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hi needs some advice on the best places to go in these countries, i am planning a climbing expedition for 2010 to raise money for mountain rescue, the expedition is being done by five student for the university of cumbria
any ideas and advice would be great
cheers tom
any ideas and advice would be great
cheers tom
In reply to tommyoliver:
Hello Tom,
That's quite a big question. I'll start with the bits I know best.
The multi-pitch climbing in Germany is mainly on the north side of the ranges which border with Austria, e.g. Wetterstein and Karwendel (around Garmisch), then quite a bit getting down towards Salzburg and Berchtesgaden. The Berchtesgadener Alps (summits in the low 2000s of meters, I think) are the Huber brothers' home ground, and there are lots of Huber routes in the guide. It's all limestone, and the popular routes are bolted, although the bolt spacing is bigger than in a Klettergarten.
Austria has so much to offer that it is difficult to summarise it one post. I know more about the areas which are easily accessible from Munich.
The south face of the Schüsselkarspitze (about 2500m) on the south side of the Wetterstein range is for me a must. It is Heinz Zak's home crag, incidentally, and he has put up some new routes there. Starting grade here is VI (HVS/E1?) apart from a small number of easy routes, and if you can do VII (E2/E3?) then the choice is huge.
The Wilder Kaiser (summits up to about 2500m) is very popular, so much so that it is sometimes necessary to queue for some of the popular routes around the Stripsenjochhaus (hut). I've not done as much here, but there are big classics in the 300m - 600m range. All grades available, but climbing VI is useful and the choice is a lot bigger still from VII upwards.
The Hochkönig Range (summits up to just short of 3000m from memory) to the south of Salzburg has got huge numbers of big routes on high mountains on some of the roughist limestone I have ever touched. Unfortunately many are bolted with the controversial Sigi-Bolts. A recent DAV (Deutscher Alpenverein) test concluded that these should only be trused as much as a peg, not as much as a normal bolt. That would be OK, except... a lot of the belays only have one bolt. Even that would still be sort of OK, except... try getting a second piece in on some of those belays.
I realise that I have still only scratched the surface here in Austria, e.g. leaving out the Rätikon on the Swiss border and the Dachstein, since I have never been to either.
Panico is maybe the largest publisher of guidebooks to Austria and Germany, with a few from further afield too. A list of their guide to multi-pitch (alpine) routes is here:
http://www.panico.de/de/panico_buecher/gebietsfuehrer_alpin/gebietsfuehrer_...
These guides are pretty much topo-only, with limited text in German. Many of these have loose-leaf topos which you can pull out and take with you. They are purely functional, and not much good for inspiration.
Panico also has a few selected climbs guides in the Best Of series. Best Of Genuss means grades up to VII, while I think Best Of Extrem is grades from VI or VII upwards. I have not got them yet, but they are on my shopping list, and have quite a lot of nice photos to give you an idea of what things look like.
Best Of Genuss Volume 1 covers the eastern alps from the Dachstein westwards up to but not including the Wilder Kaiser:
http://www.panico.de/de/panico_buecher/auswahlfuehrer_alpin/best_of_genuss_...
Volume 2 covers from the Wilder Kaiser all the way westwards to the Rätikon:
http://www.panico.de/de/panico_buecher/auswahlfuehrer_alpin/best_of_genuss_...
Some other good selected climbs guides include:
Genussklettern Österreich Mitte by Axel Jentzsch-Rabl and Andreas Jentzsch:
http://www.alpinverlag.at/buecher/genussklettern_mitte/genussklettern_mitte...
This covers the areas around Salzburg, Berchtesgaden, the Hochkönig, the Steinernes Meer, the Loferer Steinberge, and so on. Apparently the new edition, which I haven't got, even indicates which routes are protected with Sigi-Bolts. Very easy to use, and topo-based.
Bayerische Alpen & Nordtirol by Richard Goedeke:
http://www.bergverlag.com/titpage/3016.php
This has a lot of the best known classics along both sides of the German-Austria border, starting a bit to the west of the Wetterstein (I don't think that the Tannheimer Tal is in) and going through the Karwendel and Wilder Kaiser to the Berchstesgadener Alps. A bit more text, but still a topo for every route.
Alpine Sportkletterrouten VI - VIII by Dieter Elsner and Jochen Haase:
http://www.bergverlag.com/titpage/3013.php
You have to be a bit better to get much out of this guide. I haven't really needed mine.
Topoguide Kletterführer Alpen by Nicole Luzar und Volker Roth:
http://www.topoguide.de/Alpen/alpen.html
This is a beautfiully produced coffee table topo guide with colour photos. It covers the entire alps from France eastwards, but with the emphasis perhaps on the German speaking areas. The topos in this are really good. If I have got a choice of topos for a route including one from this guide, I always take the one from this guide. You would need to scan or photocopy it at home, though - it's big and heavy. Also quite a lot of good stuff for Switzerland in here.
If I had to make a suggestion for starting out in Germany and Austria, I would suggest getting:
- The Goedeke guide to Bayerische Alpen und Nordtirol
- Genussklettern Österreich Mitte
- The Panico guides to Wetterstein Süd (for the Schüsselkarspitze), to the Wilder Kaiser, and possibly also to the Hochkönig
For maps the best are the Alpenverein 1:25000 series. Not as good but still OK are those from Freytag & Berndt, while I try to avoid those from Compass, which I think are aimed more at walkers following marked trails.
