature of Karavanke range the most beautiful are traverse tours - if you have a few days, you can walk on quite a high altitude, enjoying free panorama towards south and north.

Besides being frequently visited in summer and autumn, Stol offers also many possibilities for tour skiing. Because north slopes are not only rocky, but on some places scree terrain reaches the crest itself, steep ski tours are especially beautiful towards north. Towards south and east skiing is possible through many more or less steep ravines and valleys.

Geography of the Narrow Group

A self-made map of the group

Stol/Hochstuhl narrow group begins on the west on Medvedjak saddle, 1698m, which divides it from the Struska massif. From Medvedjak the main ridge goes towards SE to the summit of Belscica, 2017m and further to Vajnez, 2104m, the most importand neighbour of Stol on the west. SE of Vajnez there's a Vajnez saddle, 1972m, where also a descent towards N is possible from the main ridge. Vajnez is attached to the main Stol massif on the summit of Potoski Stol, 2014m. From this unimportant summit to Stol a narrow ridge goes, from which two steep and difficult passages are possible towards northern screes (Dolga Riza and Siroka Riza). Just before the summit of Stol, 2236m from the north a steem ridge comes, carrying the popular north ferrata. SE of the main summit Mali Stol, 2172m is standing (with a hut just below its summit). From the highest Stol summit the main Karavanke ridge continues towards NE. This ridge is known as Orlice and carries a few sharp and hardly approachable peaks. Beyond the first notch there's a sharp and beautiful Celovska spica / Klagenfurter spitze, 2105m. The next notch divides it from the double summit of Jelencka and these are followed with Belscica saddle, 1840m. From the notches of Orlice it is possible to descend down to both sides, easy towards south and through steep and hard ravines towards north. Belscica saddle is easy of course on both sides. Finally, N of Belscica there's a nice summit of Svacica, 1953m, where the main Karavanke ridge turns again towards east on Vrtaca saddle, 1845m, where the narrow Stol group finishes and Vrtaca/Wertatscha massif begins. North of Svacica there's Vrata pass, 1712m, where Stol massif is delimited from lower mountains on the north (Kozjak/Kosiak).

Summit Panoramas

From Ancient Times

Ajdna behind

Before the very southern slopes of Stol there is a steep rock, called Ajdna. Ajd means in Slovenian a pagan (I think in German there is a similar word Heide). On the top of this rock archeologists discovered rests of a village from late antiquity, namely from 5th and 6th century a.d. The rock was accessible only from one side, and on the top of it, some 450 m above the Sava valley ancient houses and a church were discovered. Nowadays this site is reconstructured to a certain degree, just to stimulate visitors imagination. So, if you travel around and see a lot of steep hills around the mighty Stol, you can think that may be on more of them 2000 years ago people lived.

Getting There

From south (Slovenian side) Stol can be reached from Sava valley. Three roads lead us into its massif (they all reach the altitude of about 1100 m):
1. From Jesenice through the valley of Javornik creek.
2. From Zirovnica to Valvasor mountain hut.
3. From Zirovnica into Zavrsnica valley.

From north (Austrian side) you start the approach in Drava (Drau) valley. From Feistritz (Bistrica) towards south the Baerental valley (Medvedji dol) goes. The road is closed for public traffic near Stouhuette (hut), 960 m. The second north approach is from the main road Klagenfurt - Ljubljana, via Ljubelj Pass (Loiblpass). Approaching from north, you turn before the border towards west into Bodental (Poden), where the road ends on the altitude of 1050 m.

There is also a more remote approach from east. From the south portal of Ljubelj Pass tunnel (on the Slovenian side) you can take a cable car to Zelenica, 1536 m and from there traverse the slopes of Vrtaca to the Stol massif.

You can see a detailed map on:

http://www.austrianmap.at/.

That's in German, but as of classical maps, you can refer to:

Karavanke, 1:20000. Planinska zveza Slovenije, or
Karavanke, Central part and Grintovci, 1:50000. Planinska zveza Slovenije.

