Simony Hut

Elevation: 700 m / Lenght: 13 km / Time: 6 hrs
Visit rate: 1/5 / Rating: 4/5

A stunning yet demanding hike through the Dachstein landscape. I highly recommend starting early - ideally by taking the very first cable car. We didn't rush that day, and because of that we almost failed to make it back to the cable car in time.

Via ferratas, ice and non-ice caves, viewpoints, and beautiful alpine scenery with glacier views - all of this awaits you when taking the Dachstein Krippenstein cable car. It is among the most expensive cable cars in Austria, and parking is charged separately as well. In our case, it still cost "only" €45 per person, without entering the caves. Unfortunately, there simply wasn't enough time for them.

After two transfers, the third cable car finally took us close to the Gjaidalm mountain hut, from where we still had a three-hour ascent to Simony Hut ahead of us. It was "only" about 600 meters of elevation gain, but it took a toll on both of us. This was mainly due to the heat, which was unusually intense for local conditions.

When it comes to photography, I couldn't complain. I couldn't have asked for better views of the Dachstein Glacier and the Salzkammergut region. At the hut, a cold beer came in handy — or, on the other hand, a great hot soup warmed us up. An hour of rest flew by, and we had to set off again.

And that's where the real fun began in our case. The return route was supposed to take no more than three hours, so I thought a thirty-minute buffer would be enough. The southern route around Oberer and Unterer Eissee is, according to navigation, about half an hour shorter — but it is very rugged and harder to walk in places.

So rugged, in fact, that I managed to twist my ankle roughly halfway through. The problem was that by then our time reserve was already shrinking. In pain, I continued downhill for another hour, without even having time to stop for a drink.

The good news was that we made it with a reserve of about two minutes, despite taking a wrong turn in the final section. The bad news was that Jana suffered from heat exhaustion and sunburn after the hike. The following days of our vacation were therefore far from ideal.

Circular route from the cable car to Simony Hut. Completing it in 5 hours is only possible at a very fast pace!