Hello Tom,
That's quite a big question. I'll start with the bits I know best.
The multi-pitch climbing in Germany is mainly on the north side of the ranges which border with Austria, e.g. Wetterstein and Karwendel (around Garmisch), then quite a bit getting down towards Salzburg and Berchtesgaden. The Berchtesgadener Alps (summits in the low 2000s of meters, I think) are the Huber brothers' home ground, and there are lots of Huber routes in the guide. It's all limestone, and the popular routes are bolted, although the bolt spacing is bigger than in a Klettergarten.
Austria has so much to offer that it is difficult to summarise it one post. I know more about the areas which are easily accessible from Munich.
The south face of the Schüsselkarspitze (about 2500m) on the south side of the Wetterstein range is for me a must. It is Heinz Zak's home crag, incidentally, and he has put up some new routes there. Starting grade here is VI (HVS/E1?) apart from a small number of easy routes, and if you can do VII (E2/E3?) then the choice is huge.
The Wilder Kaiser (summits up to about 2500m) is very popular, so much so that it is sometimes necessary to queue for some of the popular routes around the Stripsenjochhaus (hut). I've not done as much here, but there are big classics in the 300m - 600m range. All grades available, but climbing VI is useful and the choice is a lot bigger still from VII upwards.
The Hochkönig Range (summits up to just short of 3000m from memory) to the south of Salzburg has got huge numbers of big routes on high mountains on some of the roughist limestone I have ever touched. Unfortunately many are bolted with the controversial Sigi-Bolts. A recent DAV (Deutscher Alpenverein) test concluded that these should only be trused as much as a peg, not as much as a normal bolt. That would be OK, except... a lot of the belays only have one bolt. Even that would still be sort of OK, except... try getting a second piece in on some of those belays.
I realise that I have still only scratched the surface here in Austria, e.g. leaving out the Rätikon on the Swiss border and the Dachstein, since I have never been to either.
Panico is maybe the largest publisher of guidebooks to Austria and Germany, with a few from further afield too. A list of their guide to multi-pitch (alpine) routes is here:
http://www.panico.de/de/panico_buecher/gebietsfuehrer_alpin/gebietsfuehrer_...
These guides are pretty much topo-only, with limited text in German. Many of these have loose-leaf topos which you can pull out and take with you. They are purely functional, and not much good for inspiration.
Panico also has a few selected climbs guides in the Best Of series. Best Of Genuss means grades up to VII, while I think Best Of Extrem is grades from VI or VII upwards. I have not got them yet, but they are on my shopping list, and have quite a lot of nice photos to give you an idea of what things look like.
Best Of Genuss Volume 1 covers the eastern alps from the Dachstein westwards up to but not including the Wilder Kaiser:
http://www.panico.de/de/panico_buecher/auswahlfuehrer_alpin/best_of_genuss_...
Volume 2 covers from the Wilder Kaiser all the way westwards to the Rätikon:
http://www.panico.de/de/panico_buecher/auswahlfuehrer_alpin/best_of_genuss_...
Some other good selected climbs guides include:
Genussklettern Österreich Mitte by Axel Jentzsch-Rabl and Andreas Jentzsch:
http://www.alpinverlag.at/buecher/genussklettern_mitte/genussklettern_mitte...
This covers the areas around Salzburg, Berchtesgaden, the Hochkönig, the Steinernes Meer, the Loferer Steinberge, and so on. Apparently the new edition, which I haven't got, even indicates which routes are protected with Sigi-Bolts. Very easy to use, and topo-based.
Bayerische Alpen & Nordtirol by Richard Goedeke:
http://www.bergverlag.com/titpage/3016.php
This has a lot of the best known classics along both sides of the German-Austria border, starting a bit to the west of the Wetterstein (I don't think that the Tannheimer Tal is in) and going through the Karwendel and Wilder Kaiser to the Berchstesgadener Alps. A bit more text, but still a topo for every route.
Alpine Sportkletterrouten VI - VIII by Dieter Elsner and Jochen Haase:
http://www.bergverlag.com/titpage/3013.php
You have to be a bit better to get much out of this guide. I haven't really needed mine.
Topoguide Kletterführer Alpen by Nicole Luzar und Volker Roth:
http://www.topoguide.de/Alpen/alpen.html
This is a beautfiully produced coffee table topo guide with colour photos. It covers the entire alps from France eastwards, but with the emphasis perhaps on the German speaking areas. The topos in this are really good. If I have got a choice of topos for a route including one from this guide, I always take the one from this guide. You would need to scan or photocopy it at home, though - it's big and heavy. Also quite a lot of good stuff for Switzerland in here.
If I had to make a suggestion for starting out in Germany and Austria, I would suggest getting:
- The Goedeke guide to Bayerische Alpen und Nordtirol
- Genussklettern Österreich Mitte
- The Panico guides to Wetterstein Süd (for the Schüsselkarspitze), to the Wilder Kaiser, and possibly also to the Hochkönig
For maps the best are the Alpenverein 1:25000 series. Not as good but still OK are those from Freytag & Berndt, while I try to avoid those from Compass, which I think are aimed more at walkers following marked trails.
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