Hello, I'm thinking of going climbing at the Elbsandstein. Just wondering what to take as far as gear (or lack therof) and any recommended routes in the moderate range. What's the best way to make knots for stoppers, etc.? Good places to stay?

Thanks in advance.

there's tons of b&bs right out near the crags themselves, as it's a popular destination and only a short distance from dresden. if you fly into dresden, you can stop off at the wal-mart on the drive out and get yrself a wurst and a beer along w. yer supplies.

the rock is softer than you might expect, and can be quite sandy. some of the slab routes can be better protected than would be the case at the meadows or other old-skool north american venues. many of the famous old classics follow wide cracks and squeezes. no point in bringing any gear aside from biners, slings, selection of prusik-length sections of perlon in a range of sizes.

if it's warm, it'll be humid. you'll learn, quickly, how comfortable you feel climbing w/o chalk in that climate.

there are a few separate areas where bouldering and chalk are permitted-- buy a guide or have a local show you.

plume wrote:Hello, I'm thinking of going climbing at the Elbsandstein. Just wondering what to take as far as gear (or lack therof) and any recommended routes in the moderate range. What's the best way to make knots for stoppers, etc.? Good places to stay?

Thanks in advance.

Hi,

I moved to Dresden a few years ago and still need to get used to the almost complete absence of bolts, the VERY soft rock on most crags, the very high first rings etc.

One important thing is that climbing is banned for 24 hours after rainfall. One should really stick to it, as the sandstone is even softer when wet. Only last months a climber died after all his pieces ripped out, although they would probably have held in the dry.

As for places to stay, that depends on how long you would like to stay. For a couple of days, best park your car, walk in, and bivy at the crags at the designated bivy sites. Most crags are inside a national park, and the rangers will fine you if you are camping elsewhere. A list of the bivy sites can be found on the web.

The guidebooks are mostly crap, essentially just gigantic lists of routes with hardly any details. Currently there is no good topo guide for the main areas.

http://www.on-sight.de/gebiete/index.ht ... dlist.html has a good list of routes, for information on these routes, best check www.teufelsturm.de, and print off the pdf maps from the national park website to find the climbing summits.

The best moderate route (but also one of the most crowded ones) is Schusterweg on Falkenstein. Best make sure you are among the first teams up, as it is a multipitch route and there can be considerable traffic jams at the belays.

Please PM me for additional information,

Cheers,

Christian