The 5. stage of the tour is an alternative to the classic Schladminger Tauern High Trail. Start for this tour is Preintalerhütte, where you cross the creek and follow Höfertsteig (trail n° 782) towards Neualmscharte and Planai. At the trail junction with n° 781 you make a left and follow n° 781 towards Neualm. Passing Neualm you walk through fields of dwarf pines and continue towards Kaltenbach through steeper terrain. From Kaltenbach you continue to Planai on trail n° 779. You pass by under the summit of Ulmspitze and follow the trail over sparsely vegetated mountain slopes to Hasenkarspitze, from where you enjoy a marvellous view to Hochgolling - the hightest mountain of the Schladminger Tauern mountain range. Passing by the summits of Sonntagerhöhe, Seerieszinken and Krahbergzinken you head towards the famous skiing mountain Planai. At Krahbergsattel you can choose whether to circle the summit of Planai on the panorama trail or if you take the summit of Planai too (only 10 minutes longer).
Descent to the valley:
After 5 challenging days in the mountain we recommend to descent via Planai gondola (open until 5 pm). If you're still fit enough you can also descend on foot via trail n° 779 or n° 55 (an additional 1,000 meters of altitude in descent - 1.5 to 2 hours).
Alternative tour:
As an alternative, much easier tour for the 5th day we recommend the descent to Seeleiten car park in Untertal (about 2.5 hours). From Preintalerhütte you descend via Kotalm to Lake Riesachsee and from there to the car parking at the valley head of Untertal. From there you can take the hiking bus of Planai-Hochwurzen back to Rohrmoos and Schladming.
Bus schedule: www.planaibus.at