Saturday, December 10, 2016

Ice hunting at Tormäuer

Tormäuer is an ice climbing paradise, on the north/east side of Ötscher (1893 m). There are about 100 ice falls and also some mixed routes. We only checked out Hintere Tormäuer, which is the closest sector for us (120 km). The place is basically a 4 km long canyon filled with ice falls. Apparently it is possible to park on the both side of the canyon, so the approaches are about 5 -30 min on flat ground. 

 Ötscher


 Hintere Tormäuer. There are about 50 ice falls/sectors in this canyon.


 Blue Box


 An adventurous looking line


 Clarisma WI 4


Ein bisschen mehr Rotunde WI5-


Romantic Box


Rock Box. Potential for mixed climbing seems to be endless.


 An unknown ice fall


 Keinen Valium für Valentin WI5-


 Eiswiese


 Halfpipe WI4


Even the easiest ice falls look pretty nice


 It's still a bit too warm. The canyon is at 700 m from sea level, so for early season ice it's better to go somewhere else.


Altenberg an der Rax at 1200 m is a safer bet. There are five long ice falls between WI3 - M8, the approach is about 45 min.