Geierwand, Haiming · Inntal (Haiming Geierwand) · Austria
Bail with caveatsBolting confidence: high
The longest route on the Geierwand and its most popular easy outing: rough slabs low down, a walk across the big ledge, then steeper, pocketed and more exposed climbing above. The crux is a short traverse to the belay on pitch 10. The last two pitches are scrambling over loose ground.
The route
Alhambra runs the full height of the Geierwand in twelve pitches, immediately left of the Klettersteig. The lower half is easy-angled rough slab at 5a to 5b with one vegetated pitch, the big ledge is crossed on foot, and the upper half steepens through pocketed walls to a short 6a+ traverse on pitch 10. Most of the route is no harder than 5c and the hard move is well bolted. The rock is good where it is clean but not solid everywhere, and the final two pitches are a scramble through rubble to the top. You walk down.
The climbing
| Pitch | Grade | Length | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| P1 | 5a | 40 m | Rough slab trending slightly left. camptocamp gives 35 m; the 2025 party found 5b. |
| P2 | 5b | 37 m | More slab, again trending slightly left. camptocamp gives 35 m. |
| P3 | 3a | 45 m | An easy, vegetated pitch where stones are easily dislodged. camptocamp gives III and 40 m. |
| P4 | 5a | 30 m | Starts leftwards in a scoop, athletic for a few moves. bergsteigen.com shows pleasant slabs here. |
| P5 | 4c | 30 m | Easier climbing to the big central ledge. camptocamp gives 4b and 25 m. |
| P6 | 1 | 50 m | Walk across the ledge, trending slightly left. The first half is very unstable ground. A metal plate marked 'Alhambra' shows where the upper part starts. |
| P7 | 6a | 35 m | A long pitch climbing well to the left with the difficulty at the exit. A bergsteigen.com caption says the start is easy but brittle with wide bolt spacing. camptocamp gives 5c and 40 m. |
| P8 | 5a+ | 30 m | Easier, with one move below the belay. bergsteigen.com shows a fine slab below an overhang in this part of the route. |
| P9 | 5c | 23 m | A hard start traversing left, which the 2025 party thought a solid 6a, then very easy ground to a belay that is not linked. |
| P10 | 6a+ | 35 m | The key pitch: a fine pillar with a crack line and a ramp, then a short hard traverse to the belay (UIAA 6/6+). Very well bolted. Climbers Paradise gives no grade for this pitch; camptocamp gives 6a+ and 25 m. |
| P11 | 3 | 25 m | First exit pitch (III). The second half is unstable, with a lot of rubble. Belay on a sling out on the right. |
| P12 | 1 | 50 m | Scrambling over loose 'chamois terrain' with a few trees for protection. Final belay on a solid tree. camptocamp gives 60 m. |
Getting there
Haiming lies in the Inn valley at the mouth of the Ötztal in Tyrol. Leave the A12 at Mötz or Ötztal, drive into Haiming and follow the 'Rafting-Center' signs. Turn right straight after the bridge over the Inn and continue past the rafting centre to the car park with the large Klettersteig board, at about 660 m. By public transport take the train to Haiming and a bus to the Innbrücke stop.
15 to 20 min. From the car park follow the Klettersteig signs towards the motorway and cross it. On the far side go a few steps left along the track to a rockfall net, then take the path uphill to the rock. At the top of the path go all the way right to the Klettersteig; Alhambra starts just left of it and is named on a metal plate. You can also reach the start by the lowest section of the Klettersteig or by the route Turmfalke (5).
Loading map
The point marks the base of the route.
Parking
Car park after the rafting centre, Haiming (bergsteigen.com marker 'Parkplatz')
Point from bergsteigen.com map marker 'Einstieg'; camptocamp crag waypoint 1793379 is the same point
Contains the route point and parking. Opens in most mapping apps and GPS watches.
Points are compiled from published sources, with the precision stated above. They were not surveyed on the ground: check them against a current topo.
Coordinates: 47.26250, 10.87820 (route base) · Parking: 47.26020, 10.87830
Getting down
About 1 h on foot. From the top head for two twin pines, then follow a faint, sparsely marked track up and left for about 100 m, keeping left at the rock band, to a small plateau with a barbecue spot. Take the marked path east (right) down to the Klettersteig descent trail, which becomes wide and waymarked, and follow it to the foot of the wall and back right to the car park. Alternative: abseil after pitch 10 down the Sunset Boulevard abseil line to the big ledge, follow path traces along the ledge to a second abseil line (for example Nebraska) and abseil to the ground.
Retreat
Bail with caveats
You can retreat from the top of pitch 10 by the abseil line of Sunset Boulevard to the big ledge, then walk along the ledge to a second abseil line such as Nebraska's and continue to the ground. Lower down, the big ledge after pitch 5 is the natural place to stop, and shorter routes that end there are normally abseiled. Abseil lengths are not published in the free sources.
