#06 Fabi Christof

Being the son of a PE teacher, Fabian Christof has had the opportunity to try more or less any sport he could imagine. Team sports like football were frustrating for him, tennis - too slow for his temperamental character and the amounts of energy he needed to channel.

​The summer of ‘95 seemed to drag on for eternity. Fabian was 15 and felt like the summer holidays would never end. What pulled him out of the boredom was his first visit to a climbing wall with a friend. Fabi was “overweight and equipped with Mike Jordan shoes”. He got on the 6 metre top rope wall and gave it what he describes as a really unsuccessful attempt at climbing. For some reason, though, he was hooked. From that day on, he'd go climbing whenever possible - 7 days a week.

Fabi comes from Würzburg. In his own words: "a nice city, known for many things; unfortunately rock lacking among them". This meant a rather atmospheric start into his newly found passion: Fabi climbed on vineyard walls, bridges and church fence walls.

Every weekend, he would go to Franken and enjoy the real limestone. At the beginning of any school holidays, his parents would drop him off at the legendary Oma Eichler campground and so the door to freedom would open. To discover the crags by bike during the day, to sit at a campfire in the evening, do what your heart desires... There's nothing cooler for a 16 year old climber.

Upon getting his driving licence, Fabian became completely independent in his journeys to the Frankenjura - and this obviously meant making them as often as only possible.

Moving closer to his beloved crags has always seemed like a logical move. Climbing has defined and directed his life; it was only natural to make Germany's jura the central location in his life. He's been calling it home for many years now.

Favourite crags? Fabi doesn't really have them. He feels good at almost any spot. The area consists of numerous beautiful landscapes, which is right up his street. He likes that many rock faces lie deep in the forest, bringing about a special kind of tranquility.

Picking favourites is easier when it comes to routes. "I started climbing at a time when a 9th or 10th grade route [UIAA] was still really worth something. My goal was always to climb the classics in each grade (and as many routes as possible)."

Fight Gravity, Sautanz, Ekel, Kaum Zeit zum Atmen, Killer, Stonelove - to name a few. All of these routes have a deep personal meaning for Fabian, every one of them brings memories of a beautiful time. Such lines would often have him think about them day and night, his excitement going through the roof when he could go to Franken again to give them a try.

If he were to only pick one line, it would probably be Shangri-La. It captured Fabi's imagination from the very beginning: gently overhanging in rather darker rock, comparatively long for Franken. The character of this route suited him very well - not too powerful, but instead technical and fingery. This ascent was his entrance onto a level he'd never thought he'd be able to climb at. It was a big personal accomplishment for him.

A little behind the scenes insight: the photos on the left are some early poster tests.
Click here to view the 50RP Posters.

Powerplay, his 50RP route, had never actually been very high up on Fabi’s bucket list. “This route actually represented everything that I wasn’t very good at: open holds, very athletic style and long moves.” He had to commit more or less five days to the process, which was a lot of time for a project for him back then (which puts his ticklist in a new light). The long left hand move to the jug was particularly hard for him. Fabi remembers a day where he fell on it 10 times for sure.

“It was a love and hate relationship! The line itself is fantastic, though: clear, overhanging, impressive... an absolute must for the collector I was at the time".

Fabian climbed Powerplay on the 20 of April 2005. His diary note from that day is kept to the bare minimum; after all, quick ticks of Franken’s benchmarks were his bread and butter at the time - and he continues to crush today. When he revisited the route in 2023 for our 50RP shoot, he could do all the moves - including the long thrust to the jug, relearned after just a handful of tries. He repeated sequences with ease in his flowing, controlled style. His technique is excellent, strength evident. A real pleasure to witness and shoot.

Nowadays Fabian isn't to be found with a rope much. He has always enjoyed bouldering a lot, and over the years has switched to it pretty much completely. A point in time came where he'd done everything in Franken that he found interesting - or at least the part of it that suited him in style and he could climb quickly (which still includes the vast majority of hard lines that existed here in the early 2000s). Bouldering has also fitted much better into his schedule once he finished university and followed his career as a teacher.

Asked why, having finished his Franken bucket list, he hasn't started adding to it himself, Fabi shares some wise words.

"Personally, I don't like to put as much weight on first ascents as many others. A boulder or a route that has already been climbed can make me just as psyched and motivated. As I came to Franken, there were so many lines of excellent quality that it was hard to find virgin routes representing a similar standard. I don't think much of a first ascent for any price. Short crags with chossy rock are often bolted nowadays. Not every rock face has to be climbed."

Thank you, Fabi, for being a 50RP Climber - and for all your other contribution.