Alpine climbing in Tyrol

Besides high, alpine walls in the mountains of Tyrol, there are also climbing gardens with perfectly secured multi-pitch routes like in Ötztal or at the Burschlwand near Zams. Clean climbers, recreational climbers, or climbing mountaineers/alpinists get their full money’s worth in Tyrol. There are areas in the lower, middle, and high difficulty levels. The offer is thus aimed at all groups, whether beginners, advanced, or professionals.

• Lienz Dolomites
• Glockner Group
• Zillertal (Zillertal Alps)
• Wilder Kaiser 
• Steinplatte
• Rofan Mountains
• Karwendel Mountains
• Wetterstein Mountains
• Stubai (Stubai Alps)
• Ötztal (Ötztal Alps)
• Pitztal (Pitztal Alps)
• Holiday Region Imst
• Lechtal (Lechtal Alps)
• Tannheimer Valley 
• Verwall Group

In Tyrol, climbing is mainly done on limestone and main dolomite. There are also a few, but excellent, granite and gneiss climbing areas in the Ötztal, Zillertal, Stubai, and Pitztal Alps. 

Lienz Dolomites: Limestone and main dolomite

Glockner Group: Gneiss, granite, and slate

Zillertal: Granite and gneiss

Karwendel/Wetterstein/Wilder Kaiser/Steinplatte: Limestone

Rofan Mountains: Limestone and slate

Stubai/Ötztal/Pitztal: Gneiss

Holiday region Imst: Limestone

Lech Valley: Limestone

Tannheimer Valley: Limestone

Verwall Group: Gneiss and limestone

Alpine climbers from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland will surely know the 100 demanding routes from the cult climbing guide „in extreme rock – 100 legendary climbing routes in the Alps“, as they belong to the most coveted routes for alpine climbers. The book was first published in 1970, the author at that time was Walter Pause. In 2015, the climbing bible was revised by Christoph Klein and Jürgen Winkler and thus a third edition was released. The book contains 100 routes from the entire Alpine region, which are typical for the respective mountain region and were extremely difficult for the conditions of that time. The climbing guide quickly became the bible of every ambitious alpine climber and collecting Pause routes became an important source of motivation. Even today, the routes are still highly sought after. Many of the routes are still protected according to the standards of the time (many rusty pitons) and must be supplemented with mobile protection. However, there are also a few routes that are well equipped with bolts.

In Tyrol, there are a total of 21 of the coveted 100 Pause routes in extreme rock to be climbed. They are divided into the following alpine climbing areas:

Lienzer Dolomites:

1. Laserzwand Direct North Face, V+, 600 m

Zillertal: 

1. Sagwandspitze North Pillar, VI (VI-, A0), 800 m
2. Fußstein North Edge, V-, 480 m
3. Grundschartner North Edge, VI+ (V-, A0), 750 m

Wilder Kaiser:

1. Totenkirchl West Face, VI+ (V+, A0), 400 m
2. Fleischbank Old East Face, VI (V, A0), 350 m
3. Fleischbank Southeast Dihedral, VII+ (VI, A1), 300 m
4. Karlspitze Old East Face, VII- (V+, A0), 250 m
5. Predigtstuhl West Face, VI+ (V+, A1), 300 m
6. Bauernpredigtstuhl West Face, VII- (VI-, A0), 220 m
7. Maukspitze West Face, VIII+ (VI+, traverse A1), 350 m

Rofan:

1. Seekarlspitze North Face, VI+ (VI-, A0), 400 m

Karwendel:

1. Lalidererspitze Direct North Face, VII (VI, A1), 750 m
2. Lalidererwand North Face, VI (V+, A0), 800 m
3. Little Lafatscher Straight Northeast Dihedral, VI, 400 m

Wetterstein:

1. Scharnitzspitze Direct South Face, VII (VI, A0), 250 m
2. Schüsselkarspitze Southeast Face, VII- (VI, A1), 400 m
3. Schüsselkarspitze Direct South Face, VII (VI, A1), 350

 Stubai:

1. Great Ochsenwand Straight Northeast Face, VII+ (VI, A0), 250 m

Lechtal:

1. Freispitze South Face, VI+ (VI-, A0), 300 m

Tannheimer Tal:

1. Rote Flüh South Dihedral, VI+, 240

• Climbing in the Lienz Dolomites. Authors: A. Zlöbl, H. Zlöbl, Graphic Zloebl Book Design & Publishing. 2nd edition 2013

