The north face of Wertatscha has special significance for alpinism. In 1902 Eduard Pichl succeeded in making the first ascent of this face which has a climbing grade of IV. Today there are many other climbing routes, many at grades IV and V. Historically important was the first ascent of the northwest pinnacle by Kurt Maix in 1925. This was the first time that a grade V climb was achieved in the Karawanks. The east face offer several shorter climbing routes, which were opened in the late 20th century.