Kühtai and Grießkogl, Austria

We woke up to low cloud and snow on the ground - overnight there had been a significant fall.. not an auspicious start to the day, but after a second lonely breakfast - there was another party in the house, but it had only arrived at 3 am so had not yet emerged - we packed up and headed to the next destination - Kühtai.
We had been here before, and its main attraction was the number of routes and also the alpine hut on the side of the road.
As we drove up to the high valley Kühtai sits in we came out of the low cloud into a bright blue day with the sun shining.

Checking in at the hut briefly we found we needed to wait until the afternoon to check in, and this just meant we had to get out and do something. The guide book had a route from the top of the lift next door (Kaiserbahn) to the Grießkogl. In our eagerness we did not notice the word after the name of the mountain (scharte) and assumed we were headed for a top rather then a col.
Leaving the van at the hut, and walking around to the lift we commenced to ascend up the side of the red piste besides the pylons.

We were still early enough to have good snow, the groomers had tamped down the fresh covering, but beside the piste was 3-5 cms of new snow.
The piste rose rapidly after the initial run up and as we got tot he top of the rise it was at the limit of friction for my skins and I was sliding. Bryon just ploughed on regardless, however I had to take evasive action and zigzag across the piste, trying not to annoy the paying public.

Once over this section things eased off - we tried to cut the corner, but the new snow made it heavy going and we soon came back to the piste.
Over the horizon we could see what we believed to be our peak rising up, on the south side we could also see in great detail the dam where we had been last time we were here.
Several twists to the track and we were up at the top station of the bubble lift.

From the lift station it soon became aparent that we were the first to look at the Grießkogl since the fresh snow, and also that there was no obvious route up from the lift that matched the grade given in the guide book. the top face look steep and exposed. We could not see the col from the lift station, but this would have looked better.
Just down from the lift was a lake and there were some tracks heading up the other side to a cross on the ramp - the approach to the Pirchkogl. This became the best alternative, and it was a recognisable point to turn around.

The last steps up tot eh cross were in beautiful powder .. this augured well for the descent.

The decision to stop here was helped by the untracked ad steep slope leading up to the col below the Pirchkogl ..  it did not feel safe and invited disaster.

In a slight to strong breeze we quickly changed over from ascent to descent modes, grabbed a bit and prepared to return.

As we were about to leave we saw a lone skier heading up to the steep face of the Grießkogl. He equally stopped and turned around. further proof we were right to turn here.

First powder of the trip ...  soft and fluffy, shame the legs were hurting so much.

Back at the piste we dropped off east of the ascent route, and followed some "beside" the piste action before our legs were dead, and we we had to resort to sitting on the motorway pistes.

Down at the bottom we crossed back to the hut and checked in.  A two bed room on the first floor was ideal, and even had the view of the route, albeit through the icicles.

Soup, pasta, salad, and instant whip for dinner rounded off a day snatched from potential failure.

As for the route .. later checking showed it actually went to the col not the peak, and variation went to the top at a much higher grade.