UKC

Been a couple of times and did the gross Glockner last year.

anyone got any suggestions for some areas offering a bit of a mix of big mountain days, some sport climbing and via Ferratta.

not after anything in particular hard just an easy life so sport climbing  grade V+ max really.

anyone know if a yo of the huts have re opened?

cheers r

In reply to bigrob:

The Zillertal and Ötztal should both give you loads of choice. The Zillertal has the Olperer and the Hochfeiler (among many others) for your big snow/ice mountain days. There's also the magnificent Grundschartner Nordkante (north ridge); 700m of solid granite, V+ (but pegs and aidable) on one short section, mostly IV. It's brilliant! Also plenty of sport climbing lower down and some Via Ferrata.

The Ötztal has the Wildspitze (2nd highest in Austria); all glaciated, and a traverse gives you the full experience (not hard, very safe as glaciers go, but a long day out!). There's a lot of good sport climbing in the valley, and 7 VFs from easy to hard, steep and exposed.

Both valleys are easily accessed by public transport from Innsbruck. The huts have been open for day visitors and overnight guests since 25th May; the ÖAV recommends checking previously by phone to ask about Corona-related precautions/rules. 

In reply to bigrob:

Not sure when you're planning on going but the borders aren't fully open yet.. 

In reply to Šljiva:

Just looked on the Austrian embassy site; residents of most EU countries can enter Austria without any problem, but residents of Sweden, Portugal and (unfortunately) the UK need proof of a negative SARS-CoV-2 molecular-biological test which is not more than 4 days old. If you don't have that documentation then it's 14 days quarantine; kind of a damper on a climbing holiday ...

In reply to McHeath: Yup, following it as we’re hoping to transit... which looks possible for now.  The re-open EU website is quite is quite handy as everything is changing by the day... 

In reply to bigrob:

Hi Big Rob,

I’ve been in the Otztal for the past two weeks. All huts are open but you will need to bring your own sleeping bag as they aren’t providing blankets. Its strange, it’s almost like COVID never happened in Austria and everything is back to normal. 

There has been a fair bit of snow up high recently but loss of stuff for you to get stuck into. I’ve been doing lots of the alpine routes around Martin Busch Hutte & Amberger Hutte.  Heading to the zillertal for a further two weeks from next. Feel free to drop me a message is you want any advice on routes, conditions, etc. 
 

Max  

In reply to mtom91:

Hi that’s just almost identical to the itinerary we were going to follow!

did you climbing the wildspitze?If so which route did you take?

how cold was it overnight in the huttes.

and did you camp at valley level and if so where?

we have the van so will,maybe be a mix of wild van camping and campsite in valley and then a few nights out in huts.

did you have any progs being from the UK and people being carona wary?

cheers r

Everything has been pretty much back to normal for a few weeks now. Not sure what differences there are up at the huts (apart from a sleeping bag is required) as I've not been up yet. 

Not all of them are open through, as some have decided to stay closed all summer, so it's worthwhile checking the specific hut. 

In reply to mtom91:

Ps any good guidebooks you can recommend.

i have the orange covered via Ferrara guide for Austria which gives good pointers and lots of the valley crags seem to have online guides, but any suggestions appreciated.

cheers r

In reply to bigrob:

Have a look at the climbers paradise website and app for details and topos of the vf's and sport crags for otztal and surrounding areas.

In reply to bigrob:

Might be helpful?

https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/destinations/otztal_-_austrias_outdoor_...

Chris

In reply to bigrob:

I've just come back from Osttirol, travelled from Luxembourg so no quarantine issues, although I got a test done just in case as the rules for "British Citizens" were more onerous.  No one mentioned it.  As stated above it was surprisingly relaxed and most, but not all, of the huts were open.  We were mainly hiking and as mentioned there were still significant snow patches down to ~2300m.

I'd never been to the area before so we barely scratched the surface in terms of climbing but we went armed with this new guide to the area covering multi-pitch (high mountains mainly), sports crags and via ferrata.

https://www.versantesud.it/en/prodotto/east-tyrol/

Enjoy,

Tim

In reply to Chris Craggs:

Cheers Chris a great article and great insight!

In reply to TimKnight:

curious if you drove and if so were there checks on the border? 

In reply to Šljiva:

We did yes.  There were no checks on the route we took into Austria (Munich >Innsbruck / A93>A12) but on the way back from Salzburg (A1 > A8) the Germans were seemingly pulling over every 50th car or so, German plates included.  For what definite purpose I couldn't tell you as we drove straight through, unlike in the distant past of March 2019 when we were randomly stopped.

Lux<>German border has been check free since mid-May

In reply to TimKnight:

Where did you get your test done? I was worried one might be stopped at the München to Innsbruck motorway as the Austrians often stop people there?

In reply to Heike:

In Luxembourg, quick GP appointment referred me to a commercial testing centre which sent me the results the same day.  All funded by the state.  I then carried the certificate around for the week as I was expecting the hotels to ask, or as you say at the border, but no-one did.

In reply to TimKnight: many thanks. I’m used to north-bound checks seeking migrants! And while resigned to not being allowed to stop in Austria and Slovenia on the way south, the less checks and delays the better!