The Wetterspitzen are three of the rocky peaks on a mountain ridge in the Wetterstein mountains in the central part of the Eastern Alps

Eastern Alps

Eastern Alps is the name given to the eastern half of the Alps, usually defined as the area east of the Splügen Pass in eastern Switzerland. North of the Splügen Pass, the Posterior Rhine forms the border, and south of the pass, the Liro river and Lake Como form the boundary line.-Geography:The...

 in Germany. The lie two kilometres, as the crow flies

As the crow flies

"As the crow flies" or beelining is an idiom for the shortest route between two points; the geodesic distance.An example is the great-circle distance between Key West and Pensacola, at either end of the U.S...

, southwest of Germany's highest peak, the Zugspitze

Zugspitze

The Zugspitze, at 2,962 metres above sea level, is the highest peak of the Wetterstein Mountains as well as the highest mountain in Germany. It lies south of the town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and the border between Germany and Austria runs over its western summit. South of the mountain is...

, on the border between the Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

n province of Tyrol

Tyrol (state)

Tyrol is a state or Bundesland, located in the west of Austria. It comprises the Austrian part of the historical region of Tyrol.The state is split into two parts–called North Tyrol and East Tyrol–by a -wide strip of land where the state of Salzburg borders directly on the Italian province of...

 and the German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 state of Bavaria

Bavaria

Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...

. The Wetterspitzen form the southwest perimeter of the Zugspitze ledge (Zugspitzplatt); below and to the east is the ski region on the Schneeferner

Schneeferner

The Schneeferner in the Bavarian Alps is Germany's highest and largest glacier. It is located on the Zugspitzplatt, a plateau south of the country's highest peak, the Zugspitze, that descends from west to east and forms the head of the Reintal valley...

 with its research station, the Schneefernerhaus

Schneefernerhaus

The Schneefernerhaus is a former hotel in the Alps, that is now used as an environmental research station. It lies immediately below the summit of the Zugspitze at a height of 2,650 m and was opened on 20 June 1931. It used to house the top station of the Bavarian Zugspitze Railway as well as a...

.

The three peaks are the:

• Northern Wetterspitze (Nördliche Wetterspitze) - 2746 metres (9,009.2 ft) high,
• Southern or Middle Wetterspitze (Südliche (Mittlere) Wetterspitze} - 2750 metres (9,022.3 ft) high - and the
• Eastern Wetterspitze (Östliche Wetterspitze) - 2668 metres (8,753.3 ft) high.

Base

A possible base for climbing the Wetterspitzen is the SonnAlpin restaurant (2600 metres (8,530.2 ft)) on the Zugspitze Ledge, the terminal station of the Bavarian Zugspitze Rack Railway.

Easiest routes

From the Zugspitze ledge (Zugspitzplatt):

• an easy climb, according to the literature, (UIAA grade II) in half an hour to the Northern Wetterspitze.
• in two hours (UIAA II) to the Middle Wetterspitze,
• in half an hour with any difficult sections (UIAA I) to the Eastern Wetterspitze

In addition there are various climbing routes up to UIAA grade V, starting from west of Ehrwald

Ehrwald

Ehrwald is a municipality in the Austrian district of Reutte, Tyrol.Ehrwald lies at the southern base of the Zugspitze , Germany's highest mountain, but which is shared with Austria. The town is connected to the Zugspitze with the Tyrolean Aerial Tramway .-References:...

.

Sources and maps

• Stefan Beulke: AVF Wetterstein, Rother Verlag München (1996), ISBN 3-7633-1119-X
• Alpenvereinskarte 1:25.000, Blatt 4/2, Wetterstein- und Mieminger Gebirge