Weißkugel

Weißkugel (German pronunciation: [ˈvaɪ̯sˌkuːɡl̩] (listen); Italian: Palla Bianca) or Weißkogel is the second highest mountain in the Ötztal Alps and the third highest mountain in Austria. Featuring many glaciers, it lies on the border between Austria and Italy. The easiest way to climb it is over its southern side.

Weißkugel
Highest point
Elevation	3,739 m (12,267 ft)
Prominence	565 m (1,854 ft)
Parent peak	Wildspitze
Isolation	14.5 km (9.0 mi)
Coordinates	46°47′52″N 10°43′35″E
Geography
Weißkugel Location on the Austrian-Italian border
Location	Tyrol, Austria / South Tyrol, Italy
Parent range	Ötztal Alps
Climbing
First ascent	summer of 1845 by Johann Gurschler and Josef Weitthalm, or 30 Sep 1861 by Joseph Anton Specht, Leander Klotz, and Nicodem Klotz (or Johann Raffeiner)
Easiest route	Glacier ascent over the south ridge

The ascent by Joseph Anton Specht from Vienna, guided by Leander and Nicodem Klotz from Vent in 1861, was and is usually considered the first. However, personal notes of Archduke John of Austria about his excursion over the Niederjoch from Vent to Schnals in the summer of 1846, made public in 1903, suggest that his guides, Johann Gurschler and Josef Weitthalm from Schnals, had climbed the mountain the previous summer.[1]

According to the second ascensionist, Douglas Freshfield, it has one of the best views in the Tyrol.[2]

Brandenburger Haus (right foreground) and Weißkugel (right background) as seen from Fluchtkogel over the Gepatsch glacier. In the distance Königspitze, Monte Zebrù, and Ortler