Ochsenkopf, Mountain peak in Rätikon range, Austria and Liechtenstein.
Ochsenkopf is a 2,286-meter (7,500-foot) peak in the Rätikon range that marks the border between Vorarlberg in Austria and the municipality of Schaan in Liechtenstein. The mountain features contrasting terrain, with steep rocky slopes on its eastern face and gentler grassy hillsides toward the south.
The name Ochsenkopf comes from the Ochsenalpe, the alpine pasture on the Gamperdonatal side. There, in 1892, the last bear in Vorarlberg was sighted, before bear "Bruno" was seen in the Montafon in 2006. No record of a first ascent exists, though hunters and herders likely climbed the summit early. The Bettlerjöchle below is named for the fat or butter beggars who once moved from alp to alp.
The name Ochsenkopf comes from the Ochsenalpe, the alpine pasture on the Gamperdonatal side. The Bettlerjöchle below takes its name from the Schmalz- und Butterbettler, men who once moved from alp to alp begging for butter or lard. The name Sareis derives from the Rhaeto-Romanic serra, a narrow pass, recorded in 1515 as Serraßgrat.
Most hikers begin from the cable car station in Malbun in Liechtenstein and follow marked trails along the eastern ridge. The terrain alternates between rock and grassland, with the best hiking season running from June through September when snow fields have melted.
The summit carries the state border between Austria and Liechtenstein along the Ochsengrat ridge, which runs from the Bettlerjöchle (2,026 m) to the Sareiser Joch (2,000 m). The name comes from the Ochsenalpe on the Gamperdona side, where the last bear in Vorarlberg was sighted in 1892, before Bruno was seen in the Montafon in 2006.
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