The "Rote Flueh" or (in german) "Rote Flüh" is a very popular and well known summit in the Tannheim mountains (Tannheimer Berge), between Hindelang in the West and Reutte in the East.
It's very popular both by hikers and climbers.
The traverse of the summit by a demanding Grade I hiking trail is very popular by experienced hikers and offers great sights.
Climbers love the easy access to more than 50 climbing routes on the south face which offer the possibility to climb almost the whole year round!
In late spring and early fall the Rote Flueh looks like an ant-stack with some hundred ascents per day.
Because the rock is not always solid but in some routes quite fragile and there are almost always other teams in the routes it is recommended to always wear a helmet!

Getting there

From the North/Germany:
By car, take the German motorway A7, exit "Oy/Mittelberg". Turn right onto road B310 to Hindelang until Oberjoch (about 20 km), turn left (direction "Tannheimer Tal). On this road straigt on (about 15 km), until 1 km after Haldensee. There on the left side is the big parking site of the "Gimpelhaus".

From the South/Austria:
Take road 314 over "Fernpaß" to "Reutte". In "Reutte" take road 198, direction "Tannheimer Tal". After 10 km, in "Weissenbach", turn right and drive over "Gaichtpaß" to "Nesselwaengle". Short after "Nesselwaengle" there is on the right side the big parking site of the "Gimpelhaus".

From the parking site take the hiking trail to the Gimpelhaus (1 1/2 hrs). From there it's about 30 to 45 minutes to the beginning of the routes.

Red Tape

No restrictions.

When to climb

Climbing on the south face routes is possible the whole year round.
Best time is late spring, shady summer days and early fall.
On hot summer days the south face is almost too hot to climb.

Climbing on sunny winter days is possible and it's the only possibility to have the south face for your own. But you have to be careful with the descent! The normal route down could be snowy and icy until late in spring!

Camping

There are three possibilities to stay overnight:

The "Gimpelhaus" (1659 m) is a big private hut (some people also say it is a "mountain hotel" :-) some 30 minutes from the beginning of the south face routes. It's open from May 1st to the beginning of November and offers 300 places.
The hut is 8 Euros per night, breakfast 7 Euros, half pension 25 Euros. The prices are moderate, the meals are average quality. You are allowed to have your own food, but not to cook or boil. You get hot water for tea.
Tel.: 0043/5675/8251
E-Mail: gimpelhaus@aon.at

The "Tannheimer Hütte" (1760 m) is a small, cosy and comfortable hut of the DAV (German Alpine Club). It's a little further from the Rote Flueh routes than the "Gimpelhaus". It's open from the beginning of May to the end of October and offers 22 places but no food.
But because of its smallness most times it's fully occupied by

youth groups or leader teams.
Tel.: 0043/676/3423239

I think camping is not really forbidden, but at the times when the "Gimpelhaus" is open, it's not really comfortable to camp near the hiking trails where hundreds of people go by. So you better build your tent after sunset and put it down before 6 a.m..

When the hut is closed, nobody will ask at all. But you have to take care of avalanches.

Information about the area

Nearby are also the "Gimpel" and the "Hochwiesler", both very famous and well known climbing targets with dozens of climbing routes.
And not far away and also accessible from the "Gimpelhaus" as a base are "Kellespitze" (or "Köllenspitze") and "Gehrenspitze" which offer great hikes and some easy but very long climbing routes.

If you want to have a look at the Tannheim mountains and what the area looks like or if you want to know if the weather is right for hiking or climbing, you can look at the following webcams:

webcam onto Graen and Haldensee

webcam onto Rote Flueh and Gimpel
Both summits are in the background at the left

Book

External Links

Tannheimer Valley
Content: Live cams, infos about how to get there by car, infos about trainstations and airports, huts, lodging, camping, cable cars, highlights, events, village infos, tourist information centers, travel agencies, mountain rescue service, physicians, churches, banks, post offices, garages, gas stations, taxi services, list of other webpages about the Tannheimer valley, infos about 'fit &fun', photos of Tannheimer valley, weather conditions, restaurants, ski schools, clubs, shopkeepers, buisnees of Tannheimer valley, real estates etc.
Pasold, Kletterführer Allgäu
Pasold, Achim : Kletterführer Allgäu. Köngen: Panico, 1998. [In German!]
ISBN 3-926807-59-8

Content: Description of the approach to the both huts (Gimpelhaus and Tannheimer Hütte), the phonenumber of the Tannheimer Hütte, precise descriptions of all routes, excellent topos with precise infos about the length of every pitch, the kind of pitons which one can expect to find, the kind of climbing, photos of the Rote Flüh and its routes, infos about the first climb of every route. A very big advantage: All topos are slack. So you don't have to take the whole book with you for every climb. I myself copied the topos which I took for my climb. You hardly need any other infos for a safe climb of the Rote Flüh if you buy this book. All infos written in german. In summary: I can recommend this book very much!! It is the best climbing guide book concerning the Rote Flüh which I know.
Recreative time in the Tannheimer Mountains in early winter [In German!]
Friedberger Klettersteig - Klettersteige bei via-ferrata.de
Via-Ferrata.de - Klettersteigportal - Over 100 fixed rope routes. Moreover detailed information over climbing, alps, hiking and other outdoor activities.

Images