#22 Flo Haubner

Flo Haubner and Kühlloch go way back. It’s one of his home crags and at the same a place with a rich tradition. Flo began his journey here in the usual way: on the left of the wall, on routes like Demian and Falscher Hase. He still remembers throwing glimpses to the right, at the “big” climbers, locals of the Amberg area, and the impressive lines they were doing.

He had been introduced to climbing by his father. Their family has always spent time together outdoors, be it hiking in the Fränkische Schweiz, easy via ferratas in the mountains, or the occasional climb in the Lautrachtal, round the corner from home.

First such outing into the vertical was on the verge of becoming a drama but luckily ended up only in a little moment of fear and a newfound passion. Florian was 5 and his father took him along to second a route, his introduction to climbing. He was supposed to unclip the draws his top rope went through. At one point, the boy mistakenly unclipped the carabiner that attached the rope to his harness rather than the one used for positioning - thus robbing himself of protection for a while. Soon rescued by his father, Flo took to climbing after all, though at first only a couple of times a year with the family, backed by many days spent in the mountains.

The sport he first got into seriously was athletics, mainly track and field events, in which he actively competed. This ate up most of his weekends and brought him a lot of joy - until he bought a climbing guidebook during an athletics event in Nürnberg, which led to the discovery that there are many more rocks close to his hometown of Amberg than what he knew from the days out with his father.

Richer with this knowledge and an owner of the guidebook full of possibilities, Flo started teaching himself what rock climbing is actually about. The main source of knowledge were books, as well as weekends outdoors with his brother and a few mates. Youthful enthusiasm goes a long way and so the group of keen kids from Amberg soon progressed and started trying themselves on classics.

One of their local crags was Kühloch. After the shy beginnings, they started venturing onto the wall with 8th and 9th grade (UIAA) lines, and while Flo found - and still finds - all of them great, Ab Geht die Post (his 50RP route!) stands out for him as particularly pretty and a piece of history in itself. Although some run outs are still present, he hints that it is less spicy now that the rusty pitons have been replaced by trustworthy glue-ins.

"Kühloch is and will hopefully remain one of the best crags in the 8th and 9th grade. Thanks to the sparse protection (I've lived a part of the so-called bolt war myself) it has a special character. It's no simple consumption crag." Having added a little first ascent in the right part of the wall, Flo also has a personal connection with it.

At the same time as he roamed Franconian crags with his brother, Flo's library kept expanding with all possible titles. Books authored by Güllich and Karl among others were a source of inspiration - to the point he decided climbing was what he wanted to do.

"This beginning was certainly the most intensive and also the most thrilling. It's shaped me until today. Freedom, slight anarchy, the absence of strict written rules or pressure to perform at a very precise moment (as it had been the case with athletics) pulled me into climbing completely..."

He spent lots of his university time on trips: in Germany, Europe and the USA. It may have cost him a semester or two that he had to retake at uni, but it's not like you can experience the dynamic phase of the growth of climbing anytime - so Flo used the late 90s to the fullest.

Once he really got into climbing, it didn't last long for Flo to start opening his own routes. This led him to the discovery that in the 90s and early 2000s there were still plenty of unknown walls in the area of Amberg. He ventured into the forests with hiking maps and guidebooks, which has not only brought him to virgin crags but also given him exceptional knowledge of the local woodland.

Being the first person to find a route and a way of climbing it free has always inspired Florian. "The search, the find, the cleaning and bolting, all the way to a successful first ascent, which for me was often just the icing on the cake. The joy of finding something and the tension you feel while abseiling into the route for the first time is something I've always appreciated." It's also a nice feeling when the route is enjoyed by others.

Indeed some of Flo's favourite routes in Franken are his first ascents - often because of the greater personal investment compared to doing repetitions. He mentions Unter unserem Himmel at Sackdilling, Lebenslinie, and Hardliner at Hartenfels.

The classics by Franken's famous duo, Albert and Güllich, have also had their influence on Flo, who saw their routes as a must. Rather than the difficulty, what lives the longest in his memory are the lines from the very beginnings of redpoint climbing, especially such that pose a mental challenge next to the physical one.

His favourite crags include his home areas in the front row: Kühloch, Hartenfels, Rote Wand, Maximilianswand and Krottenseer Turm, Rabenfels, Stadeltenne. Beyond the area around Amberg he likes Roter Fels, Püttlacher Wand and Dachlwand. What he loves about Franken is the variety; he even enjoys visiting old, sometimes abandoned crags. Flo still climbs with his brother and together they look for peaks they haven't been to before, which can lead them to walls where garden shears come in very handy - but they can still find rock they haven't touched before, 30 years into their adventures in the Frankenjura.

Among all the little adventures he's had here over the years, one stands out. while working on a new route he wanted to open, Flo was called down by an armed hunter pointing his weapon at him. having come down he had to stay with the hunter until the police arrived to rescue him from the situation.

For Flo, Franken means home - and one of the best spots in the world. By now he's made so many beautiful memories here that every day he returns to these woods is a treat - and a great way to find peace again, a mini holiday in its own right. "It will probably stay this way", Florian says.

Thank you, Flo, for being a part of 50RP!

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