The Langschneid with its long-drawn-out flanks dominates Defereggental from quite a distance. Set in a shaded aspect, it is one of the local mountains in St. Jakob and even in the depths of winter guarantees powder snow. In the first section of the climb the ski piste is used, so it is recommended using this section before the ski lifts operate.
Starting point is the cable car station for the Brunnalm ski lift in the parish of St. Leonhard, some two kilometres before St. Jakob. We use the valley ski run until it branches off after some 20 minutes. The piste is flat before it proceeds up the mountain to the ski area; we follow a forest trail to the right of Brugger Alm. Just before the Alpine lodge village we then branch off in a westerly direction to an impressive steep slope, where there alder bushes growing and which presents a key section in terms of technical avalanche conditions. This section is tackled along the summer trail with a few hairpin bends. Above the steep section is the Ragötzlalm (2116 m), our first destination of the stage en route to the Langschneid. The track now swings up via a steeper slope, before, via a lovely trough system we reach the flat Ragötzl Lenke (2500 m - 2 ½ - 3 hours by car). Via the south-west slopes in 45 minutes we come to the summit with the cross which provides plenty of views. The descent proceeds along the ascent track to Brugger Almen and if you have enough impetus and wax you can return on the piste without shuffling along.
Additional ski tour tips can be obtained in the ski tour guides by Thomas Mariacher. These are available here: http://www.grafikzloebl.at/verlag/buecher/
