Totes Gebirge#

Totes Gebirge mountains: imposing mountain range of the Northern Limestone Alps formed mainly by fissured Dachstein limestone and with pronounced karst features. The Totes Gebirge Mountains extends for 1,130 km2 from the Traun valley to the Stoder valley and the Windischgarsten basin and stretches out far to the east to the Warscheneck Mountains. As the name Totes Gebirge (dead mountains) suggests, the whole of the eastern plateau is bleak, with karrens, small lakes and almost no vegetation, the lower western part is greener and richer in water. The highest elevation of the main part of the Totes Gebirge is the Priel Mountain (2,515 m) lies in Upper Austria. Other imposing peaks are: Spitzmauer (2,446 m), Schermberg (2,396 m). The Tauplitzalm skiing resort in the Totes Gebirge is in part of Styria. Many mountain lakes: the two Oedsee lakes, Offensee, Almsee, Wildensee, Elmsee, Lahngangsee lakes, Schwarzensee and Steirersee. There are several mountain refuges. In the west: Ischler Huette (1,368 m), Lambacher Huette (1,432 m), Ebenseer-Hochkogelhuette (1,558 m), Wildenseehuette (1,525 m), Albert-Appel-Haus (1638 m); in the east: Puehringerhuette on the Elmsee lake (1,637 m), Almtaler Haus (714 m), Welser Huette (1,726 m), Prielschutzhaus (1,420 m), Hollhaus (1,621 m), Linzer-Tauplitzhaus (1,638 m). Villages and holiday resorts situated in the valleys: Hinterstoder (Upper Austria); Altaussee, Grundlsee, Goessl, Tauplitz (all in Styria). The Totes Gebirge Mountains were made a nature reserve in 1991 (by order of the provincial government of Styria). Many caves: Gassl Cave (open to visitors), Schoenberg Ice Cave, etc.