Bärenbrunner Valley End of Valley Circular Hike (Palatinate, Schindhardt)

Repeated views of "famous" Palatinate climbing rocks: above all Nonnenfels, Klosterfels, where climbing history was made in the 1970s-1980s by climbers like W. Güllich, R. Mühe, W. Kraus, R. Karl, K. Albert, A. Kubin, T. Nöltner and others. For the first time, routes beyond grade VII (UIAA) difficulty were climbed. In this tour, I especially focus on Wolfgang Kraus and Reinhard Karl for personal reasons... Since the 14th century, the Bärenbrunner Hof belonged to the Klinkenmünster Abbey and was presumably used as a church until French troops destroyed the facility in 1766. The names of the rocks in the valley "Klosterfels", "Nonnenfels" and "Pfaffenfels" still refer to this history today. There are opportunities to reach interesting viewpoints (Schanderie, Pfaffenfels), where beautiful distant and valley views arise. I dedicate this tour to Reinhard Karl: the first German on Mount Everest, but also one of the outstanding climbers in the 1970s-1980s. In the 1970s, Karl brought the idea of free climbing from Yosemite to Western Europe. In the Palatinate and Saxon Switzerland, he became one of the pioneers of free climbing. Together with Helmut Kiene, he opened the first alpine climbing route at grade VII difficulty, the Fleischbank-Pumprisse in the Wilder Kaiser, in 1977. In the Bärenbrunner Valley, where I was able to experience cheerful "après-climbing parties" with him several times at the Bärenbrunnerhof, I fondly remember his last essay "On the way home" for his book Erlebnis Berg: Time to breathe. It was his last essay before he set off for Cho Oyu, where he lost his life in an avalanche. The reflections on this essay, according to Karl, arose sitting on Klosterfels at sunset and are for me one of the most beautiful homages to the Dahner Felsenland.... Climbing milestone in the Bärenbrunner Valley Grade IX: With "Im Westen nichts Neues" at Nonnenfels (Bärenbrunner Valley), Wolfgang Kraus and Wolfgang Güllich achieved another first ascent at the lower grade IX in 1980..., after Wolfgang Kraus had already opened the lower grade IX for the first time in the Palatinate at Jeanturm (Eppenbrunn) the previous year. A milestone at that time..., by exceptional athletes of their era. Grade X: From a climbing historical perspective, another tour at Nonnenfels should be mentioned: In 1994, Florian Eigler succeeded with his route "Mekka" (10-/10) in this masterpiece. Grade XI: Again at Nonnenfels in 2005, Julius Westphal opened the testing ground in grade XI with the route "Mekka direkt".