Climbing at Bohemian Paradise

Bohemian Paradise lies about 90 km north-east of Prague between Turnov and Jičín. In 1955 it became the country's first protected landscape area (95 km² at first, 181.17 km² since 2002), and the 830 km² Bohemian Paradise Geopark is the only UNESCO Global Geopark in the Czech Republic. The landscape is made of sandstone rock towns shaped by wind, water and frost – the Prachov Rocks (a reserve since 1933), the Hrubá Skála rock town, Suché skály and the Klokočí rocks – set among volcanic hills such as Kozákov and the basalt plugs crowned by Trosky castle ruin, with the castles of Kost, Valdštejn, Hrubý Rohozec and Hrubá Skála.

Climbing is on towers and walls of soft sandstone, mostly 30–40 m high and occasionally up to about 80 m. The history goes back to the early 20th century: Mnich, the highest tower at Prachov, was the first tower climbed in the rock town, its Old Route climbed on 10 April 1907 by J. Hendrych and J. Kubín. Protection is classic sandstone – widely spaced rings, knots and slings over hourglasses and horns; metal gear and chalk are banned and climbing on wet sandstone is not allowed. Towers have rappel rings on top and most climbs need a single 60 m rope. The main season is spring to autumn; Prachov is reached by bus via Jičín (about 5 km away), and climbing club members enter free.