Katrin Kletterhalle

A tall hall by the Katrin cable car

The Alpenverein's Salzkammergut section runs this hall in the Bett & Berg building beside the valley station of the Katrin cable car. The room has only 55 m² of floor but is 14.5 metres high, and its 340 m² wall holds about 55 sport routes from UIAA 4 to upper 8. Three TruBlue auto-belays let you climb without a partner, and dry-tooling holds let you practise with ice axes before the ice-climbing season. Since 2016 there has also been a 135-metre via ferrata that runs from the stairwell out onto the front of the building, with sections graded from A (very easy) to E (extremely hard); the section offers introductory evenings on it for groups of three or more by arrangement.

Visiting

The hall is open to everyone, members or not, every day of the year. It isn't staffed, so it runs on trust: on your first visit, fill in the registration form from the first drawer and post it in the letter box; sign the visitors' book every time; and pay by putting the fee and one half of a numbered ticket in a paper bag in the box, keeping the other half (and any card that gives you a discount) to show the inspectors. Tickets can also be bought in advance online, at the section office or at the Bad Ischl tourist office, and there's a combined ticket with the town's thermal baths. Climbing is at your own risk. There's a toilet and a shower, and paid parking.

Courses

The section runs beginner climbing courses, including ones for seniors.