A climbing rock (german: Kletterfelsen; regionally also ''Kletterfels'' or '' Klettergipfel'') is a term used especially in Germany for an individual rock formation, rock face or rock group on which

climbing Climbing is the activity of using one's hands, feet, or any other part of the body to ascend a steep topographical object that can range from the world's tallest mountains (e.g. the eight thousanders), to small boulders. Climbing is done ...

is permitted. Designated climbing rocks are listed in climbing guidebooks and are usually incorporated and marked within the

climbing area A climbing area is a small geographical region with a concentration of opportunities for climbing. The term is most commonly used of rock climbing areas, but there are also ice climbing areas that have the right combination of steepness and wat ...

s of the

alpine club The first alpine club, the Alpine Club, based in the United Kingdom, was founded in London in 1857 as a gentlemen's club. It was once described as: :"a club of English gentlemen devoted to mountaineering, first of all in the Alps, members of whi ...

s. The concept is mainly relevant to climbing outside or on the fringes of the Alps. Special climbing regulations normally apply to climbing rocks, such as those for

Saxon Switzerland Saxon Switzerland (german: Sächsische Schweiz) is a hilly climbing area and national park around the Elbe valley south-east of Dresden in Saxony, Germany. Together with the Bohemian Switzerland in the Czech Republic it forms the Elbe Sand ...

, and there are usually restrictions to take account of conservation laws and requirements.Naturverträgliches Klettern, Leitbild des DAV
{{webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120424231154/http://www.alpenverein-bw.de/klettern/leitbild.html , date=2012-04-24 Examples of climbing rocks in Germany are the Alpawand (over 600

metres The metre (British spelling Despite the various English dialects spoken from country to country and within different regions of the same country, there are only slight regional variations in English orthography, the two most notable va ...

height difference), the Asselstein (58 m) and the Falkenstein in

. The German Alpine Club (DAV) maintains a website listing over 3,000 individual rocks in 28 climbing regions with around 250

References

Sources

Rudolf Fehrmann Rudolf Fehrmann (22 June 1886 – 1947), a German, was a pioneer rock climber at Elbsandsteingebirge near Dresden. Climbing career He began climbing at the age of 17 and was soon at the leading edge of the fledgling sport. He and Oliver Perry-Sm ...

: ''Der Bergsteiger in der Sächsischen Schweiz. Führer durch die Kletterfelsen des Elbsandsteingebirges'', Verlagsanstalt Johannes Siegel, Dresden 1908 *Christian Hacker: ''Kletterfelsen von Wien bis Semmering'', Eigenverlag, Vienna 1995

External links

German Alpine Club - rock information - Internet portal for Germany's climbing rocks