Gesäuse

The most imposing part of the Ennstal Alps is the Gesäuse, among the wildest mountain groups in the Alps and with one of their grandest defiles. Here the raging waters of the Enns have carved a gorge 15km/9mi long through the mighty limestone massif between Admont and Hieflau - an unforgettable spectacle, both for travelers who look up to the fearsome rock walls of the gorge from their train or car and for climbers seeking a way up the face. In the south of the Gesäuse the Johnsbachtal divides the mountains into two; the western group is dominated by the rugged peaks of the Admonter-Reichenstein (2,247m/7,372ft) and the Kalbling (2,207m/7,243ft), and the eastern by the Hochtor chain (Hochtor 2,372m/7,783ft) and the Planspitze (2,120m/7,083ft). A further mountain for climbers is the massive Grosser Ödstein (2,55m/7,727ft), which then falls sheer down to the gorge in a long north face up to 1,000m/3,300ft high. On the north bank rises the Grosse Buchstein (2,223m/7,294ft) and the gentler Tamischbachturm (2,034m/6,674ft). The ascent of all these peaks calls for fitness, experience and sure- footedness, and the more difficult faces are for tried and tested rock climbers only. In the middle of the almost uninhabited Gesäuse lies the village of Gstatterboden; near Hieflau there is a dam across the Enns and a hydro-electric power station.