Gallery Notes - Ötztal Alps
The Ötztal Alps is a beautiful and extensive range set in the Tirol in western Austria close to the borders with Italy and Switzerland. The range is centred around the head of the Ötztal and boasts the second and third highest peaks in the country: Wildspitze (3770m) and Weisskugel (3739m). We used as our climbing bases the superb huts owned and run by the OeAV and DAV, the Austrian and German Alpine Clubs, of which you will see Hochwildehaus, Ramolhaus, Vernagt Hütte, Brandenburger Haus and Breslauer Hütte.
Photography remains firmly etched in my mind as a morning and evening affair - so what's new? Alpenglow touching the summits with pink light in the dawn and dusk, with deep blue glaciers and beautiful shadows is the experience of the mountains. Climbing is almost a secondary partime, as it takes place largely in daylight hours; attention can be devoted to those technicalities at which I do not excel! But come evening time, the light show can commence, followed by magnificent Bersteigeressen and hospitality in the huts, whatever sleep can be had in the alpine air, and then another day of light and ice.
