Austria and Italy Climbing Recommendations October

Hello All,

I’ll be traveling to Trento, Italy for work in early October for a week and then I was going to take the following week off, meet up with my wife to adventure, sight see, and rock climb. So far the plan is to meet up in Innsbruck, Austria and then take a train into Bolzano, Italy possibly rent a car and go to Arco for some sport climbing.

I’m new to international travel and can’t help to think there could be something obvious I’m missing or places we’re over looking. I’m thinking I’ll pack a rack of sport draws and get a rope once I’m out there. I feel pretty comfortable in the states sport climbing any where from 7a to 7c(5.12- to 12+) and my wife climbs about 6c to 7a(5.11- to 5.11+).

Would you all have any suggestions or recommendations of places to sport climb or places to travel to this time of year? Once we meet up in Innsbruck we could really go anywhere and I think that’s what is kind of making this all a bit overwhelming!

Thanks again for your help and suggestions!

-R

Not sure why if you are in Trento and wanting to climb in Arco you are going to meet in Innsbruck then take the train to Bolzono? Lots of back and forth. Not sure where the wife is flying into but if into Innsbruck have her arrive a few days before your business is over and take the train to Trento. She can recover while you work. Then rent a car and go from there. If you want to see Innsbruck do it on the way home. 

From Trento/Bolzono you are less than a couple of hours from the heart of the Dolomites. That time of year could be spectacular without many tourists. Great hiking/climbing (ferratas are great way to combine both). My suggestion would be plan half your week in Arco and if the weather is good half your week in the Dolomites (Fassa Valley has great options to be based from).

I'd probably take a look at the weather forecast and have some options.  Can be cold up high (and wet) in mid October.  A lot of lodging in the Dolomites close in October and don't re-open until ski season.  Especially the more affordable mom-and-pop places and the refugios.

Arco is great.  Can't go wrong there.

Near Innsbruck, the Otztal has a bunch of climbing options but it can be chilly in October.  Nearer to Vienna is Peilstein and its lower in elevation and has some sunny aspects.  Bit of a drive from Innsbruck though.  In autumn, the wine taverns (heuriger) get going in Austria especially near Vienna.  Pretty fun and a nice way to round out a day out climbing.

Not a super long drive to Finale Ligure from Arco if the weather is bad.

Could head east too if the weather supported it.  Trieste and Osp area in Slovenia.  Gobs of routes.

Cheers!

there is endless cragging between innsbruck and arco, plus tons of crags with thousands of routes in the greater arco area.  arco has half a dozen stellar climbing shops that have amazing (low) prices, especially on ropes.  we're there in early/mid-oct (2022) and it was actually quite warm, but there are many options in terms of higher/lower crags and aspects.

if you only have a week, time will be the most limiting factor.  weather and temps will dictate the rest.  having a small rental car would be quite helpful in terms of flexibility.

get your hands on the 'arco rock' (5th ed, april 2022) and 'sportklettern in suedtirol' (avs, 2nd ed, 2018) guidebooks and start dreaming.    

Realized I never chimed in to say thanks! I really appreciate everyone’s input!

All the best,

-R

At those grades you've got some amazing multipitch options too, which I'd highly recommend given that you're in a major hotspot for limestone multipitch sport climbing. https://www.bergsteigen.com/touren/klettern/ has a decent sample of multipitch routes in the area (filterable by grade/length/area/etc). The site uses UIAA grades which roughly map 6=10a,7=10d,8=11d,9=12d. 

Also, it's probably worth paying for the monthly 'outdoor' subscription in the VerticalLife app, which gives you access to all its digital guidebooks (which include digital versions of all the major guidebooks in the Arco/Innsbruck area). They make it easy to cancel at the end of the month too, so unless you want to keep the guides for reminiscing purposes it makes way more sense to just spend $6 on the app subscription instead of $60+ on a couple guidebooks. I'm kind of stupefied at how good of a value it was.

I am guessing that the Dolomites will be pretty chilly in mid October. You will also need a small rack generally. Arco is very close to Trento and has many climbing shops if you plan on buying gear. As for Slovenia, Osp is not far either and is spectacular at 7a and higher. October should be perfect for both Arco and Osp.