Zittau Mountains climbing area
The Zittau Mountains climbing area is a smaller German climbing area with around 1,800 climbing routes . It is located in the Zittau Mountains in the east of Saxony . It is the most important climbing area in Saxony after Saxon Switzerland .
As in neighboring Saxon Switzerland, the first rocks were developed for climbing at the end of the 19th century . The most important climbing peaks are Kelchstein , Jonsdorfer Mönch , Ernst-Schulze-Stein , Waldtorwächter and the twins . There are over 100 free-standing sandstone rocks and several large solid walls, some of which are over 40 meters high. Furthermore, there is in the mountains over a hundred " quack ", which are described in a special Quack leader. In 1994, a via ferrata in the Nonnenfelsen in Jonsdorf was opened based on models in the Alpine region . In 2006, a second via ferrata followed in Oybin below the Große Felsengasse.
Sub-areas and area characteristics
The Zittau Mountains are divided into three climbing areas, the Weißbachtal , Oybin and Jonsdorf , whereby the Oybin basin with the dominating mountain Oybin with the ruined monastery represents the main part of the climbing goals. Worth mentioning are the solid walls on the Oybin mountain, the rock group of rose and beehive stones and the rock group around the Gratzer cave.
The rock in the climbing area is sandstone with the full range of strength and grip. The many intercalated pebbly difficult climbing especially in Jonsdorfer field and run the fireplace - and crack climbing mostly to "lasting impressions". In contrast, it is soft and usually brittle in the area of rose and beehive stones, as well as the chalice. For this reason, you should not climb when it is wet, as some paths are already in a desolate condition. In many parts of the north side of the potter ( pottery towers, brooding hen), the sandstone is fritted by the early volcanic activity and is therefore very solid.
All climbing destinations can be reached quickly due to the small size of the area. The difficulties go up to the upper tenth degree (Saxon), with the main part in the 5th – 8th grade. Degree lies. The safety device is similar to that of Saxon Switzerland, so knot loops and rings are used. It corresponds roughly to the level of Saxon Switzerland, usually the security is better.
history
On November 10, 1875, the Northern Uhustein was conquered with artificial aids by Gustav Jahn and Max Richter. Before that, however, there was already another motivation, an ascent (jump) on the gorge guard on Mount Oybin . The first aid-free ascent of a summit took place in 1895 by Adolf Grahler in the Weißbachtal on the rather insignificant summit “ Böhmisches Tor ”. In the years shortly after the turn of the century, as in Saxon Switzerland, almost all important peaks were climbed.
The close proximity to the Elbe Sandstone Mountains soon resulted in close interactions (adoption of the climbing rules, mutual visits to the mountains) with the main Saxon climbing area. The climbing difficulties, however, never reached the level of Saxon Switzerland in the beginning. In contrast to the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, the seventh Saxon level of difficulty was only reached in 1924 by Gerhard Grabs on the southern crack of the Ernst-Schulze-Stone. The route Thomashangel (VIIb) at the Waltersdorfer Turm was first climbed in the 1920s as the highlight of this period . There were other climbs in the lower level of difficulty. The developers at the time were Alfred Hüttler and the Zimmer brothers. In the 1930s, the upper seventh degree was reached at Ernst-Schulze-Stein (eastern edge) and southern Uhustein (high forest edge).
Siegfried Schreiber first reached the eighth level of difficulty shortly after the Second World War in 1946 on the first free ascent of the Kelchstein . This summit had already been reached with artificial aids . At the Waldtorwächter followed with the "Willi-Hauptmann-Gedächtnis-Weg" in 1957, the upper end of the eighth Saxon degree by Heinz Urban. At this point in time, climbing skills had reached the level of Saxon Switzerland. In the 1950s and 1960s, many beautiful, but also challenging trails were opened and some peaks and massifs were opened up. The main contactors were Helmut Bardoux, Horst Haufe, Georg Hilse, Fritz Hübner, Manfred Thiele and Horst Umlauft.
The year 1972 then brought the first way in the ninth Saxon degree through Klaus Leupolt in the "strain" on the southeastern twin . Together with Frank Richter and Horst Umlauft, he was the main operator in the 1960s and 1970s. From 1972 to 1980 the level of difficulty stagnated in the Zittau Mountains, while thanks to Bernd Arnold it developed rapidly in Saxon Switzerland. At the end of the 1970s and 1980s, sport-oriented climbing began in the Zittau Mountains and there was a brief, explosive development of difficulty. A group with Steffen Otto, Michael Urbczat, Michael Urban and Werner Schönlebe led the way. In 1981 Werner Schönlebe achieved the tenth Saxon degree on the north-western twin . This route was the hardest route in Saxony at the time and was probably one of the hardest in Europe at the time. The difficulty was increased two years later with the “Trilogy” (Xb / c) path. In 1997 Andreas Proft and Jürgen Schmeißer straightened this path. As a “direct trilogy”, it became the first path in the eleventh level of difficulty (XIa) in the Zittau Mountains.
Legal basis
On August 25, 2017, the district of Görlitz issued a “general decree for rock climbing in the“ Zittauer Gebirge ”nature reserve”. 130 rock formations on which climbing is permitted are listed in an associated facility. This forms the basis for the bilingual digital climbing guide for the Lusatian and Zittau mountains.
Web links
proof
- ↑ http://www.climbing.de
- ↑ General decree of the district of Görlitz for rock climbing in the "Zittauer Gebirge" landscape protection area of 25 August 2017
- ↑ Appendix 1 to the general decree of the district of Görlitz for rock climbing in the "Zittauer Gebirge" landscape protection area of 25 August 2017