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On the sixth and final day, we once again met Helmut at an altogether different trailhead and headed up for a large tower (mesa?) called Falkenstein and its historic route called Schusterweg; about 6-7 short and meandering pitches including a downclimb and a small tunnel. Helmut came along for the ride on this one as a second. Nice enough climbing and a spacious summit. We rapped and hiked over to another tower called Schrammsteinkegel where we climbed a route called Hintere Reibung in 1.5 pitches. From the top we got a great view including of a proud looking tower. Once back on the ground we asked Helmut what it was. We were told that it was called Dreifingerturm (Three Finger Tower) and its standard route (Alter Weg) was a runout chimney, not featured in Helmut’s “plasir route” guidebook but expected to be included in his upcoming “tortur routes” book.
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The tower looked great and we were psyched. The first crux of the route was the entry into the chimney: you climb up a meter or two, sink in an ufo and then off-width your way up until things widen to the point where you can squeeze into the chimney. You then chimney your way up with zero protection until you can exit the chimney onto a sub-summit where you can tie a sling or two before heading back across the chasm and climbing up to the summit proper. The second crux is this exit since the chimney widens and the walls become more coated with slippery lichen; as the pro (the single ufo) becomes a very distant memory, insecurity reaches its zenith. We topped out and had to wait for another party that was coming up the rap line. That turned out to be a family from Dresden headed by an older (70s) gentleman who told us that “here we use our balls and not protection.” Absolutely toxic masculinity – I almost had a cry but managed to quickly dash for my inner safe space.
Back to Prague that afternoon for a very early morning flight home. A fun little trip indeed!
Photos
Go back to Saxon Sandstone.