At 3770 metres the Kleinglockner is the third highest mountain

Mountain

Image:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|thumb|right|The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everestrect 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzorect 200 28 335 52 Makalurect 378 24 566 45 Mount Everestrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateaurect 250 406 340 427 Rong River...

 in Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

. However, with a prominence of only 17 metres it is arguable whether it can be counted as an independent mountain, or just as a subpeak of the Großglockner

Großglockner

The Grossglockner is, at 3,798 m above sea level, Austria's highest mountain and the highest mountain in the Alps east of the Brenner Pass...

. It lies in the Glockner Group

Glockner Group

The Glockner Group is a sub-group of the Austrian Central Alps in the Eastern Alps, and is located in the centre section of the High Tauern on the main chain of the Alps....

 of Austria's Central Alps

Central Eastern Alps

The Central Eastern Alps comprise the main chain of the Eastern Alps with its highest peaks, located between the Northern Limestone Alps and the Southern Limestone Alps, from which they differ in geological composition....

, the middle section of the Hohe Tauern

Hohe Tauern

The Hohe Tauern or High Tauern are a mountain range on the main chain of the Central Eastern Alps, comprising the highest peaks east of the Brenner Pass. The crest forms the southern border of the Austrian state of Salzburg with Carinthia and East Tyrol, while a small part in the southwest belongs...

. Geographically and geologically speaking, it is viewed a secondary summit of the neighbouring Großglockner, but in the literature, in view of its importance to mountaineering, it is in some cases treated as separate. Its peak forms part of the Glockner crest or ridge (Glocknerkamm) and lies exactly on the border between the Austrian state of Carinthia

Carinthia (state)

Carinthia is the southernmost Austrian state or Land. Situated within the Eastern Alps it is chiefly noted for its mountains and lakes.The main language is German. Its regional dialects belong to the Southern Austro-Bavarian group...

 and Lienz District in the East Tyrol

East Tyrol

East Tyrol, or East Tirol , is an exclave of the Austrian state of Tyrol, sharing no border with the main North Tyrol part of the state. It corresponds with the administrative district of Lienz....

. The Kleinglockner has the shape of a sharp edge, covered with the so-called Glockner Cornice (Glocknerwechte) and, depending on the conditions, can make the ascent of the mountain dangerous to almost impossible. The climbing history of the Kleinglockner is closely linked to that of the Großglockner, because the first climbers, coming from the south and east, had to cross it.

Sources

• Willi End: Alpine Club Guide
  Alpine Club Guide
  The Alpine Club Guides are the standard series of Alpine guides that cover all the important mountain groups in the Eastern Alps. They are produced jointly by the German , Austrian and South Tyrol Alpine Clubs...
  
   Glocknergruppe. Bergverlag Rother
  Bergverlag Rother
  Bergverlag Rother is a German publisher with its headquarters in Oberhaching, Upper Bavaria. Since 1950 the company, that formerly went udern the name of Bergverlag Rudolf Rother, has published the Alpine Club Guides in cooperation with the German Alpine Club , the Austrian Alpine Club and the...
  
  , Munich 2003, ISBN 3-7633-1266-8.
• Eduard Richter (Redaktion): Die Erschließung der Ostalpen, III. Band. Published by the German and Austrian Alpine Club, Berlin 1894.
• Raimund von Klebelsberg: Geologie von Tirol. Berlin 1935.
• Alpenvereinskarte 1:25.000, Blatt 40, Glocknergruppe.