Traversed by Bundesstraße B 99 Elevation 1,641 m | Location Austria Road Bundesstraße 99 | |
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Range Alps, Central Eastern Alps Similar Turracher Höhe Pass, Naßfeld Pass, Gerlitzen, Klippitztörl Pass, Alps | ||
Katschberg Pass (el. 1,641 m (5,384 ft)) is a high mountain pass in the Central Eastern Alps in Austria between Rennweg am Katschberg in the state of Carinthia and Sankt Michael im Lungau in Salzburg.
Contents
Map of Katschberg Pass, 5582, Austria
GeographyEdit
It connects the Carinthian Katsch Valley in the south with the historic Lungau region of Salzburg (present-day Tamsweg district) and the Mur river in the north, from where the road leads further on to the Radstädter Tauern Pass. The federal state border between Salzburg and Carinthia runs along the top of the pass. Katschberg also separates the Ankogel Group of the Hohe Tauern range in the west from the Nock Mountains, part of the Gurktal Alps, in the east.
Parallel to the Katschberg Straße (B 99), which is now a regional highway (Landesstraße), since 1974 the Tauern Autobahn crosses the chain through the 5,898 m (19,350 ft) long Katschberg Tunnel.
HistoryEdit
Though the pass was probably already known to the Celtic Taurisci and later was part of a Roman Road from Teurnia to Iuvavum (Salzburg), it was first mentioned in a 1459 deed, then at the border between the Duchy of Carinthia and the Archbishopric of Salzburg. Mail was first sent over the pass in 1764. In 1929, the first restaurant was opened which later became a four-star hotel.
In 1957, Matthias Bogensperger built the first ski lift on the Tschaneck mountain. It became one of the largest private ski resorts, with 10 lifts by 1997. Today, the Katschberg-Aineck area counts 16 lifts and 60 km (37 mi) of trails stretching from the Tschaneck to the Aineck mountain and beyond the crest to Sankt Margarethen im Lungau.