The Tirolean Crack Trilogy – every climber’s dream

“Pumprisse”, “Tschechenplatte” and “Locker vom Hocker”: these three classic alpine crack climbs in the Tirolean limestone are the dream of many climbers. Two trainee Mountain Guides set out to tackle all three in three days – in early September 2020.

Kletterer im Riss der Route Locker vom Hocker im Schüsselkar

The Finishing Point: three routes, three days, by fair means

Climb all three routes in three days – by fair means and on-sight. We’ll be travelling by bike and train.

The routes are up to 100 kilometres apart, spanning the three mountain ranges of the Wetterstein, Karwendel Mountains and Wilder Kaiser.

The protagonists: Hannes Hohenwarter and Martin Sieberer from Tirol – both trainee Mountain Guides and passionate climbers. For a project like this, a number of factors must come together: physical and mental fitness, the conditions on the rock faces and, of course, the weather.

Text: Martin Sieberer

1. ‘Locker vom Hocker’, Wetterstein

At the start of September 2020, the time has finally come. We’ll be starting with our first route in the Schüsselkar in the Wetterstein Mountains, in the Seefeld region. ‘Locker vom Hocker’ was first ascended in 1981 by Wolfgang Güllich and Kurt Albert and has since been regarded as a test piece for ambitious alpine climbers.

A fine crack runs from the base up through the steep slab face, marking the almost clean first distance. After a short traverse, we have to tackle a tricky slab section before the route opens up. We manage to climb the route onsight. What a start.

After the descent, we mountain bike just under 30 kilometres and 1,000 metres of altitude right into the heart of the Karwendel Mountains – to our next challenge.

Climbers in the crack on the ‘Locker vom Hocker’ route in the Schüsselkar

2. ‘Tschechenplatte’, Karwendel Mountains

A natural gem right on our doorstep: the ‘Tschechenplatte’ in the Karwendel Mountains, Innsbruck region. Much to our regret, the rock face is damp and the first crack is completely wet. After a long fall on the first tricky pitch, we focus on the red dot – we manage to free-climb all the distances, even though we feel as if we’ve been run over by a bus once we’ve finished.

Time flies, and we’re already on our way to our final Finishing Point: the legendary “Pumprisse” in the Wilder Kaiser.

Climbers on the third pitch of the ‘Tschechenplatte’ in the Karwendel Mountains

3. ‘Pumprisse’, Wilder Kaiser

By mountain biking, train and on foot, we reach our overnight camp after sunset, in ‘zombie mode’. In the morning, exhausted by the exertions, we face our final hurdle: the first distance of the ‘Pumprisse’ in the Wilder Kaiser proves to be a real test of our limits. After a long fall, we both put our trusty ‘Bomber’ friend No. 4. to the test.

After a brief breather, we manage the distance, and the way up is clear. We climb the rest onsight and emerge at the top completely exhausted but over the moon.