Tyrol
The Austrian province of Tyrol lies in the heart of the Eastern Alps. For a while now, Tyrol has been known as Austria‘s home and center of sport climbing. It is not by coincidence that many young Tyrolean talents have emerged and grown into successful athletes, securing many top spots in the world cup rankings. Sport climbing has a long history in Tyrol. It goes back to the time of the great pioneers, such as Hermann Buhl, who were training for their alpine ascents and other purists, who were mainly climbing single pitches for their difficulties.
What is really impressive in Tyrol is the huge amount of bolted routes, which offer something for all tastes. The spectrum goes from the easy 3a for the youngest to Open Air 9a+ at Schleierwasserfall. Located at the base of the Wilder Kaiser, the latter crag is likely the best known crag in Tyrol. If Schleierwasserfall sets the benchmark for limestone crags, Ewige Jagdgründe in Zillertal is likely the parallel for granite.
The proximity of limestone and granite crags is one of the big advantages of Tyrol, as in many cases they are only a few kilometers from one another. Granite walls can be mostly found in the valleys south of the Inn, such as in Zillertal, Ötztal and Pitztal. The rock quality here is first class and surely one of the reasons for that Zillertal hosted the Petzl Rocktrip. Limestone crags, on the other hand, can be found scattered throughout the whole province. Examples are the classic crags near the capital city Innsbruck such as Dschungelbuch and the Ehnbachklamm. Much has been invested into the sport of climbing in Imst as well. Two of the biggest crags in Tyrol are in its surroundings: Nassereith and Starkenbach. The small town of Reutte lies past the Fernpass and some very interesting spots have been developed in its proximity, such as the ultra classic Weißwand and Kraftwerkwand.
East of Innbruck lies the lime stone paradise of Rofan. Many fabulous crags have emerged in Rofan, like Paradies, which really does earn its name. The potential still has not been fully developed in this area. Even further to the east some new crags have been created near Schleierwasserfall, among them Steinplatte and Achleiten, which don’t lack anything in terms of rock quality compared to Schleier. Last but not least, there are three big crags worth mentioning in Osttirol, with two of them standing out: Dolomitenhütte and Falkenstein are really worth a visit with their beautiful routes. The climbing at Falkenstein mainly requires endurance, while the routes near Dolomitenhütte demand good technique. To sum it all up, Tyrol is a destination not to be missed and worth your time to be fully discovered.