For ski tours refer to:
1. Manfred Korbaj: 1. Kaerntner Schitourenfuehrer. H. Weishaupt Verlag. Graz. 1992. (In German language)
2. M. Crnivec, C. Pracek: Turni smuki. Planinska zveza Slovenije, 1984. (In Slovenian language)

Routes list

This is the list of mountain paths, reaching the summit of Stol (numbers correspond to the map):

1. From Valvasorjev dom (1171 m), 3h, steep, but not difficult, marked walk up.
2. From Valvasorjev dom (1171 m) over Zabreska planina, 3h 30min, steep, but not difficult, marked walk up.
3. From Dom Pristava (979 m) or Javornik Creek, 4-5 h, marked path, not difficult walk up. The variant over the border ridge is harder.
4. From Klagenfurter Huette, 1663m, over Belscica (saddle), 2 h 30 min (from Bodental 4h 30min), marked, partly steep, but not difficult walk up.
5. From Zavrsnica valley (1100 m), 3h 30 min, not marked, partly steep, but not difficult walk up.

6. From Dom na Zelenici (1536 m), 3 h, marked, not difficult walk up. On a few places of the upper path below Vrtaca helmet useful (falling stones).
7. From Klagenfurter Huette, 1663m, over Siroka Riza or more to the west Dolga Riza. Steep scree slope, 2-3h. Mainly used for descent.
8. From Klagenfurter Huette (1663 m), 2h 30 min. There are four approaches, two were already mentioned under #4 and #7, directly over north rocks of Stol goes a medium difficult ferrata (marked) and the fourth possibility is
9. Two steep scree passages which lead you from Klagenfurter Huette (1663 m) to the main crest east of the summit (not marked): Janezev zleb and Martin zleb.
10. From Poden valley (Bodental) over the Vrtaca pass. Scree slopes, quite hard walk-up. Not marked. 4h.
11. Orlice ridge (Stol NE ridge). From Belscica notch, 1840m over the two peaks of Jelencka / Edelweisspitzen, 1964, Celovska spica / Klagenfurter Spitze, 1924m, and Krkotnik, 2116m to the main summit. UIAA III (one detail), mostly UIAA II. 3h 15min.

Ski tours list

From south:
1. Valvasor hut (1171 m), Stol by ordinary south route. 3 h ascent, 1 h skiing. Steep, southern slopes.
- Valvasor hut (1171 m), Presernova koca (left ravine) - Stol. 3 h, 1 h skiing, very steep southern slopes.
- Valvasor hut (1171 m), Presernova koca (right ravine) - Stol. 3 h, 1 h skiing, very steep southern slopes.

From east:
2. Zavrsnica valley - V Koznah basin - Stol. 4 h, 1 h 30 min skiing. Moderate steep eastern slopes.
- Zavrsnica valley - east ravine - Presernova Koca - Stol. 4 h, 1 h 30 min skiing. Steep eastern slopes.

3. Zelenica hut - V Koznah basin - Stol. 4 h, 2 h skiing. Moderate steep eastern and north-eastern slopes. From Zelenica to Ljubelj there is an ordinary ski resort.

From north:
4. From Klagenfurter Huette - Belscica Saddle - Stol. 4 h, 1h 30 min skiing. Steep northern slopes.
5. From Bodental - Belscica Saddle - Stol. 4 h, 1h 30 min skiing. Steep north-eastern slopes.
- From Klagenfurter Huette you can in good conditions ski over any of steep scree slopes on northern face of Stol and Vajnez - very steep!

In addition from north there are also some alpinistic possibilities, where the slopes (channels and ravines) are more steep as in "normal" ski tours. So, the main ridge of Stol can be also reached west of its peak.

From west:
From Javornik creek through Medji dol on Vajnez (2104 m). Ascent: 4 hours, skiing: 2 hours. Not difficult. In good conditions the tour can be in good conditions prolongued also to Stol.

Vajnez/Weinasch

The summit of Vajnež

On Vajnež W ridge

Vajnez is a distinct, from both, south and north side, quite respectful mountain. It is connected with Stol with a long ridge, which beyond Vajnezevo sedlo (saddle) raises first on Potoski Stol and then continues to the main summit of Stol. Towards west Vajnez continues with a long, grassy ridge, this part of the mountain is called Belscica (not the same Belscica as the one on the eastern part of Stol).

Some 100m below Vajnez and Belscica ridge the main marked path goes. It was mentioned as #3 among Stol ascents. A beautiful variant of this approach is the path, which from Seca (NW of Belscica) deters left on the border ridge and follows it to Belscica summit. This route needs a careful step and is also secured on some exposed parts. And the mountain can be also reached from the north - the approach ascends through a steep ravine, which finishes on Vajnez saddle.

Also Vajnez is a perfect mountain for ski tours. The most obvious downhills go towards west - on Seca and through Medji dol to Javornik, but a hard descent is also possible through the ravine, which starts on Vajnez saddle.

