An easy freeride variant to a very popular ski tour summit in the Kitzbühel Alps with several downhill options.
Ascent
Starting point is the mountain station of the Ki-West cable car, where you can also park directly on the road between Kirchberg and Aschau. Of course, you can also get to the starting point from the other lifts in the ski area.
First, you ski down the piste to the Brechhornhaus and cross south from there to the small pass. Here you put on your skins and ascend steeply and then gently up and down, following the ridge to the Schledererkopf in a south-westerly direction. The ridge soon turns to the south, first flat and then somewhat steeper towards the Brechhorn, where you then head west briefly to the summit cross.
Descent
From the summit, you can descend briefly and quite steeply directly to the north (be careful, these few turns are not included in the tour's one-star rating!) or follow the ascent track along the ridge into a small hollow. From here, you descend more or less to the northeast through typical alpine terrain, whereby you have to cross to the left (north) several times to avoid being on completely flat terrain. Shortly after the buildings of the Respalalm, the route leads briefly through a forest aisle and then very flat past further alpine huts to the road. You come out directly at the bus stop "An der Mauerbrücke", but the route back to the gondola can also be covered on foot in a good 10 minutes.
Alternatively, you can also descend from the summit first briefly to the south-east and then to the east via the Breitlabalm and Durachalm to Aschau. From there, the best way to get back to the gondola is by bus, but as this runs much more frequently in the morning and afternoon than during the rest of the day (only once an hour), it is advisable to park in Aschau in the morning and take the bus to the gondola.
In principle, you can also descend from the Brechhorn to the west into the Windautal valley, but it is not so easy to get back to the lift from there.
Information
Difficulty (5-level scale): *
Special dangers:
Average steepness/Maximum steepness: 28°/ 35°
Exposure: NE - E
Altitude difference start and finish: 1680 m | 1000 m
Altitude difference uphill and downhill: just under 500 m | 1050 m
Duration: 2 hours
Best time of year: January - March
Accommodation: Various in Kirchberg or Aschau
Addresses:Information Kitzbüheler Alpen, +43 (0) 53572000
Directions: Inntal-Autobahn to exit Wörgl-Ost, Brixental-Bundesstraße to Krichberg and from there towards Aschau to the parking lot of the Ki-West gondola.
Topographic maps: Alpine Club Map 34/1, Kitzbüheler Alpen West, with ski markings, 1:50,000
