Elbsandstein (Germany) (map)

By the end of the trip, Rayko's tips were bleeding

Ring for protection and belays

A route book; every tower has one of these

An open route book

Standing in front of the second Bergsport Arnold store, this one in Bad Schandau

Trolly car ferries tourists from Bad Schandau up the valley to the trailheads

Twin towers; we climbed the tower on the left

Unknown climber peering down from the top of a neighboring tower

Climbers dot the various towers in the Bielatal region

Climbers dot the various towers in the Bielatal region

Giant rappel rings; the flat spot on the top is so that you can clip a caribiner to it

Bomber thread
Nordwestweg

A climber on a difficult route (you can just make out his red pants on the upper left side)

The amazing Frienstein; we climbed on the neighboring formation

At the belay after a terrifying lead, the scariest of the trip
Nordwand

Roping up for what turned out to be the scariest lead of the trip
Nordwand

Rayko attempts the second pitch, but is off route on a 5.10c
Nordwand

Folling the first pitch, which had cracks, but no gear (if ONLY I had a cam)
Nordwand

Approaching the belay at the end of the first pitch; notice the furry runner around the large flake (the furrier the better)
Südwand

Topping out on the second pitch
Goldsteigkante

Belaying from the top of another tower

The start of the route involved very pocketed rock with good pro
Goldsteigkante

Moving through the super featured rock on the first pitch
Goldsteigkante

Looking back at the second pitch, a traversing affair with many tied off flakes and threads
Südwand

Starting up the second pitch -- a bit of a run after the first bolt
Südwand

A jammed knot before the real difficulties; Rayko rappelled from this one
Wahnsinnsverschneidung

Following the first pitch, very pumpy here with poor gear
Goldsteigkante

Following the honeycomb section of the second pitch, just before the traverse
Südwand

Following the honeycomb section of the second pitch
Südwand

To get off one tower, we rappelled into a gap and climbed another tower which had the rappel line
Alter Web

Prepping for a hard lead
Direkter Südwestweg

Scoping out the route ahead, very steep here
Direkter Südwestweg

A climber on difficult route (he's in orange and yellow)

Cool honeycomb rock covered the entire second pitch

Cool honeycomb rock covered the entire second pitch

A long pitch of runout crack climbing, but with good plates on the face. The chimney topout was terrifying
Südwand

Following the chimney topout, very scary to lead
Südwand

Another honeycombed face protected with hourglasses
Knirpelwand Direkte

A good route photo; the long crack on the left tower is Südwand, and the black pocketed area is Knirpelwand Direkte

Our apartment in Hohnstein, just 100 yards from the town square…ideally located

The midieval town of Hohnstein

The main square of Hohnstein; Bernd Arnold's sports shop is on the right

Dinner in the basement of the town hall; pretty good food, but not as good as in Velden

Standing in front of the Bergsport Arnold store in Hohnstein

The castle and bridge for tourists

Leaning back on jugs near the top of the route
Türkischer Honig

Runout to the first bolt, then more reasonable and juggy
Türkischer Honig

The amazing Höllenhund wall; we climbed a route on the far right side where the rock is even more featured

High on the wall at a hanging belay
Talweg

Feeling stoked after leading the first pitch
Talweg

At the second belay…cold as hell
Talweg

Removing a thread on the third pitch
Talweg

On the third pitch
Talweg

On the third pitch
Talweg

The 4th and final pitch involved leaning across to the next tower, then climbing the face
Talweg

Traverse just before the topout
Talweg

Working on some pro -- a threaded runner
Talweg

Looking down from the first belay at the super featured rock and intricate protection
Talweg

Starting up the overhanging wall -- a real head game
Talweg

Looking up at the second pitch -- many tied off threads
Talweg

Roping up below the 300'-high overhanging wall with…you guessed it…knots
Talweg

Looking down at Rayko at the first belay
Talweg

Looking down at Rayko at the first belay
Talweg

Rayko is on top of the main wall, on an isolated island summit
Talweg

In a sea of towers
Talweg

Following the first pitch, removing a thread
Talweg

Super featured rock on the first pitch
Talweg

Following the second pitch
Talweg

Nice slung flake, but it feels like it might rip off
Talweg

Following the first pitch on yet another pigging cold day
Herkules Rippe

Approaching the belay
Herkules Rippe

Threaded hourglasses work better if you equalize the load by feeding the knot into the constriction
Herkules Rippe

Rayko at the first pitch belay
Herkules Rippe

Rayko far below at the P1 belay
Herkules Rippe

The river Elbe with many exposed bits of rock

More knot climbing
Direkte Südwestwand auch

We climbed on the smooth wall on the left, where everything was hard 5.10

Following the first pitch, leaning way back on a flake
Südhangel

Rayko laybacks around a flake at the top of the pitch
Südwestwand

Belaying at the top of the Lokomotive; notice the ring and "towel rack" bar to prevent the rope from creating deep grooves in the rock
Südwestverschneidung

Writing my entry in the route book
Südwestverschneidung

This crag is supposed to resemble a locomotive. It's actually a relatively thin grouping of towers on top of a high ridge

The Locomotive crag seen from the top of Honigstein

Rayko looking for his name in the route book

The initial moves, protected by a small jammed knot
Dampflok

Mess of towers as seen from the summit of the Locomotive

Tied-off flakes and hourglasses serve as the anchor at the top of the first pitch
Talweg

Making the crux moves at the start of the route -- an overhanging offwidth crack protected by jammed knots, the first knots I placed in Elbsandstein
Talweg

A small jammed knot on the second pitch
Talweg

Second pitch squeeze chimney
Talweg

Rappelling the backside of the tower down to the grass; the terrain is comfortably navigated with bare feet because of the sand

An overhanging handcrack; the crux was the slopey, sandy moves after the crack
Morgengebet

Farm country as seen from the top of Pabst

Farm country as seen from the top of Pabst

Approaching the crag from town; our first route in Elbsandstein was the crack on the right side of the third tower (from the left)

Looking over the town below the crag

Browsing the route book
Ostkante

Huge jugs at the top of the route
Ostkante

Belaying from a giant hole in the top of the tower
Ostkante

Leaving one tower and climbing the next one over, in search of a rappel line

More rappelling from rings; nice redundancy