Next to the Heidelberger Mountain Lodge/Hut, high above Ischgl, there’s a new Rock Climbing Area, ideal for the height of summer – and incredibly idyllic to boot. A spot that adds yet another fantastic offer to the rangeofsport climbing opportunities in the Paznaun valley.
Text & photos: Simon Schöpf
We visited the hut complex together with the developer Hansjörg Randl.
Tip: If you’re interested in this region, why not order a copy of our LIMIT #2 magazine right away, in which we also feature the climbing paradise of Paznaun!
It took a good 40 years for him to put his idea into practice. You could say it had matured well: In his early 20s, Hansjörg Randl first spotted the steep boulder next to the Heidelberger Mountain Lodge/Hut whilst on a ski tour – and was amazed even then that no route had yet been found on this magnificent piece of rock. “We ought to drill a route in there,” he thought to himself.
That certainly doesn’t stop him from still tackling the overhanging routes. “It’s bloody steep, isn’t it?”, he enthuses as he proudly presents his completed work. A good ten routes now wind their way through the rock, the easiest of which is graded lower eighth. A great deal of passion has gone into this Rock Climbing Area – he even had a wooden statue of Jesus, which he found here, restored and affixed to the wall as a patron saint for the climbers. In 2016, he started drilling up here at almost 2,300 metres; over the course of three summers, he kept coming back up, carrying a heavy rucksack and a drill.
“Back in the day, before E-Bikes – that was something else,” he recalls. You really work up a sweat on the 14-kilometre climb up from Ischgl.
Hansjörg Randl is no stranger to the Tirolean climbing scene: back in the old, wild days, he was right at the forefront, opening up new routes in the Schüsselkar – some so daring that, to this day, he knows of no one who has repeated them. With the advent of the bolt, more frequently repeated routes were added, on the Martinswand and near his home town of Telfs, where he served as route maintainer and trail builder for over 20 years.
The idea of turning the boulder next to the Mountain Lodge/Hut into a Rock Climbing Area immediately struck a chord with the Mountain Lodge/Hut warden. “I’d been thinking for ages, ‘It’s strange that nobody’s doing anything with that rock’,” recalls Mountain Lodge/Hut warden Alois Eiter over a coffee on the terrace. Just then, two of his staff members walk past – within seconds, they’re both up on the practice rock, clinging to the routes. This is another way to spend a break: the blue rope belonging to the cook, Kathi, is still hanging on her project, the ‘Heidelberger Spitze’ (7b).
To date, this section remains little known; climbers rarely find their way up here. The majority of visitors are mountain bikers, with or without motorbikes, quite a few of whom are on a mission to cross the Alps – in droves, they haul their bikes up the path towards the Fimber Pass. You can’t blame them: The landscape here is magnificent, with a touch of Iceland about it. It’s also fascinating to experience the contrast between the far from tranquil tourist hotspot of Ischgl and Lois, who brings you a coffee and says what he always says: “Sit down here, keep cool, no stress!”
And that is precisely what makes the Hüttenblock so special: its location right next to the meandering Fimbabach, the grass-covered hills with cows and donkeys, and the three-thousand-metre peaks in the background. Even when the thermometer in the valley soars well beyond 30 °C, up here, with a cool breeze, you almost always find yourself climbing in ideal conditions – a Rock Climbing Area that couldn’t be more perfect for the height of summer. You know you’re climbing in the high mountains when you spot the tuft of Edelweiss next to the starting hold and hear the whistles of the marmots.
The top Tirolean climber Angy Eiter has also been up here – she called the spot “a gem”. The only faint reminder of the mass tourism down in the valley is the red snow groomer parked beneath the rock, patiently waiting for the next snowfall. ‘Ischgl’ is written on it, followed by the slogan: ‘Relax. If you can …’ Up here, that’s not difficult for us.
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