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New Crag with nice and easy routes near Bärnfels.
Easy routes with good protection are found very rarely in the Frankenjura. And it is next to impossible to find a crag with this kind of routes where the immediate environment is suitable for little kids, too. At the "Wolfstein" crag you will be enable to enjoy both: nice and easy, well-protected routes for beginners and a natural playground for children which seems to have come right out of a picture book...
On a beautiful day in early spring we walked up the skislope next to Bärnfels. On a previous occasion we had discovered a little crag on top of the hill from our car. We had not expected it to be much of a climbing possibility but as we approached it turned out to be a real jewel in the Frankenjura: a crag in the sun with a meadow right next to it. We looked up the name of the crag in our climbing guide: "Wolfstein". The guide, dating back to 1984, also revealed that at that time there were 2 routes, trad-climbs, named "Nordkante" and "Westpfeiler". Since then a lot has changed: there are now about 20 routes, with grades ranging between 2 and 8-. Most of them have names from fairy tales.
"Rumpelstilzchen" (4+) is a good route to warm up. The start is a short vertical bit after which you find the crag leaning slightly backwards. You continue your climb through easy enjoyable rock right to the flag at the top. If you are smaller than 1.70 m and want to climb "Rumpelstilzchens Zorn" (meaning: Rumpelstilzchen in a rage) - (7-/7) - you might want to rage, too. Nomen est omen. "Sterntaler" (8-) is a little harder even. Once you have managed the first five metres pulling yourself up on slopers in a little overhang the route turns vertical and offers good holds till the rap-off bolt. There is a general pattern to most of the routes: hard moves in the lower part, but getting easier as you approach the top. The exception to the rule is "Der mit dem Wolf tanzt" (8-): good stamina is necessary right from the start up to the top with the route getting slightly steeper all the time and the crux being right at the end. Watch out! If you fall before you reach the last bolt you could get hurt very badly if you touch the wall on the left hand side ...
The routes have a length of 10 to 20 metres maximum. You will notice that the easy routes are very well protected, at least by Frankenjura standards. The crag itself consists of a long rugged ridge with the routes facing various directions so that it is still worth going and climbing there even if there are more than two teams. Some of the routes are in the woods, some have grass reaching right up to the base of the crag and offer you a beautiful view into the Frankenjura if you care to turn around.
People have climbed at the Wolfstein for a long time: according to the climbing guide mentioned above (by Rudolf Buchner) the first two routes were opened at the beginning of the 1970's. In the following decades quite a few routes between grade 3 and 6 were opened. And in the winter of 1999/2000 Volker Roth bolted many sports climbs and turned the crag into a really attractive climbing area.
Not considering the fact that - alas - most of the routes are hardly longer than 10 m the Wolfstein is a climbing crag which is suitable for beginners and offers a lot of pleasant climbs. However, some of the routes have not yet been climbed very often so you might come across one loose stone or another. Unfortunately, some of the top bolts (rap-off bolts) have not been placed in the best position in which case the use of a sling or an additional quickdraw could be advisable. The climbing itself is very interesting and never boring. There is a lot of face climbing with good holes, ledges and slopers, but you will also find a spectacular grade 6 crack in a corner. And if you prefer climbing in the Alpine style: just try the "Jubiläumsweg" - a real challenge with dark, mossy parts, few bolts, but a lot of nosy spiders.
The surroundings are perfect for kids of any age and offer a kind of natural playground only a few metres away from the base of the crag. Along and around the crag there a numerous little caves and slip-throughs waiting to be discoveres by the youngsters. And in winter you can go down the slope below the crag on a sleigh...
If you click here you will get detailed information on the Wolfstein from our database.
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