The Gimpel is a peak in the

Tannheim Mountains The Tannheim Mountains Allgäu Alps The Allgäu Alps (german: Allgäuer Alpen) are a mountain range in the Northern Limestone Alps, located in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg in Germany and Tyrol and Vorarlberg in Austria. The range lies directly east of Lake Constance. Character ...

. It is 2,173 m high. The name is derived from the ''Gimpelalpe'' alp in der "hollow" (''Mulde'') (

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

''comba'' = English "coombe"). The Gimpel is made of

Wetterstein limestone The Wetterstein Formation is a regional geologic formation of the Northern Limestone Alps and Western Carpathians extending from southern Bavaria, Germany in the west, through northern Austria to northern Hungary and western Slovakia in the east. ...

Location

The

arête An arête ( ) is a narrow ridge of rock which separates two valleys. It is typically formed when two glaciers erode parallel U-shaped valleys. Arêtes can also form when two glacial cirques erode headwards towards one another, although frequen ...

of the ''Judenscharte'' links the Gimpel with the

Rote Flüh ''For the "Rote Flüh" feature on the North Face of the Eiger, see Eiger. '' The Rote Flüh is a peak in the Tannheim Mountains, a sub-range of the Allgäu Alps. It is 2,108 metres high. The Rote Flüh is built from Wetterstein limestone. It gets ...

; the Schäfer (2,060 m), also called the "Little Gimpel" (''kleiner Gimpel'') with the

Kellenspitze The Kellenspitze, often also called the ''Kellespitze'' or ''Köllenspitze'', at is the highest peak in the Tannheim Mountains. It lies in the Austrian state of Tyrol (state), Tyrol. Originally the mountain was known locally as the ''Metzenarsch ...

Alpinism

There are several climbing tours on the Gimpel, ranging from

alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National Pa ...

, classic routes like the West Arête (first climbed by J. Bachschmid and E. Christa in 1896,

UIAA grade In rock climbing, mountaineering, and other climbing disciplines, climbers give a grade to a climbing route or boulder problem, intended to describe concisely the difficulty and danger of climbing it. Different types of climbing (such as sport ...

III+) to the top-sport climb of ''Primavera'' (first ascended by Baldo Pazzaglia in 1992, UIAA grade IX−). Even the normal route up the South Face and the East Arête is only possible by negotiating grade II sections.Dieter Seibert:

Alpine Club Guide The ''Alpine Club Guides'' (german: Alpenvereinsführer, commonly shortened to ''AV Führer'' or ''AVF'') are the standard series of Alpine guides that cover all the important mountain groups in the Eastern Alps. They are produced jointly by the Ge ...

''alpin - Allgäuer Alpen und Ammergauer Alpen''. 17th edn.,

Bergverlag Rother Bergverlag Rother is a German publisher with its headquarters in Oberhaching, Upper Bavaria. Since 1950 the company, that formerly went under the name of ''Bergverlag Rudolf Rother'', has published the Alpine Club Guides in cooperation with the Ge ...

, Munich, 2008, , p. 242. In 1990 Toni Freudig discovered a

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

system in the South Face (the Gimpel Labyrinth). In 1999 the Gimpel was one of the first mountains in the

Allgäu The Allgäu (Standard German: , also Allgovia) is a region in Swabia in southern Germany. It covers the south of Bavarian Swabia, southeastern Baden-Württemberg, and parts of Austria. The region stretches from the pre-alpine lands up to the A ...

, whose most popular routes were fitted with

climbing bolt In rock climbing, a bolt is a permanent anchor fixed into a hole drilled in the rock as a form of protection. Most bolts are either self-anchoring expansion bolts or fixed in place with liquid resin. Description While bolts are commonplace in ...

s after a three people in a roped team from Oy/Mittelberg were killed on the neighbouring

when the rope broke causing the team to fall.

Huts

* Tannheimer Hut ( DAV) from

Nesselwängle Nesselwängle is a municipality in the district of Reutte in the Austrian state of Tyrol. Geography Nesselwängle lies at the entrance to the Tannheim Valley The Tannheimer Tal ("Tannheim valley") is a high valley, at an elevation of about 1, ...

* Gimpelhaus (private) from

Otto Mayr Hut Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', '' Odo'', ''Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded f ...

(DAV) or Füssener Hut (private) from

Musau Musau is a municipality in the district of Reutte in the Austrian state of Tyrol. Geography Musau lies north of Reutte in a basin where the Lech Lech may refer to: People * Lech (name), a name of Polish origin * Lech, the legendary founder of ...

* Schneetalalm (municipality of Weißenbach) from Höfen * Gimpelalm (municipality of Nesselwängle) – mountain rescue base

References

Literature

* Toni Freudig: ''Klettern auf der Tannheimer Sonnenseite.'' Pfronten. 1999, . * Achim Pasold: ''Kletterführer Allgäu.'' 6th edition, Panico Verlag, Köngen, 2010, . * Thomas Otto: ''Münchner Bergtouren.'' 1st edition, Bergverlag Rother, Munich, 2012, .

External links

{{Commons category, Gimpel (Mountain), Gimpel
Tourreport of the Schertelplatte

The Gimpel at myMountains.de with route information
Two-thousanders of Austria Mountains of Tyrol (state) Mountains of the Alps Allgäu Alps