We had a bit of everything today and must have changed our plans at least ten times to fit around the various 'conditions' of the day. It all worked out brilliantly in the end though.
Believe it or not, when we wok up in the morning, it was raining and the valley was full of clouds! This photo was taken at lunch time, by which time things had picked up considerably!
'Plan A' had been an alpine ridge scramble, but during some evening research the night before, I found that the valley we'd need to descend into has been closed as a dam and reservoir are being built! (Note to all - Avoid the North Ridge of Zwolferkogel until at least 2026!). The nearby via ferrata (Kletterstieg), was also out due to the rain and the fact that it was north facing. We'd opted on doing a circular hike from the highest ski area in Austria (Kuhtai), but when we woke to see the weather, soon changed our minds and rolled over for some extra sleep! The nearby Klettersteig that goes up the side of Stuibenfalls (and enormous waterfall - the highest in Tirol), was decided upon as our activity for the day, but after hiking a nice trail from the house, we arrived to find it mobbed with people! Turns out it's a huge tourist attraction - we turned around and walked home again! (via a nice picnic on a swingseat - see photo above).
After a quick re-pack, we drove 5minutes down the valley to Tumpen and had an afternoon of rock climbing, where we got on much better than our previous visit, now that we are a bit more used to the rock type.
The weather had gone from misty and a bit nippy, to scorching hot, so after a couple (of really great) climbs, which had us working hard to stay attached to the rock, we returned to the village of Umhausen and went for ice creams! One the day had started to cool down, we returned back to the base of the waterfalls, to find that almost everyone had gone home - perfect for an evening trip up the route!
Once off the footpath, the kletterstieg begins with wire bridge to get onto the far side of the waterfalls. A short hike though the forest follows, then the good stuff begins...
The route is really well equipped and as long as you're okay with the exposure of being up high, it's a really fun way to get to the top of the falls.
There are solid wires all the way and plenty of stemples to stand on if needed.
Having seen a queue of probably a hundred people shuffling slowly up the route during the day, it was sheer delight for us to have the entire climb to ourselves in the warmth of the evening sun!
We set off from the car park at 18:00 and were back again at 20:00. It would have taken hours and hours earlier in the day, so we were very glad of our decision to walk away earlier, even if it felt a bit frustrating at the time.
As you get to the top of the route, the final section climbs by the side of the waterfall.
You could really feel the power of the water!
The final section crossed a wire right over the top of the waterfall! With all the recent rains, I got a bit wet as I scurried across from the spray!
There was also some cool geological features, like this natural rock arch the the water went under.
And an siphon too!
The walk down was just as impressive...
There is an extraordinary bridge and walkway that has been built alongside it.
This looking back up! We climbed the left side of the falls, traversed a wire bridge over the top narrows and then came down the walk way. A great circuit!
From the bottom, we raced into the village and made it to the cafe in time to order celebratory burger and beer to make a fabulous end to an all action day!
Tumpen Climbs:
- Garfield, 6a***
- Summerdream, 5a*
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