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Climbing within 2 or 3 hours of Munich

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 Godwin 18 May 2023

I know nothing about climbing in Germany or Austria, but have been told there is a huge amount, that British climbers tend not to know of as our climbing season tends to coincide with the German Climbing season, so we tend not to go. I could have imagined the last bit.

Could anyone suggest areas with trad climbing, maybe with a few bolts and pitons like in the Dollies, Multi Pitch within comfortable striking distance of Munich.

This would be early July.

Sport climbing is not of interest on this trip.

Thanks in advance

 Mike-W-99 18 May 2023
In reply to Godwin:

I’ve not been but the Wilder Kaiser looks to fit the bill? Henning (I think) is Munich based. https://limeneve.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-kaiser-again-rwi.html?m=1

 AlanLittle 19 May 2023
In reply to Godwin:

> trad climbing, maybe with a few bolts and pitons like in the Dollies, Multi Pitch within comfortable striking distance of Munich.

Sadly, most of the good and regularly travelled routes in the Bavarian & Austrian Alps are overbolted these days, although a few nuts or cams are often still useful. But there's still plenty to go at.

Oberreintal in the Wetterstein is the classic German multipitch area - but high up, north facing, needs a fair spell of stable good weather. Less than an hour's drive or train to get to the start of the walk in - but then it's a *big* walk in, to a self-catering hut so you're carrying not only your gear but also food for x days. A slightly longer drive but more amenable for day trips is the Schüsselkarspitze on the south/Austrian side of the Wetterstein.

As already mentioned, there's also lots to go at in the Kaisergebirge. Slightly longer drive from Munich but still plenty that's accessible as a day trip or with single hut overnights.

Karwendel: big, serious. Long approaches & lots of chossy rock. If you want the full on trad adventure experience this is the place to go.

There also appears to be heaps of good stuff in the Tannheimer south west of Munich, but I haven't made it there yet so can't speak from personal experience.

Post edited at 07:53
OP Godwin 19 May 2023
In reply to Godwin:

Thank you for the replies so far. I am just assumed there would be loads and loads, as I have this image of Bavaria as this mountainous area with lots of rock, possibly I have it wrong.
Plan A is actually to go to the Dolomites, but as it is circa 5 hours to get there I assumed as we would be driving through Bavaria and Austria, we would be passing lots of other climbing venues.
I have heard of Oztal, is there much Tradish climbing there?
Thanks again for the help so far.

 tjekel 19 May 2023
In reply to Godwin:

Ötztal is more or less completely bolted. There is combined bolted and trad in Karwendel around Halleranger in an incredible setting and very reasonable rock. Classics in Kaiser are also sometimes sparsely bolted. If you drive on, the Berchtesgaden region has everything, from plaisir to long bolted multipitch to wild trad climbs. As has Hochkönig across the border in Austria ... and I consider these two to have some of the best rock anywhere.

Also very much a question of the grades you are after.

Oberreintal is great once you are there, especially if you happen to have hot weather.

 tjekel 19 May 2023
In reply to tjekel:

Oh and with 3 hours you easily reach Dachstein, where you will be happy for most bolts you see.

OP Godwin 19 May 2023
In reply to tjekel:

Severe to HVS 5a, always struggle with the V+ thing , but I think IV- to V+ covers it 🤷

OP Godwin 19 May 2023
In reply to tjekel:

Berchtesgaden sounds good, could you possibly suggest some crags or guidebooks please 

OP Godwin 19 May 2023
In reply to tjekel:

That looks fantastic, I really appreciate this help, thank you very much.

 alex_th 23 May 2023
In reply to Godwin:

My absolute top tip: the Fußsteinkante (V-) in the Zillertaler Alps. Granit multi-pitch, some bolted belays and a few peg runners, otherwise natural gear. On the better pitches, which is most of them, like a less steep version of Bosigran but 500 m high! However, short glacier approach. No crevasses when I was there and Bergschrund unproblematic, but could have got worse over the years. The hut walk-in (Geraer Hut) starts from near a turn-off from the Brenner Pass motorway, by the way, so handy if you are on your way to the Dolomites anyway.

In the limestone pre-alps of Bavaria and Tirol your grade range of up to V+ is going to narrow the possibilities down a bit. The  Schüsselkarspitze and  Scharnitzspitze are almost on your way south (walk-in starts from near the village of Scharnitz, which you would drive through anyway), but here you are limited to:

at this grade. These are mostly bolted. You need at most a couple of bits of natural gear per pitch to fill in between bolts. Can be done as a long day-trip from the valley (walk-in three hours) or by staying in the Wangalm or Wettersteinhütte (both private, i.e. not German Alpine Club).

I've not yet been up to the Oberreintal (planning to change that this year), but the easy classics there are:

One recommended route on the edge of the Karwendl, and without the terrifying reputation of routes on e.g. the Laliderer Spitze, is the Ma-Ma Kante (V) near the Dammkar Hut. Walk-in starts from Mittenwald, day trip from valley.

[Just as an aside: the routes for which the Karwendl is best known are the Rebitsch / Spiegel and the Rebitsch / Lorenz on the Lalidererwand, plus maybe the Verschneidung (corner) on the Kleiner Lafatscher. Just count the number of UKC logs to see what the queues are going to be like on these.]

The obvious place to start in the Tannheimer Tal is the  Gimpel south face. Possible as a day-trip from the valley; I stayed in the Gimpelhaus, a large and very commercial DAV hut... in fact near the bottom of my list of huts to go back to.

Also roughly in that direction: climbs on the Wolfebnerspitze, from a base in the Hermann von Barth Hut. Apparently nice climbs in the range 4 to 8 pitches, mainly lower grades. Three hour walk-in to hut.

One nice easy route just a few miles outside of Salzburg (which you might want to visit anyway) is the Barthkamin (IV+) on the Berchtesgadener Hochthron. Also mainly bolted with perhaps a couple of nuts or threads being necessary every now and again. Day-trip from valley.

I wouldn't recommend the Hochkönig (south of Salzburg) at this grade. The only easy route there is the Schluchtkante (IV) on the Torsäule, protected by the infamous Sigi bolts and even then only one per belay.

OP Godwin 23 May 2023
In reply to alex_th:

Thank you for taking the time for this detailed reply. We shall have a good check of your suggestions. Thank you again.

 MischaHY 24 May 2023
In reply to Godwin:

I think it's also well worth pointing out that 'bolted' in a region like the Kaiser can mean something very different to what you might be expecting. There can often be very serious runouts where it's not possible to place good protection and the overall nature is severe despite the occasional sanctuary of a bolt.

Dependent on grade I'd recommend considering these two guidebooks from Panico: 

Modern Zeiten 

Longlines

These both contain a selection of excellent routes with a lot of character (some with a more serious nature than others!) many of which are well within your window of driving. You'll need to translate the guidebook descriptions obviously. Feel free to email me if you need some help with that. 


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