Pelzli ****

Not far from a big city you find yourself in a fascinating rocky landscape filled with grottos, caves, rock towers, and boulders - an explorer’s paradise. Even though all the routes have been retrofitted, expect spaced bolting. In the climbing scene between the end of the 70’s and until the middle of the 1980’s, Pelzli was “the place to be”. The buttresses and walls strewn about in the woods were all the rage, and the meadow was filled with climbers tents. Sadly, camping in the meadow is no longer allowed. On exactly the same day in 1986 when Antoine le Menestrel climbed the hardest route ever done anywhere in the world (“Ravage”, 8b+/c), Wenzel Vodicka fired the FA of “The Wall” (8a+). The route was considered the hardest slab climb in the world. “The Wall” climbs through the near vertical smooth gripless shield. Tiny slopers and greasy edges make this route a huge mental and physical challenge. Nowadays, things have quieted down quite a bit in Pelzli. With its “old school” flavor and ratings, most climbers have moved on.