A high plateau between the Wetterstein and Karwendel mountains and a real family climbing paradise - that's the Olympiaregion Seefeld.
Summertime means romping across meadows, wading through streams, soaking up the wonderful scent of flowers and herbs while the birds chase mosquitoes high up in the blue sky. Summertime means warm sun on your skin, bare feet in the grass and long nights under the stars. Looking at it this way, you might ask: what could be better? Well, just a nice climbing garden with well-secured routes that even the little ones could enjoy, making it perfect. And maybe a barbecue area where you can end the day as a family with a fire and grilled sausages. A real adventure land for explorers of all ages.
Family-friendly summer adventure land
The Olympiaregion Seefeld is such an adventure land for families: with its two family climbing areas "Flämenwandl" and "Sonnenplatten Scharnitz", it offers ideal conditions for a family summer vacation with fun, games and plenty of climbing routes.
However, the first attributes that spring to mind when you think of Seefeld are not necessarily associated with climbing. Rather: cross-country skiing, the Winter Olympics and upscale hotels and restaurants. And yes, everything is true, because Seefeld is a Mecca for cross-country skiers and has twice hosted the Winter Olympics for the Nordic disciplines. Seefeld is also a member of the "Best of the Alps" group, making it one of the thirteen world-famous tourist destinations in Europe, along with Chamonix and Cortina d'Ampezzo, for example.
But despite all these superlatives, Seefeld is also wonderfully down-to-earth, family-friendly and a real summer adventure land. Still not convinced? How about this: Water sports enthusiasts can go stand-up paddling at Wildsee, which is practically in the middle of the village, and take a dip in the water at Möserer See, which is up to 25 degrees Celsius. The natural bathing lake is one of the warmest in Tyrol ... Wetterstein and Karwendel also offer a wide range of wonderful hikes and bike tours.
Climbing fun and action for the whole family
For families who love climbing, the focus is of course on the rocks! The Seefeld region is particularly famous for its top spot "Chinese Wall" and is a hotspot for the best of the best. But the region also has a heart for young climbers and climbing beginners. None other than the Scharnitz extreme climber Heinz Zak recently ensured perfect climbing fun to the latest standards with the general renovation of the "Sonnenplatten Scharnitz". A chill area and a slackline round off the family-friendly climbing garden perfectly.
The "Flämenwandl" is also tailored to children, beginners and families. Located directly on the Leutascher Ache, it is particularly ideal on hot summer days. If you're not climbing, you can cool off in the water of the Ache and later in the evening you can make a fire and barbecue on the stone bank.
The Sonnenplatten climbing garden offers a large number of routes at various levels of difficulty, photo: Heinz Zak
Sonnenplatten Scharnitz
Make your first climbing attempts in the "front garden" of climbing legend Heinz Zak and hit the ground running!
A good three years ago, Heinz Zak took the lead in the "Sonnenplatten renovation" project and expanded the climbing area to include a number of new routes. Zak was present at the opening, or rather reopening, of the climbing garden in autumn 2019 and explained how much heart and soul went into the Sonnenplatten, how much work and diligence was required and that he is now really happy when he watches the climbers from his balcony (which is in the immediate vicinity).
When renovating and developing routes, Zak attaches great importance to ensuring that, for example, the distances between bolts are moderate and the climbing lines are harmonious. He calls it "creating gentle entrances" - entrances from the hall to the rock. The extreme climber himself goes to the gym a lot to train and observes the new generation of climbers. And it is precisely for this new community, but also for kids and families, that he wants to make the jump to natural rock possible. This works with logical routes and hook spacing similar to those in the gym.
Safety is the top priority in the "Sonnenplatten Scharnitz" family climbing garden, as are beautiful lines that are also extremely rewarding in the lower levels of difficulty.
Heinz Zak himself is the biggest fan of Sonnenplatten Scharnitz, photo: Heinz Zak
Tip: Heinz Zak dedicated the route "Schatzi" (4a) to his wife Geli. The tour is as harmonious and loving as their relationship with each other ... very rewarding. His friend Peter Janschek helped him with the extensive renovation work. He has also dedicated one of his new routes to his wife, it is called "Sweety" - also very harmonious and loving ...
All information about the sectors and routes of the Sonnenplatten in Scharnitz.
Chilling out, romping around, slacking
In addition to climbing, being together with the family is what makes a day outdoors so special. Talking to each other, laughing, sleeping in the grass, counting cloud sheep - you can do it all on the wide meadow by the climbing garden. If you like, try your hand at slacklining or cool your arms in the water at the stone fountain. The water in the fountain is drinking water quality and tastes delicious.
A total of 60 routes offer plenty of fun for more than one day of climbing in the Sonnenplatten climbing garden. Scharnitz offers plenty of variety with its many hiking and mountain bike tours into the Karwendel. The Karwendel valley in particular is also ideal for families with children - many paths are wide and involve little ascent, but offer plenty of opportunities to swim in the fresh spring water of the still young Isar and Karwendelbach streams.
The still young Isar, photo: Susa Schreiner
Flämenwandl: wading, climbing and barbecuing in the stream
The second family climbing area in the Seefeld region, the Flämenwandl, is located in Leutasch, more precisely directly on the Leutascher Ache. Strange name for a Tyrolean climbing area? The Flämenwandl is dedicated to its developers: Flemish, i.e. Dutch-speaking Belgians from the Flanders region. The Belgians completed a route-building course and were determined to put what they had learned into practice straight away. The result was the Flämenwandl. The climbing area is north-facing, making it ideal for hot summer days. What's more, the Ache river is perfect for cooling off - although the water is not deep enough for swimming, it is perfect for an extensive exploration tour through the cool stream water.
A total of 23 routes are available - the easiest ones start at the third level of difficulty and are perfect for first attempts at rock climbing. A visit to the climbing garden becomes a real summer adventure day if you bring a few sausages in your cool bag and light a fire on the stone bank in the evening. Then the wood crackles, the sparks fly, the starry sky spreads out and turns into a balmy summer night. And when the smell of stick bread and grilled sausages fills the air, the day is perfect.
All information and routes to the Flämenwandl climbing garden.
Excursion to the Alpine metropolis of Innsbruck
Pubescent teenagers on board who have no desire to go on land? Tyrol's capital Innsbruck with its pretty pedestrian zone and café and bistro culture is only 20 kilometers away!
