"The Wilder Kaiser is perhaps the best known and most visited high mountain range in the Alps today. It owes this advantage to its wild beauty, its wealth of magnificent climbs and its favorable location. It has been compared to the Dolomites of South Tyrol. In some respects this may be true; it offers more to the eye and mind." So wrote Georg Leuchs in 1911 in his guide to the Kaiser Mountains. Header image: The Kopftörlgrat ridge on the Ellmauer Halt is considered one of the most famous crossings in the Eastern Alps. Gebi Bendler and Iris Krafka enjoy the magnificent climb in imperial weather.
Today,it is no longer the most visited mountain range in the Alps. We humans have become too mobile for that. But back then, when the railroad was still the first choice of transport, there was no faster way to reach the crag just outside Munich. Incidentally, Leuchs also came from Munich. The physician left his mark on the Wilder Kaiser. Even a summit - the Leuchsturm - bears his name. He climbed countless walls and routes for the first time around 1900. The most famous of these is undoubtedly the Kopftörlgrat. This varied scramble in the lower fourth degree of difficulty is considered the most famous ridge crossing in the entire Northern Limestone Alps alongside the Jubiläumsgrat on the Zugspitze. The route leads over six towers to the highest peak in the mountain range, the Ellmauer Halt. The route presents itself like the structure of a classic drama: exposition, build-up, climax.
It starts with a bizarre rock formation, a tower split in a straight line as if with an axe, through whose narrow crevasse the path leads to the start. The route then warms up in easy but very exposed scree terrain, until each successive and constantly higher tower presents even greater difficulties. In a dramatic crescendo, the sounds get louder and louder towards the climax, and Iris also puffs the loudest in the last chimney to the summit. Not just because she has already covered 1,400 meters of climbing, but because the key section lurks there in the nasty finale.
It's about to get easier. Christian "Hechei" Hechenberger is looking for a way out of the challenging slab armor of the "Sportherz" route on the Vordere Karlspitze. The crux of the eighth degree is behind him.
Shadow on the Wall. Local hero Christoph Widauer leads the 6th pitch (7+) of "Sportherz". This sport climbing classic was drilled from the top in 1985, which led to heavy criticism at the time. The general opinion was that an alpine tour had to be first ascended from below.
"It's not bad that Dr. Leuchs climbed up here single-handedly back in 1900," says Iris appreciatively. This is the young Allgäu woman's first time in the Wilder Kaiser and she is therefore traveling with a local mountain guide. Finding the way through the labyrinth of chimneys, slabs and towers is anything but trivial. There are hardly any pitons to show the way. Aspirants usually have to make their own belays. In contrast to the rather easy climbing difficulties, the crux of the tour lies in this and in its length. Time and again, mountain rescuers have to be called out in summer to rescue climbers who underestimate the ridge. "Guided, however, the whole thing is a wonderful pleasure. There is also time to look for historical traces. Because history was written here in the Kaiser, I read on Wikipedia," explains Iris. In fact, the Wilder Kaiser, which stretches a modest 20 kilometers in an east-west direction, is a comparatively small mountain range. But when it comes to climbing history, it's a big one: nowhere else have such large chapters of Alpine history been written in such a small space as here.
The "Koasa", as the mountain range is affectionately called by the locals with a throaty Tyrolean "ck", is a history book of alpinism, and a big one at that.
This is where the big names in climbing compared themselves and immortalized themselves in the sporting competition: Tita Piaz, Hans Fiechtl, Hans Dülfer and Paul Preuss set new standards and revolutionized the sport even before the First World War. Right here and nowhere else. It was not for nothing that the area was referred to as the "German university" of climbing. In this laboratory of mountaineering, they found the ideal conditions for their experiments. Otto Herzog, for example, tried out a carabiner as a belay device for the first time ever on the Fleischbank east face. Hans Dülfer perfected the "Dülfersitz", an abseiling technique named after him, which remained state of the art until the 1960s. And the first bolts in the Alps? Where were they first used? Or the world's first climbing route rated 7? Where can it be found? And where did Stefan Glowacz open the route "The Emperor's New Clothes" in 1993, the most difficult alpine sport climb in the world at the time? The quiz isn't that difficult, is it?
Steep enough. "Hechei" in the 8-rated crux of the "Sportherz". After the renovation, the route is well secured with pitons in the difficult sections. In the easier passages, however, skillful use of mobile belay devices is required.
Rich in contrasts
Iris has made it. Her gaze glides southwards from the 2,344 m high summit of Halt: "This contrast is simply wonderful. Here, the daunting yet attractive spikes and pinnacles, an eerily beautiful rocky desert. And over there, the gentle hills of the Kitzbühel Alps with their lush green alpine meadows. A wonderful field of tension!" she comments. The "Koasa" is full of contrasts. It starts with the rock structure: here a closed slab, there an open crack. Here a forbidding chimney, there an inviting ridge. Like in hardly any other area, tradition and modernity meet in Koasa without forming a contradiction. There is something for everyone.
If you want to visit gently restored historical climbing monuments by Dülfer, Buhl, Rebitsch and co., you can enjoy one of the numerous classics in "Koasa". The highest density of classics in Tyrol, if not the world, is guaranteed here! The rusty pitons have been replaced by safe bolts at the belays and at critical points. In between, however, independent protection is desired and required. For those who prefer something less nostalgic, the Schneekar, the Leuchsturm or the Karlspitze offer countless, well-secured modern alpine sport climbs on the finest rock. And new ones are added every year.
Scary. Simon Berger is the first to free climb the heavily overhanging and brittle key pitch of the south pillar (9-). In 1963, in the age of technical climbing, Seppi Spöck and Jürgen Vogt opened this futuristic route, which climbs straight up the pillar in the line of the falling drop.
The difficulty level table is more contrasting than anywhere else in Tyrol. In the "Koasa", the most beautiful and easiest ridges in Tyrol (known as "Kaiser hoch 6") can be found alongside the most difficult alpine sport climbs in Tyrol. From UIAA 2 to UIAA 11- everything is represented - another unique selling point that speaks for the area. Back in the valley, Iris turns her now proud gaze upwards. Her hand is no longer gripping a warm Kaiserfels, but an ice-cold Kaiserbier. The Kopftörlgrat is silhouetted in the sunset. "Any metropolis would envy Ellmau for this natural skyline," she remarks with a grin. "Here's to Dr. Leuchs! Cheers!"
What a pillar. Climbing history was written on the Maukspitze in the Ostkaiser. Hermann Buhl made the first ascent of the west face in 1943. The original Buhl traverse was only repeated in 2011. Christian "Hechei" Hechenberger was also involved in this repetition, and together with Simon Berger, he inspected the pillar. This time, however, the two want to tackle another adventure steeped in history: the south pillar.
A living history lesson. The original material used by the first climbers in the 1960s can still be found on the route. The wooden wedges have since been supplemented with friends.
However, repeaters still have to relyon the many rusty pitons in the route. There are not many bolts in the tour.
LIMIT #2: Alpine climbing in Tyrol - the hot-off-the-press issue!
In this issue, we have dedicated ourselves entirely to alpine climbing in Tyrol. On 136 pages, we present the impressive vertical diversity of Tyrol. With exciting stories from 15 climbing spots that offer a deep insight into the history of alpine climbing in Tyrol.
Tour and topo Kopftörlgrat Tour and topo "Sportherz"/ Vordere Karlspitz east face Tour and topo "Südpfeiler"/ Maukspitze All climbing opportunities in the Wilder Kaiser region All articles about climbing in the Wilder Kaiser region
