Starting late June or early July

K2 , Dienstag, 25. Februar 2014, 22:46 (vor 3924 Tagen) @ Daniela

Hello Daniela and Espen.

I'm wondering if it's possible to start the walk in late june or early july.

Mmmh, of course it will be possible to start in Munich end of June, but I guess you'll get in trouble some days later ...

Probably one or more of the following Austrian legs in Karwendel, Tuxer Alpen will cause problems:

Day 6: Passing Birkkar after Karwendelhaus
Day 9: Passing Pluderlingsattel, Gschuetzspitzsattel after Lizumer Huette
Day 10: Passing Friesenbergscharte after Tuxer-Joch-Haus

As I understand it the problem might arise when crossing the italian alps (?)
since some of the passes have a lot of snow.

Usually Gliederscharte (day 12) has a lot of snow left on the Southern side until July, but the passing should be smaller problem, because terrain is easier and Northern part has typically less snow.

Next problematic passages like Roascharte (day 15) and the ascent to Pisciaduhuette (day 16) should be possible, when you arrive there.

Starting so early I highly recommend light crampons (Groedeln) for traversing hard snow fields and considering the hints of the local hut wardens including the current conditions !

You might need some flexibility and you might have to take account of alternatives for some legs on your way.

I haven't done a lot of research yet, but if it is possible to start
this early I'll probably have a few more questions

Feel free to ask further questions ...

From my research I think it should be possible depending on amount
of snowfall during the winter and when the snow melt will start.

The amount of snow falling within the winter is very often not the critical thing, but the weather from April to June.
E.g. last year most of the snow in South Tyrol had been gone very early, but a lot of new snow in May and a very cold June conserved it over mid of July !

My plan is to call a couple of the huts at the higher elevations a
few weeks before I leave to check local conditions.

Good idea, but very often "a few weeks before" is not sufficient, but "a few days before" at the beginning of the season is better - sometimes conditions change from day to day

I recommend contacting:
- Karwendelhaus
- Lizumer Huette
- Tuxer-Joch-Haus
- Friesenberghaus
- Olperer Huette
- (Geraer Huette - alternative for day 10)
- (Gamshuette - another alternative for day 10)

It might be too
early to forecast trail conditions in June/July this year at this point.

Yeah, that's right.
But the big amount of snow within South and East Tyrol is very notable.

Happy hiking,
K2.