Ascent from Potoška planina

If you're coming from the south, you can drive up by the mountain rpad to valvasorjev dom (hut) below Stol. But the mountain road goes even further. Below the hut choose another branch which crosses the whole slope towards the west (above Ajdna). Later, the road ascents with a few turns and reaches Potoška planina (alpine meadow), where you can park. Just after the meadow (west of it) there's a water source where you can spot a good, but not marked path, deterring to the right. The inscription says "Belška planina". Take that path, which first crosses the slopes towards the west and only after some 15 minutes starts to go upwards. In several turns the path ascends through the woods, above goes again to the left and exits on the lower part of the broad grassy slopes below the main ridge. It's your choice now where you ascend the main ridge and Vajnež. One option is to go up towards the left and then do the whole panoramic ridge (again called Belščica), the other one is to cross the slopes towards the right and reach the saddle south-east ov vajnež. You can also combine both in a round tour. This route could be also done as a ski tour - at least the summit part must be wonderful.

If you want to do a broader round tour, you can continue from Vajnež towards the east and descend to Valvazorjev dom (hut). From there a marked path goes also on Bel&3353;ka planina.

Celovska Spica / Klagenfurter Spitze

Klagenfurter Spitze / Celovska spica

The first summit NE of the main Stol summit is a sharp Celovska spica, 2103m. It is most beautifully seen from the NE, from below Vrata pass. Towards N it sends a 400m high, steep wall, which is one of the most popular walls for harder climbing in Karavanke. The summit can be most easilly reached (scramble) by the steep and on the upper part also exposed ridge, going up from the notch NE of the summit. The notch can be reached from both sides, easier from the Slovenian than from the Austrian side.

Traversing the whole ridge from Belscica notch, 1840m, to the summit of Stol is a nice climb, which already has some harder details (UIAA III, on the SW ridge of Celovska spica).

The three classical N face climbing routes (from the west):

Chimney Route (Kaminska smer, Kaminreihe). 350m, UIAA III, 3h 30min. Beautiful and popular.

Direct Route (Direktna smer, Direkte Route). 400m, UIAA IV/III, 4h.

Horeschovsky (North) butress. 400m, UIAA III/II, 3h 30min.

Jelencka / Edelweisspitzen

Jelencka/Edelweisspitzen

NE of Celovska spica / Klagenfurter Spitze the main ridge goes over two sharp peaks, both 1964m, which are itself not important, but when treversing the whole ridge they offer a nice, easy, but quite exposed climb (UIAA II). From the rest of the ridge they are delimited with Celovska skrbina / Klagenfurter Scharte (notch), 1924m, on the SW and Belscica notch, 1840m, on the NE. Both notches are easilly accessible from both sides.

Svacica

The NE cornerstone of Stol massif is a triangular summit of Svacica, 1953m. Here the main summit of Karavanke turns from the NE direction to the E direction, continuing to Vrtaca massif. Svacica is delimeted from the rest of Stol's NE ridge with Belscica notch, 1840m, from Vrtaca massif with Vrtaca saddle, 1845m and from Kozjak/Kosiak summit with Vrata / Matschacher Saddle, 1714m. The SE side of the summit is not steep, covered with grass and dwarf-pine and offers the easiest ascent (the summit ridge is a bit exposed). In winter and spring this slope is the natural top point of a ski tour (till the fore-summit). The N ridge is rocky, consisting of many towers. But through a ravine right of it from Vrata pass an easy climb (UIAA I) goes.

Red Tape

No limitations.

When To Climb

All times of a year are possible to climb Stol. When slopes are icy or covered with high snow, the ascent can be dangerous and the complete winter equipment is needed.

Weather: see here,

Mountain huts

Mountain huts, convenient for Stol ascent and their approaches:

1. Valvasorjev dom, 1171 m, parking place.
2. Presernova koca, 2172 m, 15 minutes below the top of Stol, 2 h 30 min from Valvasorjev dom.
3. Dom Pristava, 979 m, parking place.
4. Dom na Zelenici, 1536 m (was ruined by fire, now opened as a small hut, where you can get drinks).
5. Stouhuette, 960 m, parking place.
6. Klagenfurter Huette, 1663 m, 2 hours from Stouhuette.
7. Bodental private pension, 1050 m, parking place.

A few general facts for tourists and about camping you can find here.

Images



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