Wasserfall Klettersteig (Muttekopfhütte, Imst)

With the Leite via ferrata done and the sun, against all expectations, still shining brightly, we headed to Imst for another short via ferrata. Imst also has the longest 'alpine coaster' in the world. So we thought: let's give the inner child in us a treat, and combine the via ferrata with a ride on the coaster.

 

Things already went wrong before we even arrived at the ski lift in Hoch Imst. The main road through Imst town centre was closed, and no detour whatsoever was indicated. After going around in circles twice, we erroneously drove halfway up Hahntenjoch because "well, it must be up here then". When we finally arrived at Hoch Imst, the car park was in chaos, with illegally parked cars turning one way streets into dead end traps. So it was with quite some delay that we finally rode the two ski lifts up to the Alpjoch.

 

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From the Alpjoch, you can reach the Muttekopfhütte in about 30 minutes following the spectacular Drischlsteig path (T3). You need a head for heights as there are some steep drops right next to the path. However, the path is well constructed. Only in wet conditions, it would get precarious.

 

The waterfall via ferrata is impossible to miss, immediately to the left of the Drischlsteig, just before you reach the Muttekopfhütte. It only takes a about 20 minutes to complete the via ferrata. The more difficult sections (grade C) are all traverses, where comfortable footholds are not always available, so you are hanging from the cable by your arms a number of times. There is also a short (solidly constructed) bridge across the small waterfall. After completing the via ferrata, a path takes you directly to the Muttekopfhütte, where you are likely to spend more time relaxing on the terrace than you did climbing the via ferrata.

 

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We hiked back across the Drischlsteig and took the ski lift down to the middle station, which is also the start of the alpine coaster. There is a system with numbered tickets ("start numbers") for the coaster. We got numbers 759 and 760. The current number was 444. We counted about 4 people starting per minute. It doesn't take a maths genius to work out that that's a very long wait... On top of that, for some unknown reason (technical problem?) the queue stopped moving completely for at least 10 minutes. We uttered some four letter words and just took the cable car all the way back down. It's nice around the Muttekopfhütte, but otherwise the whole Imst area left a rather bad impression on us.

 

The waterfall via ferrata is too short to be an attraction on its own, but the Drischlsteig approach and the Muttekopfhütte add to the adventure. Ideally, you'd spend at least a full day around here, doing a longer hike or the Imster Klettersteig, a via ferrata onto the Maldonkopf (2632m, D/E). I'll have to come back for that...