Rjautza is a less-known peak of the Karavanke mountains located just above the Bodental valley. With altitude of 1789 meters and roughly 800 meters of ascent it does not constitute a serious challenge in the summer time but in the winter it might require a bit more of the effort.

The trail to Rjautza starts about 400 meters away from the main parking lot in the Bodental. First 200 meters up lead us via convenient forest road. At some point we cross a stream and leave the forest road on the right side of it slowly entering forest. The path is narrower and steeper now. We continue for another couple of hundreds meters of elevation. First more demanding part is ascent of Weiße Wand peak and the other is steep north slope of Rjautza just after that. By demanding I mean that some use of hands may be required to get a better position while ascending. Then about 80 vertical meters are left before we enter and alley of dwarf pines where the summit cross can already be seen.

Views from Rjautza are really nice but also limited due to proximity of the highest peaks in the range like Wertatscha and Hochstuhl. Anyway it’s a good place to spot Grossglockner with a good visibility, eastern side of Karavanks and also Kamnik–Savinja Alps.

Weather:

Sunny weather (but sun present only on the peak), quiet with almost no wind and -5 temperature at the starting point in Bodental.

Trail:

Trail marking is good enough, it was present in crucial places but maybe sometimes difficult to spot. Due to the lying snow I cannot really say much about the condition of the path other that it was impassable just in one spot due to fallen trees and sometimes required wading through the branches.

Whole path was covered in fresh powder snow, ranging from 30 to 50 centimeters of depth making walking significantly more challenging.

Tips and author's comments:

Dangers:

No objective dangers although for already settled snow conditions it would be a reasonable idea to have snow chains for your hiking boots and a pickaxe for the final approach of Rjautza as it is pretty steep.

Gear used:

30l rucksack, trekking poles, gaiters

Transportation:

Starting point reached by car. Parking is free of charge.

Links:Bodental parking lot

Accommodation:

No info.