viernes, 18 de octubre de 2013

Public Kletterturm Kirchbachspitze (Schöneberg)

After going a climbing few times to the Volkspark Friedrichshain Boulder, I meet my good friend Jonas. We were trying to figure out how in the world it was possible to pass a section in the wall by just using the boulder holds without touching the plastic holds for aid. I was never much into boulder, actually I totally quit bouldering after a bolder accident in Argentina in which I dislocated my shoulder and suffer several injuries.
I have to make a parenthesis here, to talk about my bouldering injuries, because wen I first went to the doctor, he told me right away after glancing at the magnetic resonance sheets, that I was going to need surgery to fix my shoulder (the were some torn ligaments) and that after surgery I was going to need about six months to get fully recover and be able to climb again.

No way! I was planning to go climbing in the summer and that was in less than six months ahead!

So, I went to see another doctor, this time at the Deutsche Hospital in Buenos Aires.
The doctor glanced at the MR prints and studied them for a moment, after checking the included medical report, he told me that, we should wait to see how stable my shoulder was, before committing to surgery, and he sent me to do some konesiology. 
I spent like a month doing the exercises, which were pretty cool though, and I could really feel my shoulder getting stronger and a I also felt rapid pain reduction, mostly after clutching in those magnetic-electric devices which electrifies your body for a few minutes.

Two months after the incident, I went climbing, without even checking at the doctor.
No problem at all! Of course, I was no leading a 7a.... I think I just did a non leaded 6a and 5+ (French scale) lead climbs.
After that I went back to the good Doc. He told me I was fine, and fully recovered but I should continue doing shoulder excercises trough my whole life to prevent the shoulder from going off again.

Therefore, as a piece of advice, if the injury is not so serious do not go to surgery right away. I avoided that option and I am able to climb just fine. Of course I was afraid, but you have to try, surgery ain't cool, and it can seriously constrain your body movements.




Now yes, back in the boulder in Friedrichshain, my good friend Jonas, after some intense training, told me that he just bought a new rope and in a few days was receiving it at home. So he suggested that we could go climbing to a place that he called "The best public climbing place in Berlin".

This was the Climbing Tower Kirchbachspitze in Schöneberg and he sent me this picture:




The above image is indeed one nice climbing tower, with a wide variety of routes. It is actually bigger that it looks, and it can get packed with people during summer time, nevertheless it is a really nice place to climb and meet new friends.

The Tower is 12,5 meters tall and it hosts a difficulty level from 3-9 UIAA. This climbing spot belongs to the DAV.





I've tried four routes the first day, and I have to say that the variety of climbing routes it's super nice. The wall itself which constitutes a rock surrogate, presents an interesting training ground and it is also mixed with plastic holds to make it easier for the novice (I used them :P ). Aparently, the idea is not to use the plastic holds in order to master the climbing style in this wall.

The area beneath of the wall, is a sandy bottom, just like at the boulder at Volkspark Friedrichshain.
I have to say that you should keep your belonging in sight at all times, I've heard some rumors about someone that got stolen there and I've spotted some weird people walking around on the evening time, so just keep your stuff in sight. There is also a small playground on the back, full of kinds that can get pretty annoying from time to time, but I believe they are harmless.

You can get the topos for the climbing wall here: climbing-area.info

Getting to the wall it is pretty easy. From the Bülowstraße U-Bahnhof (U2) walk down Bülowstraße to the east. Turn right into Steinmetzstraße and the next crossing left into Alvenslebenstraße.




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