#07 Julia Heil

Julia Heil discovered Franken early and it has been a special place for her ever since. In her 20s you could see her on the limestone rock in black military trousers and a striped T-shirt a lot. Today she's still regularly here, enjoying the crags and pushing her climbing level.

Her first climbing trip was one to make you fall in love. She had a go at two classic routes; highly-regarded in terms of their aesthetics, even though they're no easy sends in their grade: Schlaifhausener Kante at Rodenstein and Elliweg at Stadelhofener Wände. Both lines have stayed in her memory until today.

Julia's connection with the Frankenjura started growing rapidly in 1996 when she moved to Erlangen to study law. The valleys and forests of Franconian Switzerland have become her feel good place - and although both her studies and her time living in Erlangen came to an end, the connection stayed strong. Living in Darmstadt next, the drive to Franken took her at least three hours (that's without traffic jams). This couldn’t stop her from still visiting the limestone crags and river valleys nearly every weekend.

After giving birth, the frequency of her Franken visits went down (but they never stopped completely). That's when she began to really miss this place. Althpugh she still lives in Germany's fourth biggest city, her love for the Fränkische Schweiz blooms - to the point that she has made it to her second home again, by buying a house here together with her partner, Chri (you can spot him in the slideshow below - and soon read about him: in the next Climber Post!).

Julia loves the Pegnitztal as a whole, Ankatalwand and Roter Fels deserving a special mention on her list. The routes at Vierte Dimension in Krottenseer Forst have also been a source of great enjoyment for her for many years now.

Her 50RP route, Computerspiele, is an ultra classic at Ankatalwand. Her bond with this crag goes deep: in 2005, she celebrated her wedding there in the best way a true Franken climber could wish for - with coffee and cake (any associations with a climbing pioneer, famous also for his love of coffee?) - in addition to climbing, needless to say!

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

Some of Julia's favourite routes are:
- Computerspiele (8) at Ankatalwand - her 50RP route!
- Heiße Finger (9+) at Student
- Tanz der Vampire (9-) at Veldener Wand
- Hersbrucker Weg (7) at Zimmerbergwände

She keeps pushing her climbing level, more now than ever before. After many years of climbing in the 8th grade (UIAA), Julia ticked off her first 9- at the age of 47. After she turned 48, her first 9 followed. She isn’t calling it quits and is working towards doing a 9+ before her 50th birthday. That's the spirit!

Thank you, Julia, for being one of our 50 Climbers!