Photography by Rainer Retzlaff

Snowfall… in the middle of September! Rubbing my eyes I can’t believe that the green alpine meadows of the Allgaeu are already starting to be covered in snow. Karsten and Baerbell, who have come to visit from the Frankenjura, look out in astonishment. Such early snowfall is quite unusual even by Allgaeu’s standards. With temperatures so low and the damp snow underfoot the planned sport climbing day at the ‘Rottach Area’ had to be canceled. After a discussion about the deplorable weather, we sat around the breakfast table in an effort to come up with an alternative plan for the day. I suggested a bouldering session on the small collection of boulders next to the village of ‘Humbach’, where I opened the fine traverse ‘Outlander’, some time back. In the end this plan was kicked into touch, again on weather grounds, and by this time we were all pretty de-motivated and frustrated by the weather and general lack of psyche. Not to be deterred we decided to hike up to the ‘Parkplatzwand Area’ close to ‘Friedorf’. Despite the bad weather conditions there are many parts of this area which are overhanging, thus giving you shelter against even the heaviest snow and rainfall, and as such we eventually, and to everyone’s relief, found some dry rock.

Together with the ‘Starzlachklamm Area’, another extremely overhanging cliff, the ‘Parkplatzwand Area’ was one of the original bouldering spots in the Allgaeu region. Initially developed by Christoph Finkel, Juergen Gottfried, Maxi Klaus and a few others this sector saw a very chaotic and exciting initial period of new problems being sent on an almost weekly basis. Unfortunately however, the development cooled down quickly and bouldering was in danger of becoming an unimportant part of the climbing in Allgaeu.

During our visit we found no trace of recent activity at the crag and many of the existing problems were damp, dirty or both. In face of such bad conditions the ‘real boulderer’ steps forward and looks for ways to tackle these adversities; so we started to clean up some of the projects on the steeper and more importantly dry sections. During my previous short visits to this area in the summer months I had struggled to find any substantial holds on the these steeper arenas, however with little option but to climb on these walls and roofs the mind was focussed, and on closer inspection lines started to appear - everywhere.


The extremely cold damp period in late September was followed by an excellent autumn, with perfect conditions. Soon the first of the extreme problems we had cleaned became climbable. ‘Pango’, ‘Monsterball’, ‘Florifer’ and many other excellent problems start to fall. Soon our enthusiasm was snowballing and we decided to turn our attentions to the nearby ‘Rottach Area’. We soon discovered countless boulders lying in the woods about this area and a thought began to grow in my mind, there could be the potential for a really good bouldering region in the Allgaeu.

The following cold winter months offered little in the way of development and the current flow of psyche had to be damned up for now. That said from time to time an odd perfect sunny day would arrive allowing the ascents a few excellent ‘little’ additions. These days came as a welcome distraction from the computer work I had been doing, in sorting through the information for the Frankenjura guide. The production of this sort of guide raises your motivation to pull hard on real rock, but unfortunately this motivation is hard to direct when there are temperatures plummeting down to almost minus 20 degrees.

When May eventually arrived there was nothing to stop us. As the snow and ice melts we officially draw the curtain on the plastic season and turn our attentions back to the rocks of the Allgaeu. My brother Uli often comes to climb and support us, as does Rainer Retzlaff, who often jumps on ‘the train of development’ whenever he finds time away from his work as a photographer. Soon I find myself getting up early in the morning and getting lost for the day amongst the boulders. From which I emerge as the evening approaches covered in chalk and leaves to head for home. There I quickly polish off a huge pot of pasta before a long shower where I wash out all the different mosses and lichen’s that seem to have accumulated in my hair, I then head for bed and fall into a comma like sleep.

Over the next few months one of the most varied bouldering regions in Europe was developed. The diversity of different kinds of rock such close proximity seems to be almost unique to this place. Besides the extremely overhanging walls and collection of boulders close to ‘Immenstadt’, ‘Friedorf’, ‘Rottach’ and ‘Untermaiselstein’, the sandstone walls on the ‘Grauten’ and a Fontainebleau like sandstone boulder next to the ‘Bergstaettgebiet’ offer the perfect variation of styles and rock type. Limestone blocks in many different forms can be found here, including an old talus slope next to ‘Hinterstein’. This is the birthplace of the first ‘bouldering circuit’ - such as you would find in Fontainebleau. Apart from in the winter months this sun kissed boulder field offers excellent sport and good potential for first ascents. In comparison with this circuit you have the excellent ‘Kraftboulders’, a few kilometres further up the valley. Here you can stroll from boulder to boulder without a care a in the world and enjoy the Allgaeu mountain world at its best.

While developing areas close to my home in the ‘Oberallgaeu’ region, I got a message from Volker Wild. On one of his climbing trips to Lechtal and Raintal he saw numerous boulders which looked like they may offer the potential for some great new boulder problems. So along with brother Uli we set off to Volker’s secret area, close to Gramais. Ignoring the brewing thunderclouds we excitedly hike along the picturesque riverside track, as per Volker’s instructions, and begin the arduous 1.5 hour walk-in. Volker had said that the area was “killer” and “really worthwhile”, “it better be” we thought, after this sort of approach!

When we finally arrive it is truly excellent! Rough yet weatherworn limestone boulders of all sizes litter the picturesque high mountain valley, on slopes and in alpine meadow settings. A herd of Chamoises (mountain goats) are inspecting us curiously, while numerous Marmots whistle their shrill alarm and disappear into their burrows. As the first drops of the pending storm fall we are forced back down the mountain, however a few days later we would return for a two day assault of this breathtaking mountain venue.

It is evident that there must be many more areas open for development in the Tyrol. One definite area is the boulder fields near ‘Vils’. Christoph Jorda, Christoph Gotschke and Stefan Barnsteiner have started to develop a beautiful area here, and it is obvious it hosts plenty of future potential. Another tip-off from my friend Volker is the ‘Raintal Area’ at the base of the north wall of the ‘Gimpel’, another area offering good potential.

After more than 3 months of intense development we are left with more than 600 boulder problems in 15 areas. To compliment these ‘new’ areas we have put together a 96 page bouldering guidebook – “Allgau-Bloc”. This is a bilingual publication (German/English) which came out in September 2006; this fully describes the areas between Oberallgaeu and Lechtal. [There is a new updated version of this guide, published 2009 - available here]. Allgau is now also included in 'Alpen en Bloc 1'- published 2010 - available here.

Access and Ethics
If you do come to visit these beautiful areas please respect the environment, the blocks and the local residents. Do not park your vehicle insensitively and stick to trails and tracks were possible and endeavour not to disturb any farm animals. Camping is not permitted around the boulders, although there are plenty of Guest Houses and designated camping sites within a close proximity to most of the areas.



The Allgaeu Region
The Allgaeu, or more accurately the Allgäu, is a beautiful mountainous region in the Alpine Foreland of Germany. It occupies the southern part of Bavarian Swabia between Lake Constance and the Lech valley and extends northwest into Württemberg.

The landscape of the Allgäu, with its tiers of steep foothills, magnificent lakes, extensive forests, lush mountain meadows and traditional villages set against an imposing backdrop of mountains, is strikingly beautiful and attracts large numbers of visitors for the plethora of summer and winter sports.

For more information on all the areas within the Allgaeu, and updates to when the new guide is due out, keep tabs on Harry's publishing company's website Gebro-Verlag.de.