Rock climbing around Salzburg and Central Austria

This area of Austria around Salzburg offers superb alpine style multi-pitch rock climbing. There are 1000’s of routes to climb with many of these between 200 and 400m long at places such as Chiemgauer Alpen, Berchtesgadener Alpen, Hochkönig Massif, Dachstein Massif, Lienz Dolomites, and Hohe Tauern that includes the Grosslocker (Großglockner) Mountain – Austria’s highest mountain. Generally these routes have good fixed protection such as bolts and pegs though additional trad gear (nuts and cams) are also required. 

There are 2 select guidebooks that cover the best of the alpine multi-pitch climbing around Salzburg. The best of Salzburger Band 1 guidebook covers the Chiemgauer Alpen, Berchtesgadener Alpen (Steinernes Meer, Reiteralpe, Untersberg, and Göllstock), Hochkönig, and Hohe Tauern. The best of Salzburger Band 2 guidebook covers Tennengebirge, Osterhorngruppe, Salzkammergutberge, and the west part of the Dachstein massif. Buy these guidebooks from our shop.

East Tyrol sees fewer climbers than other parts of Austria, partly due to the harder access to the mountain ranges. However for those who want to explore and get away from the crowds there are many climbing gems to be found in East Tyrol. The area is dominated by multi-pitch climbing in the limestone Lienz Dolomites, the chalky Carnic Alps, and the granite peaks of the Hohe Tauern Mountains. There are also numerous single pitch sport climbing crags and Via Ferratas in the area as well. The best multi-pitch routes, single pitch sport routes and Via Ferratas are described in the East Tyrol rock climbing guidebook that is available to buy from our shop.

Maltatal (Malta Valley) is a granite valley in the south of Austria near Villach. Here there is a mixture of sport climbing, alpine multi-pitch climbing and bouldering in a beautiful and picturesque setting. Maltatal offers nearly 20 sport climbing crags with 100’s of routes including many bolted multi-pitch routes. The mountains surrounding the valley reach heights of over 3,000m and provide great alpine style multi-pitch routes. The best bouldering in Maltatal is found at Schleierwasserfall, where there are many high quality boulder problems from 6a to 8b+.  Close by are Lake Millstatt and the Moll Valley where an additional 3 sport climbing areas can be found.  The Maltatal guidebook covers the sport climbing, alpine climbing and bouldering in Maltatal, Lake Millstatt and the Moll Valley that is available to buy from our shop.

There are many single pitch sport climbing areas near Salzburg. Schleierwasserfall near Kufstein in the Wilder Kaiser is considered the best limestone crag in the whole of Austria. In the eastern Tyrol there are a couple of limestone sport climbing areas near the city of Lienz.  Falkenstein is a place that requires endurance, whilst Dolomitenhutte demands a good technique.  These crags are covered in the Sport Climbing in Tirol guidebook that covers 92 separate crags and over 4,500 routes.

The Alpen en Bloc 2 guidebook covers the best of the bouldering found in Austria, including Maltatal, Attersee near Gmunden, and 3 areas near Wien. Buy the Alpen en Bloc 2 guidebook from our shop.