Peter Habeler Hike

The Peter Habeler Hike is a circumnavigation of the western Zillertal Alps. Divided up into six stages, this high alpine trail was named after Austrian extreme mountaineer Peter Habeler in celebration of his 70th birthday. This man from the village of Mayrhofen in the Zillertal Valley rewrote alpine history when in 1978 he, together with Reinhold Messner, became the first person to conquer Mount Everest without bottled oxygen. The starting point of the approximately 55-kilometre-long Peter Habeler Hike is the village of Ginzling in the Zillertal Valley or St. Jodok in the Wipptal Valley. You can also access this long-distance alpine hike directly from the Pfitschtal Valley (Italy), the Brenner Pass, the Schlegeisspeicher reservoir or from the village of Hintertux.
Stage 1:
 Vals – Geraer Hütte
Uphill: 1,000 vertical metres, walking time: 3 hours
From the Gasthaus Touristenrast at the end of the Valsertal Valley (bus stop and free car park at the Nockeralmen) hikers walk along a wide path (502) for around an hour up to a small mechanical cable car used to transport material up to the Geraer Hütte hut. From the bottom of this cable car, take the winding trail up to the edge of the forest and then, still on trail 502, all the way to the Geraer Hütte hut (2,324 metres).