Climbing in the Isar Valley

By Felix Jäger

Supervisor: Dr. Gesa Lüdecke

The great roof of Buchenhain in Winter. Own image.

Summary
In the Isar Valley between Munich and Wolfratshausen, an immense number of conglomerate cliffs and boulders can be found. Some of these crags have a long history, others have been developed only in the last decades and years. The unique features of the Isar conglomerate shape the style of climbing and in return, climbers have been so active in some spots that the rock is polished and thusly shaped by them. The entanglement of climbers with nature through climbing walls in the Isar Valley was discovered in a cross-over of a guide, album and flyer by way of photographs, informative texts about the crags and through the results of interviews with local climbers held at Buchenhain.

The Boulder’s northface’s path of least resistance. Own image.

Survey
The central activity of this project was to have in-depth interviews with climbers at the crags in the Isar Valley, especially Buchenhain. A questionnaire including questions on the climber’s ideas on environmental stress through climbing, the climber’s relationship to rock and the surrounding nature shaped through climbing and the ensuing hazards provided guidance through the semi-structured conversations. The results were used in the textual pages complementary to the climbing guide on topics from environmental harm of Isar Valley climbing to route aesthetics and first ascents.

Traverse climbing in Buchenhain. Own image.

Example Text: Connectedness with Nature through Climbing
In outdoor climbing, nature not only provides a scenery and surroundings for the activity, but additionally, the natural rock is the object of interest itself. The experience of practicing the sport in a natural environment is already attractive but getting to know the cliffs in detail, to feel them, is another level of connectedness. Climbing requires you to literally grasp the rock; you can experience its texture, the grain size and the sharpness of the conglomerate in different layers from different eras, its temperature and humidity most directly.
You even perceive plants and animals living on the rock face more intimately.

The polished conglomerate and tufa creates various forms of holds to ‘grasp’ the rock. Own image.

 

Rock-dwelling ferns. Own image.

 

Example: The guide for Buchenhain. Own image.