Ecopointing in Austria

I’ve been to a few outdoor crags in Austria around Tirol, but always by car. This weekend, A visited from Berlin and since we didn’t have a car, we decided to use the train + bike, and I really enjoyed the whole experience so wanted to write about it here.

Ecopointing (or an ecopoint) is a sustainable climbing philosophy that involves reaching a crag or climbing destination using only “fair means”—specifically by public transit, bicycle, or by walking (Ecopoint Climbing)

There are resources and maps on the Ecopoint Climbing website, and there’s a nice free online booklet for Tirol (Klimafreundlich Klettern Zukunftsschmiede).

We went to Rammelstein in Ötztal which is a 40 min train + 20-30 min bike ride from Innsbruck. The crag was right beside the road where we could park our bikes, and had a range of routes from 5b to 7b+, all vertical, slightly overhanging or slightly slabby. I didn’t realise that I had already visited this crag around the same time last year (but had completely forgotten about it).

The bike route to the crag was super beautiful (along a nice river and mostly on a bike path). Would love to explore more crags with the train + bike.