The reopening of the Styrian Bärenschützklamm, which has been closed to visitors since a deadly rockfall in 2020, is getting closer: the official objection period for the planned work ended last week. Since there was already a consensus in advance, as Mayor Eva Schmidinger told the APA, no objection was to be expected. Gerhard Jantscher, board member of the Mixnitz Alpine Club section, is now looking for donations and funding.
“The construction work will cost around one million euros,” he said in the APA interview shortly following the latest calculations by the construction company, which is likely to receive the order in the coming weeks. Construction is expected to begin in May and last four to five months. The safety work envisages installing ten protective steel nets above the gorge. Since the areas are difficult to access, helicopter flights will be necessary, Jantscher announced.
The Alpine Club will then check all the ladders and footbridges and, if necessary, replace those that have been damaged by the weather and the rock fall in recent years. “We also have to cut everything free once more, because nature will take it back,” said the section head, describing the diverse tasks of the coming months.
Finally, the authorities will also carry out an inspection to release the gorge once more. The planned grand reopening should be on the national holiday on October 26th – as long as enough donations are raised, of course. “Every euro counts for us,” says Jantscher. He also wants to find major donors with a construction site campaign and also apply for funding from the public sector.
The Styrian Bärenschützklamm is a popular excursion destination in Styria with around 40,000 visitors per year. Among other things, it takes hikers to the Schüsserlbrunn pilgrimage chapel or to the Hochlantsch – at 1,720 meters the highest peak in the Graz mountains. Due to the closure, the ascent has been possible since the rock fall in 2020 via the so-called Prügelweg intended for the descent. Alternatively, you can also go via the Breitenauertal or the Teichalm to the Hochlantsch. Nevertheless, the closure of the gorge means losses, especially for the huts on the mountain, since the Bärenschützklamm gorge was also a popular arrival point for numerous coaches from abroad.
On July 8, 2020, several boulders fell on visitors at a photo point on a footbridge in the gorge. Three people died. The investigations of the public prosecutor’s office were stopped because it was an “unforeseen natural event”, but the authority prescribed measures before the reopening.
(SERVICE – donations can be transferred to the account with the IBAN AT76 3800 0000 0094 3662 with the reference “Bärenschützklamm”)
