[Ged]

HAve a week away end of May/start of June sport climbing with my better half.  I've been to Ceuse before, and love it (as does she), and would love to go back.  However in the interest of trying somewhere new, I'm half tempted by the Frankenjura.  I've been put off ever going there before by a probably completely false assumption that it's all narly old school desperateness, and would be a bit like going to Raven Tor for a week. 

So, which to do?  Requirements are; good onsighting at 7b-8a, good 6b-7a's (good means nice face climbing, not two move boulder problems through roofs), nice location, good van camping, nice bit of walking and swimming and things for rest days.  Basically everything that Ceuse has.  But will the Frank give us the same???!!!

Thoughts please, and I promise I'll report back.

Cheers

Ged

[T_B]

Check the weather. It can rain a lot in the Frankenjura I believe? Plus this year the weather seems very odd everywhere. I've never been due to some friends saying it's v Peaky. Have you been to Decin in the Czech? Flippin awesome for someone operating at your level.

[remus]

I wouldn't take too much heed of the jura's reputation. It's a big area (1000+ pages of guidebook) with a good variety of crags. There is plenty of gnarly pocket pulling and steep roofs (for when you're feeling like an 80's hero) but there's also loads of excellent face climbs and stuff on bigger holds. Id say it's closer to a week on peak+yorkshire lime than a week at raven tor.

It's not exactly onsight heaven just because the routes can be quite hard to read. There's a lifetime of good stuff in the 6b-8a range though so you'll definitely have plenty to do. Worth bearing in mind that the bolting can be quite spaced in places. Generally not dangerous but don't expect a bolt every 2m, especially on some of the old school stuff.

Personally I really like the location. Quite rural in places and lots of good van camping opportunities. Not sure about swimming but the area seems really popular with walkers and cyclists so should be plenty to keep you busy on a rest day.

[Muenchener]

The countryside in the Frankenjura is quite reminiscent of the nicer bits of the White Peak / Dales, but more extensive, and as remus said the climbing is more varied than its reputation suggests. Yes, there's plenty of overhanging butch pocket pulling with a bolt every five metres, but there are other styles and routes with modern levels of protection too. Mostly short though, there's only a handful of crags with thirty-plus metre routes.

Here's a useful recommended tick list, complete with cynical comments about the gear in German that goole translate might be able to help with.

Weather is not wildly different from a UK summer. We just had the most glorious May bank holiday weekend weather in living memory the last five years, but the mid term forecast for the rest of the month is looking pretty unsettled. It's certainly nothing like southern France

Canoeing on the Pegnitz is a good rest day activity, and there are open air swimming pools at Betzenstein and Pottenstein. I do these as a family weekend trip every summer.

[Ged]

We went to France, which given the flooding in south Germany, seemed to be the correct choice. Rainy at ceuse but st leger was pukka

[Muenchener]

Smart move. I'm just back from a weekend in the Frankenjura. Most things were soaked, unsurprisingly. With a bit of local knowledge it was possible to find the odd dry-but-humid bit of rock to climb on for a few hours before the big afternoon thunderstorm.

Still glad I made the effort to get out instead of going to the wall. All rock > all plastic.