„Kirschfelsen“ – a bouldering location that I had heard quite often about in the last year, but I had never been there. So I was very pleased when Paul showed me this spot and the rumours didn’t promise too much …
Steep roofs with amazing boulder sequences and interesting rock formations distinguish this place. The rocks are located high above the forest of the Palatinate and the view of the landscape is amazing. The only drawback might be the bad landing: even though there is a platform for the left tops, you should be careful on the right side …
The first thing we tried was „Electric Avenue“ (7c+) – a long sequence through the whole roof. After a while and with all tricks from Paul, I was able to do the single moves and to climb it in two parts. Paul had done it a while ago and still could do the moves with ease, but for me, it was quite challenging. Even though I did some good goes till the end region, I was not able to link the full sequence on this day.
Paul tried an 8a through the roof, but after the key hold – a big sandstone flake – was broken a few years ago, it seemed to be way harder. There are rumours that Julius Westphal still has this flake – so it hopefully may be back in place someday… 🙂 After some unsuccessful tries, Paul decided to try „Chuck Norris“ (7c+): a steep and short boulder. The rock has an interesting honeycombed sandstone structure but is very fragile. So you have to be super careful not to break some holds. Paul did it after a bunch of tries – but it’s maybe not the best boulder to climb. In the evening sunlight, we tried our last boulder – a vertical 7a shield. It’s a tricky problem getting higher and higher at the edge of this shield. In the evening we were pretty done.
The „Kirschfelsen“ is a nice place for sure and I will come back soon to try my best in the „Electric Avenue“ again. And if you are not a big fan of bouldering – the viewpoint is also a worthwhile hiking destination 🙂
