Daniele, Katerina, Chris, Julia, and I headed off to Götzis in search of the elusive Via Örfla klettersteig. Daniele and Katerina had looked for it before but had not found it so this time they brought reinforcements, extra pairs of eyes.
The route starts at the swimming pool in Götzis and follows a river along a marked track for some time. It then takes a left and continues up the river in the Örflaschlucht. This is a nice ravine with high cliff walls. Walking up this river feels like you have landed in the jungle somewhere in Asia. It feels remote. The track is marked occasionally with rock piles. We found the start of the klettersteig after maybe 45 minutes walking on the true left of the river.
The klettersteig is not too difficult. It feels like a B/C route. It crosses the river again and the scenery is really nice. A sharp climb with views back down into the ravine. A little more walking and you come to the end… Except you haven’t… There’s a small section of walking before you get to the last section which is more like a D and ascends directly out of the ravine (you’ve already done a good part of the climbing).
It’s a sustained few minutes of climbing and you are finished. There’s then a nice walk back down which drops back into the ravine lower down and then leads back out the way you came to where you started.
Very nice.
Above: A map of the area (Kompass Wanderkarte)