Climbing in Central Europe

Climbing in Hungary: Europe’s Cultural Crossroads

TheCragJournal2 Comments

With 84% of Hungary lying less than 200 metres above sea level, the country isn’t known for being mountainous or craggy. However, you might be surprised at how much rock there actually is in Hungary, theCrag.com lists over 2,500 routes and several hundred boulder problems. When you combine this with Hungary’s excellent location, it makes total sense to spend some time here if you’re on a European climbing road trip. Hungary borders 7 countries: Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia and Austria – all of which have climbing and mountains of their own.

Climber making their way up vertical and horizontal crack systems with traces of chalk highlight the holds along the way. There is both darker rock and lighter rock
The brilliant pumpy crack of ‘Moha & Páfrány’, 6a

The options of where you could be going to or coming from are vast, but despite many climbers passing this area, very few actually stop and enjoy some climbing in Hungary. By not stopping, they miss out on lots of interesting things to see and do, as well as some good days climbing along the way. Travelling slower will allow you to enjoy Hungary and you won’t have to worry about losing your climbing fitness either, win win.

Looking out over rolling forested hills, with the sun making the sky a hazy pink colour
A beautiful sunset view from Kis-Gerecsei

This article is not intended to be a comprehensive guide to Hungarian climbing. Rather, it is aiming to give an idea of what to expect if you decide to include Hungary on your climbing road trip.

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Climbing in The Polish Jura

TheCragJournal9 Comments

Poland is not a place that most people think of when planning a climbing trip in Europe, and those that do are probably headed to the Tatra mountains for long multipitch routes. It isn’t well known that Poland has a fantastic sport climbing area of its own, the Jura. The climbing is great, with thousands of routes across the grades and many beautiful & unique crags. The area sees a lot of activity from Polish climbers, who are known for being very strong, but sadly gets very little attention from international climbers. We have spent 2 weeks climbing in the Jura and throughly enjoyed it, the quality is very high and we never felt like we would run out of cool crags to visit.

Overhanging limestone pinnacle with black marking on. In the background there is a larger crag with a castle fortress built into it with a large drawbridge across.
The stunning Kaczor sector at Góra Zamkowa
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