Partly inferred from the route facts
Safety
Sun and weather
South facing, with the base at about 740 m and the top of the wall at about 1050 m. bergsteigen.com shows a season from March to November and Climbers Paradise calls the wall climbable almost all year, but both warn that it is very hot in summer. Spring and autumn are the best times. The route is in full sun; a party in July 2025 found it hot but bearable and took seven hours car to car.
Sun on the wall · S-facing
Working out the sunlit hours for this month.
Sun on the wallDaylight, wall in shade● Usual season
Estimated from the wall's aspect only. Ignores surrounding terrain, gullies and the wall's exact shape. Clock times are local to the wall (Central European time), for the 15th of each month.
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar (usual season) | Apr (usual season) | May (usual season) | Jun (usual season) | Jul | Aug | Sep (usual season) | Oct (usual season) | Nov (usual season) | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean daily high °C | 3 | 5 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 21 | 22 | 22 | 19 | 15 | 9 | 4 |
| Mean daily low °C | −7 | −5 | −1 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 9 | 5 | −1 | −5 |
| Rain days 1 mm or more | 12 | 12 | 15 | 16 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 19 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 13 |
● marks the usual climbing season. Averages for 1991-2020 at about 723 m. Area climate from Open-Meteo reanalysis. Temperatures are adjusted to the height of the crag; rain comes from a grid cell of about 10 to 25 km, and summer highs on sea cliffs can read a few degrees low. The wall and valley can differ. Data: Open-Meteo, CC BY 4.0.
What to carry
12 quickdraws (Climbers Paradise says 15), helmet, and either 2×60 m ropes or a single 70 m; camptocamp suggests 100 m of rope in total, that is 2×50 m. No nuts or cams are listed by any source.
Derived from the route data; check it against a current topo
From climbers
Reader reports are not being collected yet. Until they are, check a current topo and the local club or guidebook publisher for recent changes to Alhambra.
Worth knowing
Open questions
Provenance
Same area
Austria · Inntal (Haiming Geierwand)
Billed as probably the best mid-grade multipitch at the Geierwand (UIAA 6/6+, 5 obligatory). It starts with steep, juggy climbing, and the upper pitches are rough pocketed slabs. It can be combined with Alhambra's upper pitches.
6a+12 pitches345 m
Austria · Inntal (Haiming Geierwand)
bergsteigen.com calls this the best route on the Geierwand: steep, almost always vertical pocket climbing on the left side of the wall. The hardest move comes on pitch 2, but the upper half stacks several 6b pitches one after another and tires the forearms. Recommended to climbers who are comfortable at 6b.
6b+13 pitches355 m
Austria · Inntal (Haiming Geierwand)
One of the longer and more popular lines on the Geierwand, at much the same grade as Alhambra but with rather better climbing. Well-featured slabs lead to the big ledge; above it the route continues to mid-height in the upper wall, where a few pitches are brittle but closely bolted. It ends in the middle of the wall and you abseil.
6a+10 pitches261 m
Austria · Inntal (Haiming Geierwand)
A two-part combination: the four-pitch Geierwandführe as a warm-up to the big ledge, then five pitches of Im Auge des Geiers straight up the central 'eye' of the upper wall on pocketed, slightly overhanging rock with fine slabs to finish. Sustained at 6b in the upper part, but a little less demanding than Nebraska.
6b+9 pitches230 m
Around 6a+ · about 12 pitches
Italy · Valle dell'Orco
A rare fully bolted slab line on the Sergent, the home of Orco trad. It's mostly easy-angled granite slabs with a vertical corner on P3 and an overhanging start to the final 6a+ pitch (5c obligatory, A0 possible).
6a+12 pitches350 m
Spain · Aragonese Pyrenees (Tena & Canfranc valleys)
A 450 m granite spur above the lake at Baños de Panticosa, the opener's answer to anyone wanting a long, easy, bolted mountain route. Most of it is 4c to 5a on slabs, steps and short walls, with isolated moves of 5c to 6a+ that all have a cord on the bolt. Not steep or sustained, but a full day out that ends five minutes from the Ordicuso lakes.
6a+11 pitches450 m
Italy · Aosta Valley
Rated 'great' on camptocamp: a wild setting with a short, easy approach from Lavachey. It climbs edgy granite slabs and a pillar crest, with a three-star exposed slab on P9.
6a+11 pitches350 m
France · Dévoluy
Also known as Gic'N'Roll. A long, varied line up the south-west face of Pic Crillon, with the whole Dévoluy as a backdrop: flint-studded walls, a chimney, a fine layback corner and an airy spur, linked by easier and sometimes grassy pitches. By the easier variants it is a steady 5c outing; the original lines on pitches 6 and 10 add two 6a+ sections. You can walk off after pitch 8.
6a+11 pitches220 m
Read the cautions
Compiled from published sources and last verified October 2026. Bolts, anchors and access change. Climbing is dangerous and you are responsible for your own decisions: check a current topo and read the disclaimer.