The Legend of Tribulaun
Why does the inhospitable Tribulaun have a split peak?
The Tribulaun rises a good 3,000 meters into the sky with its very distinctive shape in South Tyrol's Pflersch Valley: a legendary mountain in the east of the Tribulaun ridge with a split peak. The Wanderhotel Panorama is located at the foot of the massif and is the perfect base camp for hikes in this beautiful area.
The Tribulaun ridge is a section of the main Alpine ridge that separates the Tyrolean Gschnitztal valley in the north from the South Tyrolean Pflerschtal valley in the south. To the west, the ridge continues to the Pflerscher Scharte, while to the east lie the Sandesjoch and, further along the ridge, the Pflerscher Tribulaun.
Mighty and unapproachable, the mountain once blessed the people with gold – rich gold and silver mines existed here. The split peak and the wealth have always captured the imagination. Numerous legends tell of the good mountain spirit of the Tribulaun, who was well-disposed towards honest and modest people. You can read about how this mountain spirit is connected to the split summit here:
Long ago, when the Pflersch Valley was still rich in gold and silver mines, a greedy king tyrannized the valley. While the miners toiled day and night to make the king even richer, he enjoyed himself with his golden skittles game.
One brave miner could no longer bear the oppression and rebelled against the tyrant. He planned to organize an uprising. The king found out about this. Enraged, he decided to pursue the rebels high up into the mountains and kill them. Shortly before he was captured, the mountain spirit of the Tribulaun suddenly appeared and struck the top of the mountain with his mighty fist. Since then, the Tribulaun has had two peaks. The brave miner was able to escape to safety. The king, however, was turned into a rock as punishment, namely today's Goldkappl. Its reddish glow is reminiscent of the king's cloak. The gold mines have long since dried up, but it is said that the king's golden skittles are still hidden somewhere in the rocks of the Tribulaun. And the mountain spirit is said to still be there. Somewhere. Lonely.
© Hannes Niederkofler
© Canva
© Carolin Thiersch
© Carolin Thiersch
© Carolin Thiersch
The Tribulaun is not an inviting mountain. Anyone who wants to climb it during a climbing vacation in the Alps must be very experienced—the ascent is not for the faint of heart. A famous climbing tour starting in St. Anton in the Pflersch Valley is still known today as "The Split King."
Although the Tribulaun itself may be inhospitable, the area offers countless wonderful routes for hiking in the Alps. The Windisch family, the hosts at the Panorama hiking hotel, are true Pflersch natives and know the most wonderful tours and trails – even those off the beaten track. On one of the guided hikes, Harald Windisch will surely be happy to tell you the other legend of the Tribulaun mountain spirit, in which the spirit rewarded people with a small gold coin for stories from the valley until ...
© Hannes Niederkofler
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