Naturefriends trad climbing and environmental education workshop 2025
As I mentioned in Naturefriends routesetting workshop 2025, I attend about two NaturFreunde Deutschlands e.V. training courses for sport climbing instructors a year. The second one in 2025 was about traditional climbing and environmental education. This training course took place from July 4 to 6, 2025 in the DAV area climbing Heubach.
Traditional climbing
In general, this workshop was all about the use of spring-loaded camming devices and nuts. We were therefore first introduced to them with all their advantages and disadvantages. We were then allowed to practise placing these devices at the foot of the wall. Next, our mobile protections were checked and put to the test.
The next step was to attach the mobile protections while toprope climbing. These were then put to the test again. This was followed by the first lead climb on the mobile protections. For safety reasons, we always stayed well below our maximum climbing performance.
In the end, we climbed routes completely in the traditional style. It was a lot of fun. I'm sure I'll be trying it out again in the Harz or Ith mountains soon.
Education workshop
The other part of the training was about the flora and fauna on the rock. This also sensitized people to the influence of humans on the nature. Climbers are no exception.
Acknowledgments
My thanks go to Rebekka Schütze and Anke Wille, who led the training, for this great experience. And to all participants of the workshop.