Südgrat - Balmflue

Balmflue, Südgrat. Solothurn, October 2020. Rock climbing on the long south ridge above the city - the whole note I left myself about the day, so that is all I can honestly report.

Balmflue, South Ridge (Südgrat)

5c (5b+ obligatory, one optional 6b) / 19 pitches / ↑450 m / limestone

All I wrote down was the crag, the route and the month, so the rest is gone. The Südgrat is the long one in the Jura: nineteen pitches and around 450 climbing metres on limestone, with walking sections strung between the harder rope lengths. Nothing on it is hard for the grade, but it takes a day.

October is a reasonable time to be there. I came back to the same ridge in February 2024 and got nothing - the cloud sat on the wall while Solothurn stayed sunny, and we bailed after one pitch - which makes a dry autumn day here worth using.

Logistics

Approach

Parking in the forest below the wall (Google Maps), as noted on my later visit to the same ridge.