UKC

I'm off to Germany in the Summer. I'll be located in the following places:

Heidelberg
Koblenz
Baden-Baden
Essen

Are there any climbing areas that you can recommend that are close to these towns/cities?

Thanks in advance.
Bonduman

In reply to bonduman:

There is some quite extensive cragging right on the edge of Baden Baden. Not been there myself, but assume it is the local compact sandstone. There is a guidebook. Believe it is partially bolted, so some trad gear in addition to the usual quickdraws might be an idea. Likely to be shiny on the trade routes.

In reply to bonduman: There was a big post on this forum a while back. Try a search.

Andy

In reply to bonduman:

Search for info on Donautal (great limestone routes in a pretty valley and Pfalz (variety of things) for the southern cities you are talking about -there is loads.

In reply to bonduman: I have lived in Germany, on and off for thirteen years, and would consider my self a local. I also did live about five minutes from Heidelberg until about two months ago. I had just wrote you a whole bunch of places and then erased it as I could fill this whole forum. So here is the deal if you are serious about doing a lot of climbing drop me an e-mail and I will give you whatever information you need throughout Germany. However, I will give you a few sites to get you started. I am in Germany now and may be here in the summer so I could even hook you up with locals if you wanted.

Heidelberg: http://www.ag-klettern-odenwald.de/
Koblenz: http://www.stonevibes.de/Ettringen.32.0.html (separates bouldering and climbing; if you wanted to climb you are as close as twenty minutes maybe less)
Essen: You can use the same site as the one for Kolbenz but the two you are really close to are Isenberg and Bochumer Bruch.
Baden Baden: http://www.climbing.de/ You can search for routes from the Schwarzwald here and the other places you mentioned


That all being said the areas you are going to visit are also close (well from about 1 to four hours) to some other great climbing. For instance the Pfälzer Wald which has famous sandstone climbing, or try the Frankenjura which is equally famous and is famous for an extremely hard sport route. Or my personal favourite Elbsandstein, however, it is really a different type of climbing (and no chalk). But I do not know exactly what you are looking for so let me know if you need help. It would also be useful if you know some German but you can certainly get by without it. Wow..that was long…

In reply to monkey22:



Excellent area, but then I am biased, since I grew up very close (sadly moved before started to climb and now restricted to holidays)
If you speak German check out http://www.pfaelzer-kletterer.de or
http://www.palatinum.info/english/index.shtm for some info in England.
The new guide book is out now. It's very complete, but impossible to use unless you speak German.

In reply to StefanB: Yeah and if you go to Alex W. site(palatinum) you can buy his calendar of naked climbers

But I agree the Pfälzer Wald is awesome but I like the sandstone in the Elbsandstein a little better.

In reply to monkey22:

Hello Monkey22, you have mail. Cheers and thanks also to the comments received from the other users on here.

Regards
Bonduman

In reply to bonduman:
Hello,
Heidelberg:
You can reach Riesenstein (by ?)/on foot from Heidelberg
in appr. 10min - it is mostly for boulder - in the shadow.
By bike from HD You need 15min to Ziegelhausen /boulder & climbing, scenic approach at the Neckar.
15km to the north is Schriesheim ,that is well equipped with bolts, some routes up to 30m, often exposed to the south - there is a vineyard below.
All 3 sites are old quarries, literature av. in German.
Pfalz:
80km west of Heidelberg is the Pfalz, a lot of different sites, limestone towers, quite good for alpine preparation.
Baden-Baden:
In Baden Baden You can also walk to Battert nice site,
natural rock, literature in French and German, also good for alpine preparation.
Rgds
Thomas

In reply to isihac:

I wandered round the Altes Schloss and Klettergarten overlooking Baden-Baden. I've not climbed there but some people had extenders only and some had full trad racks.

The Baden-Baden bus network is at:
http://www.kvv.de/kvv/netz/liniennetz_bus.php?navid=12

It looks like you can get to the Altes Schloss with bus 215.

I was over in Leipzig last week - I tried two climbing walls - both great places. If you google for Kletterhalle and place names you should find some indoor climbing for the evenings.