50rp-climbers-posts - imschatten: Visual Storytelling

#11 Dirk Uhlig

2/26/2025

Dirk Uhlig and Franken go almost 25 years back, when he was a fairly fresh climber and a student: he had no dosh but he did own a little VW Polo. “I’d pack like 5 friends into the car” and that was the start to many a great weekend.

Nowadays, when Dirk walks in to a crag, he’d think to himself: “man, you’ve been here before and you slept - right there”.

Back in the early 2000s, he’d spend his Frankenjura nights in caves and take the full advantage of the experience, being outdoors all the time, doing night time jumps into outdoor swimming pools - “because you had to wash from time to time after all” - and sitting by the fire with locals. These moments have left a lasting mark on him and he’ll keep coming back to crags with “you were here like a hundred years ago” in the back of his mind.

#10 Werner Thon

1/16/2025

"I only open a route when I stand underneath it and think 'wow'". Werner Thon has always been more interested in the quality of his routes rather than quantity. His lines are among those that keep earning a "wow" from the next generations of Frankenjura climbers.

Werner started climbing as a child, a passion inherited from his father, who'd take him to the crag already as a youngster. The way it was back then, he first learned to mix free and aid climbing, which he practised for the first few years. As a teen he completed Weg der Arbeit at Klinge, with big boots, a sling ladder and all the aid gear. It was graded as V a2 - not bad for a kid! He'd return to this line in 1992 to climb it free and rename it Space Invader: one of his earliest and personally most meaningful first ascents.

#09 Hannes Peschka

8/24/2024

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.

#08 Chri Bindhammer

7/12/2024

"I can vaguely remember a family trip to the Kastlwand in Altmühltal (which was the closest climbing area from home for us). It must have been around 1982 or '83. It was the high end spot for the climbing elite back then, with an idyllic fire spot at the bank of river Altmühl still in its natural form, the crag yet without Kanal im Rücken. Kurt and Wolfgang probably sat with us by the fire, but being 6 or 7 I had yet no knowledge of the climbing scene, unfortunately."

Chri Bindhammer started climbing early for the times. It was mainly thanks to his father, who was an avid mountain athlete. Though himself inclined rather towards alpine adventure than sport climbing, which his sons later excelled at, it was dad who was responsible for the siblings' first days at the crag.

#07 Julia Heil

6/23/2024

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.

#06 Fabi Christof

5/8/2024

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.

#05 Tina Knorr

4/29/2024

If you see Tina Knorr at a Franconian crag, you may or may not see Milo the dog - but you can be sure he’s there. An ex-sled dog with a mix of genes that doesn’t make him well-suited for that job, Milo has had it tough. Now he is - in Tina’s words - “an elderly man that deserves some comforts”, and he does get them: a bowl of minced meat in the morning, his own little crashpad situated at the best shady spot at the crag, a cozy coat for winter days… Although Milo accompanies Tina whenever possible (and she’s allowed to take him to work), he’s easily missed at a crag - that’s because he often prefers to crawl under a bush and hide there from strangers’ eyes.

“Milo and I are probably a bit similar in this,” Tina says, “both of us prefer to pass under the radar.”
It’s a very relevant remark if you consider Tina’s approach to her climbing.

#04 Jennya Georgieva

4/15/2024

Jennya’s climbing story started in a gym. At first it was just something to do in her spare time, a side hobby. After about a year and a half into her climbing journey, she went to Frankenjura for the first time. Something clicked. She fell in love with the beauty of this place and climbing on real rock. Today, she calls Franken home.

The story of Jennya’s climbing reaches way deeper than just clipping bolts - it’s a whole lifestyle.

Rewind to her childhood. Already back then, Jennya had a strong bond with nature; she learned the appreciation for it from her parents and grandparents.

#03 Chiara Hanke

2/25/2024

Chiara Hanke is from Franken: she was born in Nürnberg. However, she didn’t get to know the area much as a child; her family relocated when she was less than a year old.

Chiara got into climbing at the age of 13 in a gym. It happened in a rather curious way: she was recommended climbing as a way of strengthening her shoulder after an injury suffered while wakeboarding. This new “rehab sport” pulled her in so much that she wasn’t really to be seen on a wakeboard afterwards. She became an active competition climber instead, with many an achievement in regional, national and European level youth comps.

At first she would only come to the Frankenjura rarely, maybe twice a year for a few days, mainly to visit her dad in the area. She enjoyed the rock as a counterweight to the competition circuit.

#02 Franzi Dietz

1/24/2024

Franzi Dietz, originally from Landshut, moved to the Frankenjura in 2015. For the famous limestone crags? Nope. Back then, she didn't even know you could climb in the area, let alone it being the hotspot of the German climbing scene.

Out of the three universities she got accepted for, Franzi chose Bayreuth. A great decision as it turned out - but it wasn't until two years after her arrival in the city that she found out just how great. She was introduced to climbing by a friend in 2017, who took her to Freudenhaus, explained how to belay and had her make her first ever moves on rock.