UKC

Hi folks! My girlfriend and I are planning a trip to the Frankenjura in Autumn - the UKC article is great but I'd like some personal experiences/advice/route recommendations!

She's German so can handle German guidebooks etc.

Climbing around 6a-8a/+

Thanks!

In reply to MischaHY:

If you look on my profile my blog has a bunch of beta and route recommendations and things from when we went a few years back.

Hitchhike the plane I'd really like to go back for. Chasin the Trane lools cool. The crag with dampfhammer on it (weissenstein?) is all cool.

In reply to MischaHY:

Die zwei muscleietiere 8a+ was great climbing
Dumbo 7b+7c was the best route I did when I was there.

There is so much there. I never managed to get on fight gravity. A great historic 7b. Worth doing.

In reply to MischaHY:

I've climbed several times in the Frankenjura. In retrospect I can't remember individual crags or routes which stand out and it becomes much of a muchness. But there's a lot of good climbing there and i'd be pleased to have it on my doorstep. In general some features (as for anywhere) which spoil the climbing are proximity to roads and dirty/mossy rock. The plusses would be the pinnacles and top-out views. I don't think there is so much choice in longer pitches and if you liked these this would quickly narrow choice down. Of course, I don't have an 8a perspective

In reply to MischaHY:
Frankenjura is fantastic.

Get the letter Fuhrer guidebook. It has English in it. Every bolt is marked on the topos. if it says there are 3 bolts close together and then no more, it will be correct. Some crags are really well bolted others are death. it will tell you in the guidebook. literally hundreds of crags.Single bolt lower offs always. There are crags facing all directions for all weathers. It is powerful climbing, so for us half a day climbing and half a day sussing the next days venues. For easier routes take some gear, a set of wires and a few slings will do it. Loads of other stuff to do for the obligatory rest days. Enjoy.

In reply to MischaHY:

Excellent tips folks!

Ian, I'll be sure to get a hold of the guide. The only one I've got my hands on so far is from 2001 and is a bit difficult to read!

Sam, cheers for the route recommendations. Fighting Gravity sounds immense, and Muskletiere looks nice as well. Looking forward to checking them out.

AJM, will do!

In reply to MischaHY:

The best current guides (there are two volumes Franken 1 & 2) are the bi-lingual Gebro Verlag guides from Hary and Uli Röker. There is also an update volume. http://www.gebro-verlag.de/
They are available in the UK from somewhere!
A clip-stick is useful and de-rigeur, there´ s alway a bit of tree lying around if needs must.
Follow the instructions to get to the crag with painful accuracy, if it says 49 metres then left then it IS 49 metres, not 50. The are a huge number of cliffs (over 1200) and it´ s easy to end up at the wrong one especially in summer when the trees are covering everything.
August is hot and humid often, not the best time of year to climb in the Franken really (it´ s 30° here today) but not a lot can be done about it I guess.
Take mosquito repellant, deep in the forest it can make the difference.
The grades and technique get a bit of getting used to but that´ s the same everywhere I guess, use yer feet!!!!

In reply to jimtitt:

Agreed. Know how to pace 100 metres. There are ticks, but not worse than the lakes.

In reply to MischaHY:

Second Jim's guidebook tip.

If you're not used to pockets, then you need to get used to them - not just a matter of strength, but also technique* and confidence. Get on to finger pockets on a system board (better) or a fingerboard for a session of two a week for a few weeks before you go.

In reply to ian caton:


Higher chance of TBE though.

In reply to Toerag:

I would not worry too much abut TBE, the risk is minimal compared, say, to travelling to Frankenjura by car. In all of Germany, there were some 3000 reported cases since the year 2000, with 1 or 2% serious complications or death. No point worrying about the vast majority of asymptomatic infections. Watch out for Lyme disease, though, screening for ticks in the evening does make sense (tick removal helps reducing Borrelia infection, but is useless against TBE, as the viruses are transmitted immediately).

Frankenjura is definitely a risk area for both diseases, but we have not died out yet, so overall it is not THAT bad (I grew up in cycling distance from the Trubachtal crags, and am still alive even though I definitely had my share of tick bites).

Funnily, a classmate from school who would not be caught dead doing anything outdoor related managed to catch both diseases from the same, single tick bite at a music festival near Erlangen.

CB

In reply to MischaHY:

Finally retrieved a route recommendation for you 'only' about F6b. Short but compelling.

Sudkante (VII)

In reply to LeeWood:

Or around the corner, Albatros or Supernase on Gernerfels (F 6c ish I guess, VIII- in UIAA money). Completely preposterous routes on the underside of a jutting nose of rock, with good positive pockets to pull on. One of the routes has a thread for protection, so may be worth checking and bringing a sling or two (must have been ten years or so since I have last climbed there, so no idea what state the fixed slings are in).

CB

In reply to cb294:

I'm less concerned about TBE as I'm vaccinated against it from a trip to Japan back in 2010. Apparently you're supposed to have booster doses every three years but whatever. I can deal with DEET application for a week or two. Despite working as an outdoor instructor I've somehow avoided ticks in my 22 years but my girlfriend is clued up on removal etc.

LeeWood, nice one! Route recommendations 6a-6b are really great as I'm sure I'll be able to find stuff to drag myself up, but my girlfriend is newer to climbing so has more specific grade requirements.

cb294, cool! Sounds good. I'll likely have a full trad rack with me so will have plenty of kit to throw in if the in-situ stuff looks dodgy.

Nice info guys, keep it coming

In reply to AlanLittle:

Good tips. I'm definitely weaker when splitting the fingers up so it's something I need to work on anyway... I'll get to it.

In reply to MischaHY:

May depend where you go but I found a 70M rope would have been useful, especially if you want to try something apart from roofs, especially around 7a or upwards.

I would take one next time but get the guides out and see if you think it might be useful where you're going.

In reply to winhill:

I'm the girlfriend and I only have a 70m rope anyway.