Interactive Mountain Experience

Extreme weather conditions are displayed in a room with multimedia facilities. Visitors can experience not only the extreme altitude, the steep slopes of the rock faces, the force of the wind and the weather on the eight-thousanders but can also view at the Himalaya and Karakoram mountain ranges from outer space. The museum, which has a floor area of 400m², shows the history of mountaineering in Europe and in the region of the eight-thousanders, the necessary equipment and the physical and mental requirements of the mountaineers. The visitors immerse themselves in the world of the individual eight-thousanders and become familiar with the phases of high alpine expeditions. 

Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner

And last but not least an insight into the alpinist Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner is a must. “We had a good think about what is authentic for Spital and our conclusion was Gerlinde,” said Ägidius Exenberger, the mayor. The extreme mountaineer, born in 1970 and who grew up in Spital, was the first woman to conquer all 14 eight-thousanders without supplementary oxygen.  She is also the patroness of the museum and hopes that, “each visitor will be able to gain something from the visit and will be inspired by the mountains”. As a souvenir you can take a selfie in front of the eight-thousander of your choice or browse for suitable gifts in the museum shop.  In front of the museum a 6.8m high climbing tower in the form of K2 on a scale of 1:1000 awaits daring visitors.
Peter Hans Felzmann (Monte Projects) was in charge of the design of the museum and it was constructed by Touristische Freizeiteinrichtungen Wurmkogler GmbH under its Managing Director Alois Aigner. The total investment was about one million euros.