The Elbe Sandstone Mountains, also called the Elbe sandstone highlands is a mountain range straddling the border between the state of Saxony in southeastern Germany and the North Bohemian region of the Czech Republic, with about three-quarters of the area lying on the German side. The mountains are also referred to as Saxon Switzerland and Bohemian Switzerland in both German and Czech or simply combined as Saxon-Bohemian Switzerland. In both countries, the mountain range has been declared a national park. The name derives from the sandstone which was carved by erosion. The river Elbe breaks through the mountain range in a steep and narrow valley.
The Bastei is a rock formation towering 194 metres above the Elbe River in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains of Germany. Reaching a height of 305 metres above sea level, the jagged rocks of the Bastei were formed by water erosion over one million years ago. They are situated near Rathen, not far from Pirna southeast of the city of Dresden, and are the major landmark of the Saxon Switzerland National Park. They are also part of a climbing and hiking area that extends over the borders into the Bohemian Switzerland.
Climbing, or alpine, clubs form to promote and preserve the climbing way of life, including rock climbing, ice climbing, alpinism & ski mountaineering.
Stefan Winter is a German ski mountaineer, former coach of the German ski mountaineering team, and alpine sports author.
The German Alpine Club is the world's largest climbing association, and the eighth-largest sports union in Germany. The Club is a member of the German Olympic Sports Confederation, and the responsible body for sport and competition climbing, hiking, mountaineering, hill walking, ice climbing, mountain expeditions, as well as ski mountaineering.
The Alpine Club classification of the Eastern Alps is a common division of the Eastern Alps into 75 mountain ranges, based on the Moriggl Classification (ME) first published in 1924 by the German and Austrian Alpine Club. The present-day division established for the German-speaking world was compiled by the German, Austrian and South Tyrol Alpine Clubs and published in 1984 and is also used for the basic numbering of Alpine Club maps for mountaineering.
Alpine Club maps are specially detailed maps for summer and winter mountain climbers. They are predominantly published at a scale of 1:25.000, although some individual sheets have scales of 1:50.000 and 1:100.000.
Alpine club huts or simply club huts (Clubhütten) form the majority of the over 1,300 mountain huts in the Alps and are maintained by branches, or sections, of the various Alpine clubs. Although the usual English translation of Hütte is "hut", most of them are substantial buildings designed to accommodate and feed significant numbers of hikers and climbers and to withstand harsh high alpine conditions for decades.
A climbing peak may refer to a mountain or hill peak or a rock formation that has to be ascended by climbing. The term is common in Germany where it is specifically used of free-standing rock formations in the climbing regions of Saxon Switzerland, Zittau Mountains and other nearby ranges in the German Central Uplands that can only be summitted via climbing routes of at least grade I on the UIAA scale or by jumping from nearby rocks or massifs. As a general rule, they must have a topographic prominence of at least 10 metres to qualify. In Saxon Switzerland the Saxon Climbing Regulations do not require any minimum height, but define climbing peaks as
free-standing rocks that […] can only be ascending by a climb, assault (Überfall), crossing (Übertritt) or jump from nearby rocks […].
The Lokomotive is a striking climbing rock north of Kurort Rathen in Saxon Switzerland in Germany. The rock, which resembles a steam locomotive in appearance, is also known as Große Ruine, is about 30 metres high and is divided into two parts: known as Lokomotive-Dom and Lokomotive-Esse. The ridge between the two is called the Kesselgrat, the rock teeth next to the Esse as Pfeife ("Whistle"). For a short time there was a weather vane on the dome in the shape of a wheel. The Lokomotive rises on the massif of the Honigsteine.
Saxon Switzerland is one of the best-known climbing regions in Germany. The region is largely coterminous with the natural region of the same name, Saxon Switzerland, but extends well beyond the territory of the National Park within it. It includes the western part of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains and is the oldest non-Alpine climbing region in Germany. Its birth is usually reckoned to be the first ascent in modern times of the Falkenstein in 1864 by Bad Schandau gymnasts. Currently there are over 1,100 summits with more than 17,000 climbing routes in the Saxon Switzerland area.
The Frienstein, also called the Vorderes Raubschloss, is a rock formation, about 130 metres high, in Saxon Switzerland. It lies on the northern slopes of the Großer Winterberg in the Affensteine rocks. On the rock there was once a watchtower of the Barony of Wildenstein. Today the Frienstein is a popular climbing peak.
The Schwedenturm in East Germany is a 35-metre-high rock formation made of sandstone in the hills of Saxon Switzerland near the spa town of Rathen and the famous Bastei rocks. From the car park for the Bastei, a path runs towards Schwedenlöcher. The Schwedenturm is situated on the right just before the entrance to a narrow ravine. Because it lies in the Saxon Switzerland Climbing Region the free-standing pinnacle may be used for climbing. Currently there are 14 different routes up the rock. It was here that the first grade Xb route in the mountain range was successfully climbed, route 6 (Versuch), by Bernd Arnold. The Schwedenturm was first climbed in 1905 by Rudolf Fehrmann and his brother Arymund.
The Teufelsturm is a prominent rock tower and climbing rock formed of Elbe Sandstone, about forty metres high in Saxon Switzerland in East Germany. It is located east of the River Elbe on the upper edge of the valley between Schmilka and Bad Schandau in the Schrammsteinen. The Teufelsturm is also referred to as the "Symbol of Saxon Climbing".
The Kleiner Bärenstein is a 338 metres high table hill in the German region of Saxon Switzerland in the Free State of Saxony. Close by is the Großer Bärenstein which, together with the Kleiner Bärenstein, forms the massif of the Bärensteine.
The Saxon Climbers' Federation is a federation of individual members, small and large clubs and is the largest climbing association in the region for climbing activities in Saxon Switzerland and the surrounding area in eastern Germany. It is also the largest sports association in Saxony. The goal of the SBB is to support climbing and Alpine sports of all types in the Alps and the German Central Uplands. As the regional sponsor for the Saxon Switzerland climbing region within the German Alpine Club (DAV) the federation is first and foremost involved in Saxon Switzerland, "Saxon Climbing" as a sport and technique, and nature conservation in the Saxon Switzerland National Park.
A rock castle is a type of medieval castle that directly incorporates natural rock outcrops into its defences to such an extent that the rock formations define the structure of the castle. Topographically rock castles are classified as hill castles.
The Schwedenlöcher is a gorge-like side valley of the Amselgrund near Rathen in Saxon Switzerland.
