UKC

Hi Guys,

I've been watching/reading on the forum for quite some time now and have to say i love the amount of information on here (never posted though ).
My girlfriend and I are moving to Germany - Monchengladbach area next month. We both rock climb regularly and recently got back from a nice 8 day climbing holiday in Portugal (Which was amazing ļ ).
We climb sport and boulder ... far to chicken to even try trad. My question is, do any of you know of any good outdoor climbing / indoor walls in the area? We've found some outdoor climbing areas about 1.5hours away on the other side of Cologne (east) so far, but curious if anyone knows anything more central to Monchengladbach - indoor walls etc, or have climbed anywhere in the area themselves. We¡¦ve done some minor research but some knowledge of anyone who¡¦s been to areas first hand would be nice.

Cheers,
Kev

In reply to Kevdt:

Good luck. A friend of mine moved to Cambridge from a little further east and found it "hilly".

Many people from that region of Germany and adjacent Netherlands drive to the Ith near Hannover, the Harz mountains, or even Luxembourg or Font. A weekend trip at least for each of these destinations.

CB

In reply to cb294:

I moved back from the area in 2005 and Duss and Krefeld both had good indoor walls.

Local outdoor climbing is very lacking. nearest place Niddegan (SP) which was a bit grim with quite soft rock and only the occasional bolt. i wolud probably not call it sport climbing.

The nearest place we found for good sport climbing was to go into Beligum,on the Meuse, which was actuially very good but the lower grade stuff was polished.

Gary.

In reply to Kevdt:


As mentioned, there's the Ith, not far from Hameln, which is a bit of a flog for you.

Far better is Freyr just outside Dinant, which is south of Namur, which is SW of MGB. Excellent place - camping and bar at top, also Club Alpin Belge hut. Great place.

There are also some conglomerate crags not far from Aachen (I think). Been there - enjoyed it, but completely forgotten name and location. Helpful. Blind pulling on embedded pebbles - no chalk, because at least half the difficulty is searching the 400 pebbles in reach for the one with a hold!

In reply to nniff:

Nideggen - by the power of the crag finder thing here on UKC - that's the pebbly place.

Also the scene of the biggest fall I've ever seen - a combination of a complete tit of a belayer (massive amounts of slack), very widely spaced bolts, the leader pulling vast amounts of additional slack though to clip a bolt, and then falling off while attempting to clip it. At least 90 feet, to well below the stance. Words were exchanged - there was a certain degree of tension in the air - not to mention the rope.

In reply to nniff:

Nideggen,

Thats the place. Only went once, after that did weekends in Belgium.

Gary.

In reply to Kevdt:

Hi there. Just stumbled over this topic and i think i can provide some help.

One of your best sources will be the rock-info page of the german alpine club:

http://felsinfo.alpenverein.de/

I hope you already know some german or are at least eager to learn.
I'm afraid North-Rhine-Westphalia is not the best state to move to, climbingwise.
Many of the local potential or used-to-be crags are closed down due to "enviromental" reasons, so always check if a crag is not closed down due to birds breeding, etc.

One of the nearer opportunities is the Bochumer Bruch, www.bochumer-bruch.de
but you will have to register to climb there and pay a fee.

Still you have pretty decent crags and bouldering spots about 1h - 1 1/2h hours away by car.
Most of the routes here are bolted very well.

In the Sauerland area some crag developments have taken place in recent years.
You will find nice crags near the Biggesee lake, a perfect combination for hot summer weekends. "unterer Elberskamp in Heggen", "Borghauser Wand in Borghausen", "Scharpenbeul" in Windebruch
(Campsites on the lakeshore)

visit
www.kletterarena.info - again only in german, detailed topos

I know there are some great bouldering spots in the Eifel in Ettringen,
the crags over there are more trad-oriented because the volcanic rock forms a lot of cracks, but there are bolted routes as well.

And last but not least, there are many many climbing gyms in the rhine-cologne area and in the ruhr-area.
There are also many artificial outdoor climbing walls.
Meet other climbers at the local alpine club section www. alpenverein.de
they will have some better beta for you.






You

In reply to Kevdt:

I'am moving back to the fatherland (as we say in Germany) end of this month and will be located in Duesseldorf. I have been to a wall in Duesseldorf before and found it ok, but it's not very large.
The wall in Muelheim is not quite next door from M'gladbach but is very new and nice http://www.neoliet.de/home/muelheim

I have been to the climbing church "kletterkirche" in M'gladback, but found the holds to be greasy and dirty and it seemed that they did not change the routes for ages.

There is some bouldering going on on some walls along the Rhein river, I've seen chalk marks last time I was there.

I think Bonn and Cologne also have nice walls.

If in doubt or in need of someone speaking english+german, drop me a mail.

In reply to bobmalaria:

Thank you all for the information, i havent had a chance to have a good look at all the links and information yet, but trust me i will .

Im half german, so have the advantage of speaking the language already but i've lived in the Uk the last 12 years (since i was 12) so a little rusty. I have family in the area so support wise we've got alot of back up on getting settled in.

bobmalaria - That would be great, having someone who climbs and speaks both languages would make a good contact.