#09 Hannes Peschka

Jack of all trades, master of none - that's how Hannes Peschka likes to describe himself as a climber. You can find him anywhere from lowball boulders to big walls, from Franken (his local area) to Jordan and beyond. There's no single discipline of climbing that he holds (far) above others and he enjoys learning from all of them. "I like to see myself as a gatherer of climbing experiences and memories."

His earliest memory including a rope and a set of holds was in the gym: Magnesia in Forchheim. He was in 8th grade. During the school trip, he got to know climbing, but it didn't really stick with him. He'd do it every now and then, but extremely rarely, maybe once a year. At the time, there was noone among his family or friends who would join him.

Eventually he went to university, where he enrolled to study sports. That's when he started going to the bouldering gym, over time more and more frequently. He did many other sports concurrently: from ball games to outdoor activities - climbing on real rock among them, of course.

Hannes and his friend Jojo would go to the Franconian crags on their days off from uni. As students do, they'd normally party the night before. Although it certainly didn't improve their performance on rock, Hannes laughs it’s still a pretty useful skill, for example when you go to a wedding and climb on the same weekend.

His favourite crags in Franken?
Luisenwand and Rotenstein - close to each other, deep in the forest, with rock of outstanding quality and technical movement that Hannes enjoys.
Plankenstein - for similar reasons. No streets nearby make for great atmosphere at the crag.
Wüstenstein and Paradiestal in general - owing to many great routes he's enjoyed there: Oase, Schwarze Wand, Sahara, Anagrom Ataf, Fata Morgana.

Asked about his favourite routes, Hannes mentions quite a few.
Monsun (Oberngruber Wand) and Mayday (Christinenwand) - two lines that have given him lots of joy.
Roter Baron - his first 9- (7b+), climbed after a winter of bouldering training.
Totenbrett - the first 9+ (7c+); he did it before reaching flat 9th grade and in the same year as Roter Baron.
Steep Mud and Trotzphase - each also being first of the grade for Hannes.

Another line he's enjoyed particularly is Peacemaker - it features a beautiful crack at the very top, which is very much to Hannes' liking. He was able to use a bombproof hand jam there, which made the last metres quite easy for him.

He chose his 50RP route: Welzenbach Gedenkweg at Röthelfels exactly for this quality - it is a crack line; and not just any but among Franken's historically richest cracks. Hannes was taken aback by its difficulty, especially considering the time of its first Redpoint ascent (1981; by Wolfgang Güllich). He put vintage climbing shoes on for the shoot and was even more impressed what climbers could pull off at the time; not to mentioned Güllich climbed it on trad!

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

The Franknejura holds for Hannes much more meaning than just climbing. It's also nature, culture and cuisine (read: beer and cake). The limestone crags are just one of the area's charms - there are also rivers inviting for a dip after a day of trying hard on the project, meadows for slow mornings with coffee (no problem with the short approach times!), Europe's densest occurrence of breweries with beer gardens to finish the day in.​

Apart from the short and bouldery lines his local crags are so well-known for, he loves a good multipitch. The start of it all was as epic as a mountain day can deliver: Hannes and his friend Joe set off from the Blaueishütte in Berchtesgaden. At the first belay ledge of Teutates, Joe talked Hannes through the multipitch setup and on they climbed into what turned to be a 12 hour adventure of 16 pitches, scenic landscapes on the approach and descent, and very excited exhaustion at the end. That's how he fell in love with the alpine.

Hannes engages in climbing and the community in different ways. Following his sports studies and his passion for the vertical, he has gotten into coaching. Having done it before at his local DAV gym, where he's made some great memories, Hannes is now moving into coaching in his friend's company Vertical Ascents, which has already taught him a bunch. He also supports local initiatives, like the 2023 Ecopoint Get Together, which he helped organise.

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