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Eispark Osttirol, the new ice climbing venue in Austria

The Eispark Osttirol, a new ice climbing crag with approximately 50 artificial icefalls, has been inaugurated close to the Matreier Tauernhaus in East Tirol, Austria.

Planetmountain

February 2016

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Eispark Osttirol

Archive Vittorio Messini

Artificial ice climbing venues, where water is pumped to the top of cliffs to feed ice falls when drips don’t form naturally, are becoming increasingly popular. The Ouray Ice Park in the USA, Haffner Creek in Canada, X-Ice Park at Ceresole Reale in Italy are only three such examples, and now there’s also Eispark Osttirol, the first venue developed specifically for ice climbing in Austria.

The crag is located close to the historic Matrei Tauernhaus, below Grossglockner in the Nationalpark Hohe Tauern, at an altitude of 1500m. Two local guides, Vittorio Messini and Matthias Wurzer, came up with the idea during an ice climbing trip to Canada and after having found a suitable location, this winter 400m long tubes were laid in order to transport water from River Tauern to the lip of the crag and spray this onto the rock. When fully developed the crag will host circa 50 ice climbs from WI2 to WI6 and also two drytooling routes grade M4 and M8 that reach up to 50m in height.

Eispark Osttirol was officially inaugurated last weekend during the first Osttirol Ice Festival, while a few days earlier the Austrian Mountain Guides used the venue for their mountain guide’s training course.

The crag can be reached easily via a 30 minute hike from the Matrei Tauernhaus hostel, located on the Felbertauernstraße close to Matrei. For further information check out www.eispark-osttirol.at

1. Eiskletterfestival nel Eispark Osttirol

28/05/2012 - Großglockner North Face
The North Face of Grossglockner: Pallavicinirinne and Mayerlrampe introduced by Vittorio Messini, Mountain Guide Kals am Großglockner.

09/01/2012 - Ski mountaineering in the Upper Tauern, East Tirol, Austria
Figerhorn, Langschneid and Hochgasser, three ski mountaineering itineraries in the Upper Tauern, East Tirol, Austria, introduced by Vittorio Messini, Mountain Guide Kals am Großglockner.