Rock marathon through the Loferer Steinberge

The longest wall in the Wilder Kaiser? Kleine Halt north-west face, 1000 meters of climbing on 24 pitches ("Via Aqua"). The "Freier than Paul Preuß" on the Hochkönig? 1150 meters of climbing, 28 pitches. The famous "Don Quixotte" on the epic south face of the Marmolada? 800 meters, 20 pitches. And what do the Loferer Steinberge have to offer? On the Breithorn north-east face: 1600 meters of climbing, 38 pitches. Well boom.

"EndeNie" - the multi-pitch route in the Loferer Steinberge

Thirty-eight pitches. Or rather: 38 pitches with bolts in the Steinberge mountain sports region! A tour like this is unparalleled in the Northern Limestone Alps, which is why the name could hardly be more fitting: "EndeNie". Nomen est omen, but anyone standing under this wall will probably say: Amen.

While the compact, seven-kilometre-long limestone walls of the Loferer Steinplatte bask in the sun in the east of the Strubtal valley, the scenery in the west is completely different: The northern slopes of the Loferer Steinberge are high, alpine and shady. Local hero and developer of the EndeNie, Adi Stocker, describes the wall with the following words: "It seems as if the builder of these mountains wanted to make it easier for us to reach the summit by building a giant staircase." In other words: the whole mountain seems to consist of cross bands, it is layered towards the sky, or in Adi's words: the geological peculiarities prevent "a desirable wall formation for the extreme climber." But that doesn't mean that there isn't still bombastic rock en masse here, it's just structured differently.

Facts about the "EndeNie" tour

If you have the EndeNie in the Loferer Steinberge on your ticklist, you should get up early. And make sure you catch one of the rare long summer days without thunderstorms. 1.5 h ascent, 8 to 10 h climbing, 3.5 h descent, that adds up to a good 14 hours.

A full day, you could say, especially because the more difficult pitches (up to 7-) are in the upper third, where the Steinberge splits up well again, the so-called "Loferer Bauch" sends its regards. The redpoint aspirant will look forward to pitch no. 37, which, as the topo puts it, is "first over an overhang, then a difficult wall section". And after 1550 meters of climbing, very few people will be quite so dewy-eyed.

The summit happiness of the Loferer Steinberge

But once you've mastered the route, it's called EndeBald instead of EndeNie, and with the fabulous panoramic view from the summit, you have one of the longest continuously bolted alpine climbing routes in the Northern Limestone Alps in your pocket. Provided you have made it to the top in daylight. As you're likely to be hungry and thirsty by then, the Schmidt-Zabierow Hut conveniently awaits you on the descent with refreshments and a much-anticipated bed camp.

And if the high pressure area still lingers in the area the next day, you can switch from the marathon to the sprint distance and thus also the valley side: A seemingly endless selection of brilliant sport climbing routes awaits on the Loferer Steinplatte. Certainly without cross bands.

The tour data at a glance

EndeNie (7-), Loferer Steinberge, Tyrol

1600 meters of climbing, 38 pitchesFirst ascent: A. Stocker, J. Simair and companions (August 2001)Difficulty: 7- (individual sections), often 5+ and 6Protection: With bolts throughout (80 bolts, 118 intermediate protection points)Best time of year: July to October

Literature on long tours

For those who like to run climbing marathons, Adi Stocker's selection guide of the really big climbs in the Northern Limestone Alps is highly recommended: Longlines, Panico Alpinverlag, 1st edition 2014, 224 pages, 195 x 297 mm, hardcover.

For the tours on the brilliant limestone reef of the Steinplatte, there's the brand new Steinplatte Alpine Climbing Guide with Wiesloch, Wemeteigen, Sonnwandl, Loferer Alm and climbing gardens - the full program. Published by Panico Alpinverlag, 3rd edition 2019, more than 370 pages.