Sherwood Forest made in Tyrol
If you are looking for the beginning of Ötztal bouldering history, you will find it in the highly visible boulders around Tumpen. In 2005, Stew Watson discovered that Tumpen had more to offer than one would assume at first glance. But even the topo "Tumpen Bloc" published in 2008, in which he noted 250 boulders, many of them first ascents by his own hand, was not enough to attract climbers.
While in renowned areas such as the Zillertal, the boulders had long been hard to make out for all the crash pads, the development of bouldering in the Ötztal was, as mentioned, surprisingly sluggish - until 2012, when Manu Schopf and Berni Ruech decided to inspect a patch of forest near the village of Habichen.
It didn't take long for the two of them to make a find and discover several blocks of the best granite under moss and ferns. This is the kind of thing that gets around. And so Berni and Manu, as well as Stew Watson, who had joined them, were assisted by another Briton, Toby Saxton, who came from Nottingham and now lives in Flirsch, in developing the Sherwood Forest area.
In addition to around 100 bouldering structures, the Tyrolean version of Robin Hood's famous forest even has its own air conditioning. Thanks to the Ötztaler Ache, which thunders past not far away, it's pleasantly cool here even in summer.
