Sarah Kampf sends the first female ascent and probably only the third ascent of the route „The Sound of Silence“ 11- / 8c on the Fuchslochwand in the Zaunsbachtal in the German Climbing crag „Nördlicher Frakenjura“. The first ascent Heiko Queitsch had bolted the route in 2005. After 35 days since 2019, Heiko was able to use the belayer.

„Already on my first visit at this crag many years ago, I looked up to this pure line along an elegant wave of rock. Back then it was still was a project, but it was obvious that it would be a pretty unique climb. When @heiko.queitsch then did the first ascent (hats off again for your vision, persistency and the actual send!), I was really excited to have a closer look at it. The route is special indeed, more like a power endurance boulder problem rather than a sport route [* I clipped the bolts the same way as Heiko did]. With all those insecure body positions and heel hooks, you need to climb as precise and at the same time as fast as possible, with hardly any possibility to take a breath. It took me some time to figure out my beta, just to change it over and over again. Considering the effort I put into this route and compared with other routes I’ve climbed, I personally feel that the grade proposed by Heiko is accurate, even though I’m aware that grading is very subjective sometimes and that only more repetitions can build a solid consensus. Without any doubt though, it is a brilliant addition to the #Frankenjura, and I’m very happy about the time I got to spend with „The Sound of Silence“ / 8c.

Thank you @stephan_goeb for the mega cool pics“

Photos: (c) Stephan Goeb