Climbing on “real” rock at Scharfenstein near Kassel

 

After practicing indoors up until now, the climbers among the boarding school students were out on “real” rock for the first time, reports Christian Schäfer from the teaching staff:

The weather was fantastic, and the few clouds that drifted by left us alone. The rock was solid and dry, and the routes were beautiful. For our first attempts at rock climbing, we chose some easier routes.

First, we got an initial orientation on what the natural rock face actually looks like, especially in terms of the routes. Climbing outdoors is much more challenging because the routes aren’t marked by colored holds like they are in the gym. You have to feel your way along them yourself. There are also many other (distracting) factors that take some getting used to: birds, trees, wind, rocks that slip away—and the stance when belaying is neither level nor always ideal. The sun shines right in your eyes. But the routes can also be much higher: the longest one this time was 25 meters long. Compared to the 14 meters in the gym, that’s definitely no small feat.

Since the routes and belay intervals aren’t standardized, and the distances between belay points are much greater when lead climbing than in the gym, our lead climbing ambitions were a bit cautious at first. After leading, however, everyone agreed that climbing outdoors is much better than in the gym—and not nearly as difficult as expected, but actually more relaxed.

Abseiling is always a highlight

Another topic covered for one of the participants was setting up, adjusting, and taking down the top rope. Top rope climbing involves climbing with a rope that’s routed from above. Outdoors, however, the rope must first be led up the wall via lead climbing and then properly anchored and set up at the top for top-roping. We practiced this. After taking down the setup, we moved on to rappelling, which is always a highlight in its own right.

Overall, we didn’t climb many routes, but we did successfully take our first steps outdoors. Those who weren’t climbing (at the time) explored the area around the rock on their own and climbed the side peaks from the back via the trails.

Everyone was very happy with the day. Those who took the lead were able to gain valuable experience and will approach their next runs with renewed confidence. On the way home, we stopped at a Chinese restaurant and picked up dinner to take home. We then ate it together back at the house.