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MarcelS
May 31, 2011, 10:24 PM
Post #1 of 11
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Registered: Apr 23, 2011
Posts: 103
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First let me tell you that I have been climbing a little over 1.5 years now, in the gym. Last year I did my first rock trips in France, while on holiday there, and I soon discovered that rock climbing is way more fun then pulling plastic. But alas, I live the the Netherlands...
At the moment my level is around 6a-6b toprope, which converts to 5.10a-c. Lead climbing, my best one was 5.10a, including a pretty tough overhang.
Well, last Thursday night we drove to Berdorf, about 4 hours drive from where I live. Altogether we were with 7 climbers. Around midnight the tents were setup, so we drank a beer and went sleeping. And a cold sleep it was, this early in the season.
Next morning we purchased a new topo, and went to the crag. And boy, what a crag it is... as if you walk into fairy land! The entire crag is part of protected environment (you actually need a permit to climb there), and that shows. Magnificent!
The rocks there are sandstone, and the height of the routes is around 100 feet, all single pitches. 150 of them, all well bolted (though the first bolt is pretty high, and there are no low relais to secure the belayer.
The first day went pretty well, I leaded from 5.6 to 5.9, with pretty cold hands. Loved the sandstone, even though some pockets were pretty sharp at the edges.
The second day (much better weather!), I started out with climbing my first chimney, which I should not have done as a first route. Even though graded 5.6, both me and my climbing partners think it is leaning more towards 5.8, but that was not the difficulty for me: My issue was pure mentally. Climbing between 2 walls, being a mere foot above my last bolt already scared the sh*it out of me. Somehow I finished the route, but it set the tome of the day: On all routes I did lead, I was more then ever aware of the fact I could harm myself when falling, so I climbed bad. Weird enough I never had this feeling when leading, aware yes, scared never.
Well, luckily the third day I managed to start without this feeling, and I did a few more routes that went pretty well. Only my arms and fingers gave up pretty fast, as I am not used to 3 climbing days in a row. We woke up at 8 am, quickly broke up camp and went climbing in the sun (well, not much sun reaches the bottom of the crag, but it was warm enough!).
Berdorf is certainly worth a few days, if you are not too far away: the nature is magnificent and the routes are great. Both for the starting climber as for the experienced ones (up to 5.13b). The topo is very good (based on full color pictures with the routes drawn in), and the campsites not expensive. The weekends van be quite crowded, but at Friday we almost had the crag to our selves! It is not possible to hang out topropes from above. In general the grades are pretty accurate, except for the 5.6 routes. The 2 I climbed both were at least 5.7 and leaning towards 5.8.
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gblauer
Moderator
Jun 1, 2011, 1:50 AM
Post #3 of 11
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Registered: Oct 4, 2002
Posts: 2824
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sounds like fun. Too bad I wasn't climbing when I was in Luxembourg.
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mc
Jun 1, 2011, 7:01 AM
Post #4 of 11
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Registered: May 21, 2003
Posts: 13
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Thanks Marcel, you have totally motivated me to go back and visit Berdorf again sometime. Really cool place. I used to climb their when I lived in Trier.
Have you climbed in Fryer in Belgum yet?
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rsmillbern
Jun 1, 2011, 8:11 AM
Post #5 of 11
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Registered: Sep 29, 2005
Posts: 319
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Very cool, I have not been there yet, but plan to sometime this summer...
Have you checked out Ettringen/Mayen/Kottenheim?
I live near Cologne (just north) and this area is about an hour from me, so it may be even closer that Lux for you depending on where you are coming from in the Netherlands.
We try to get there most good weather weekends, drop me a line if you are interested in meeting there sometime.
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sungam
Jun 1, 2011, 11:21 AM
Post #6 of 11
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Registered: Jun 24, 2004
Posts: 26804
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rsmillbern wrote: Very cool, I have not been there yet, but plan to sometime this summer... Have you checked out Ettringen/Mayen/Kottenheim? I live near Cologne (just north) and this area is about an hour from me, so it may be even closer that Lux for you depending on where you are coming from in the Netherlands. We try to get there most good weather weekends, drop me a line if you are interested in meeting there sometime.
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rsmillbern
Jun 1, 2011, 11:51 AM
Post #7 of 11
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Registered: Sep 29, 2005
Posts: 319
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sungam wrote: rsmillbern wrote: Very cool, I have not been there yet, but plan to sometime this summer... Have you checked out Ettringen/Mayen/Kottenheim? I live near Cologne (just north) and this area is about an hour from me, so it may be even closer that Lux for you depending on where you are coming from in the Netherlands. We try to get there most good weather weekends, drop me a line if you are interested in meeting there sometime. Another place we could visit when I come over?
For sure!
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MarcelS
Jun 1, 2011, 12:39 PM
Post #8 of 11
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Registered: Apr 23, 2011
Posts: 103
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Thanks for your great comments! Will reply to them in one post.
@sungam: Glad to see I am not the only one finding that those easy grades appear suddenly much harder! I know there were some pics taken but I do not have them yet. As soon as I get them, I will post some here.
@gblauer: Never too late for a second visit, is it :-)
@mc: Never have been climbing in Belgium so far, but I hope to make another weekend trip after my holiday, so maybe it will be Belgium this time. Wish I lived closer to one of the good crags! Very glad that I have motivated you to go back there, it really is worth a trip isn't it.
@rsmillbern: Have been checking out Ettringen, looks pretty good! It is not even 3.5 hours from here so maybe for the next trip. Will definitely inform you when I go there!
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MarcelS
Jun 8, 2011, 10:19 PM
Post #9 of 11
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Registered: Apr 23, 2011
Posts: 103
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Added most of the routes I climbed in the Routes section, and uploaded the first 3 pictures. The pics still have to be reviewed apparently :-)
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MarcelS
Jun 9, 2011, 11:18 AM
Post #10 of 11
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Registered: Apr 23, 2011
Posts: 103
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And the first few pics:
Me starting a route
Scenery in Berdorf
Scenery in Berdorf
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sungam
Jun 9, 2011, 12:55 PM
Post #11 of 11
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Registered: Jun 24, 2004
Posts: 26804
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The rock there looks cool. Very RRG-ey.
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