• Adventure Alpine Climbing Tyrol - 150 climbing tours in the northern limestone Alps, on the main Alpine ridge and in the Dolomites. Author: Otti Wiedmann, Tyrolia Publishing, 1st edition (2009), SKU: 978-3-7022-2987-0

• Zillertal Climbing Guide - Sport climbing, bouldering and multi-pitch routes in the Zillertal. Author: Michael Meisl, Routebook. 2018, ISBN: 978-3-200-05920-7

• Alpine climbing guide Wilder Kaiser. Author: Markus Stadler, Panico Alpine Publishing, 2nd edition (2017), ISBN: 978-3-95611-075-7

• Steinplatte Climbing Guide - New edition of the detailed climbing guide for one of the most popular alpine climbing areas overall. Author: Adi Stocker, Panico Alpine Publishing. 3rd edition (2019), ISBN: 978-3-956-11076-4
• Rofan, Alpine climbing guide - Alpine destinations in the Rofan mountains - incl. topographic maps. Authors: Hannes Salvenmoser, Mike Rutter, Hannes Marbler, Andreas Kirchner, Ralf Sussmann, Panico Alpine Publishing 2nd edition (2011), ISBN: 978-3-93674-005-9

• Alpine climbing guide Karwendel. Panico Alpine Publishing. 5th edition (2020), ISBN: 978-3-95611-077-1

• Alpine climbing guide Wetterstein North, Authors: Rolf Gemza, Martin Oswald, Christian Pfanzelt, Panico Alpine Publishing. 5th edition (2014), SKU: 978-3-95611-010-8

• Wetterstein South, Alpine climbing guide - Alpine destinations & climbing gardens - incl. topographic maps. Authors: Bernhard Hangl, Karlheinz Grübler, Albert Neuner, Panico Alpine Publishing. 3rd edition (2016), SKU: 978-3-95611-036-8

• Alpine climbing guide Lechtal Alps + Update 2016. Authors: D. Elsner/A. Flür/W. Hofer/J. Schafroth/R. Stadelwieser, Panico Alpine Publishing. 3rd edition (2010), ISBN-13: 978-3-926807-16-8

• Alpine climbing guide Allgäu incl. Tannheimer Mountains. Author: Pasold Achim, Panico Alpine Publishing. 1st edition (2020), ISBN-13: 978-3-95611-079-5

Climbers Paradise Tyrol is the climbing website for Tyrol and offers numerous information on sport and alpine climbing routes including topos. Also useful is the associated app, with which you can conveniently study the topo and route information while on the move.

Lienzer Dolomites: predominantly alpine secured routes

Glockner Group: rather alpine secured routes 

Zillertal: from very alpine secured routes up to sport climbing secured alpine routes

Wilder Kaiser: from very alpine secured routes up to sport climbing secured alpine routes

Steinplatte: from alpine classics up to well-secured alpine routes

Rofan: from very alpine secured routes up to sport climbing secured alpine routes

Karwendel: predominantly alpine secured routes, but also modern alpine sport climbs

Wetterstein: predominantly alpine secured routes, around the Coburger Hut also sport climbing secured alpine routes

Stubai: from alpine secured routes up to perfectly secured alpine routes

Ötztal: very well secured multi-pitch routes (mostly in climbing gardens)

Pitztal: very well secured alpine routes (near the Glacier Cabin)

Holiday region Imst: from alpine secured routes up to sport climbing secured alpine routes, everything is included

Lechtal: alpine secured routes, there are no sport climbing secured or pleasure climbing routes, a basic set of mobile protection (complete set of nuts, some friends, various slings for rock horns and sand clocks) should always be with you, there is one exception in the area around the Wolfebnerspitze, where there are also well to very well secured routes

Tannheimer Valley: a true abundance of very well secured multi-pitch routes, especially on the north faces also alpine secured routes (nuts and friends are often mandatory)

Verwall Group: from alpine secured routes up to sport climbing secured alpine routes

The Tyrol region can definitely be described as a climbing eldorado, as in addition to many alpine climbing routes, there are also numerous climbing gardens, which also offer multi-pitch routes, as well as indoor/outdoor halls and bouldering areas. Furthermore, in almost every climbing area, you can usually choose routes according to the desired level of protection and difficulty areas, either alpine climbing tours, where you do a lot of trad climbing, or alpine sport climbing with perfect bolt protection. 

Finally, there's only one thing left to say: Let's go and dare to dive into the alpine climbing experiences of Tyrol. Those who come once stay fascinated.