A little-traveled route in high alpine terrain, suitable only for very experienced mountaineers.

From the Pleisenhütte, follow the trail toward the Pleisenspitze for about 20 minutes, then turn right at the signpost onto the Toni Gaugg Ridge Trail. The route continues uphill through dwarf pines and heads east past the base of massive limestone slabs (memorial plaque) into the Mitterkar. The path then climbs – again through dwarf pines – to the base of the long southern ridge of the Larchetkarspitze, eventually crossing over to the eastern side of the ridge beneath overhanging yellow-grey rock walls.

Here, a traverse known as the Kuchl marks the first key section of the trail – and is a good indicator for what's to come. Anyone struggling here is strongly advised to turn back. After the traverse, the path descends slightly, then curves left around a ridge and enters a scree gully equipped with new steel cables for descent. Follow this gully pathlessly for about 60 m across a boulder field, then continue left along the now-visible trail into the Hinterkar.

Through the Hinterkar – now completely beyond the belt of dwarf pines – the path gently ascends toward the base of the southern ridge