The route used by the first climbers to ascend the Ruderhofspitez in 1864 led from the Oberissalm in the Oberbergtal valley to the Alpeiner Ferner. There, because the Schrankogel appeared too difficult, they decided to make the Ruderhofspitze the goal of their trek. After over eight hours they reached the summit. The present normal route, the easiest ascent, runs in a great arc over the Alpeiner Ferner as a high mountain tour to the Ruderhofspitze and should only be undertake with the right equipment and knowledge. The base for this route is the Franz Senn Hut situated to the northeast of the mountain at an elevation of 2,147 metres. From the hut the tour heads in a southwesterly direction along the Alpeiner Bach to the Alpeiner Ferner and then over the heavily crevassed glacier initially heading south and then east into the bay of the glacier below the Ruderhofspitze. From here there are two options to get to the firn field on the south side below the summit: one leads across the steep WSW flank on fixed ropes (negotiating the bergschrund with a risk of rockfalls) or the somewhat longer, but easier route along the long SSW arête from the upper Hölltalscharte notch. The route runs across the firn field on the south side to the rocky summit block and finally up an easy climb to the highest point. About an hour shorter, but not easier, is the ascent from the New Regensburg Hut along the Grawagrubennieder and the Grawawandferner. Other routes to the Ruderhofspitze run from the Mutterbergalm and the Dresdner Hut (a six-hour ice tour) to the Ruderhofspitze.