Replacement of the fixed belay-rappel anchors on the rocks in the Środkowa Jura refugium and Kroczyce refugium

In October 2014, due to the efforts of the Śląskie Voivodeship – Silesian Voivodeship Landscape Parks Complex as a part of the project LIFE11 NAT/PL/432 "Protection of valuable natural non-forest habitats typical of the Orle Gniazda Landscape Park" the action of replacing the fixed belay-rappel anchors on the rocks in the Środkowa Jura refugium and Kroczyce refugium was performed.

The aim of the action C6 "Active protection of rock grasslands by streamlining the rock climbing traffic" was to dismantle old belay-rappel anchors and replace them with new ones, particularly in the highest parts of the rocks, in a way which allows to protect the positions of rare and endangered plants and restrict or prohibit the rock-climbers' access to the valuable rock grasslands covering the hilltops and certain parts of the rock walls.

The choice of the rocks on which the actions were to be performed was made on the basis of monitoring actions. Many factors contributed to the fact of choosing a particular rock for the implementation of the action, but the priority was given rocks with poor condition of the anchors and to rocks where the routes overlapped with the areas of the occurrence of rock plants.

The works were carried out in the area of the Środkowa Jura refugium (the Zegarowe mountains, Goncerzyca, the Jasna cave in Strzegowa, Grodzisk Pański, Jurassic Park, the Krzywość rock, Biśnik, the Straszykowe rocks, Cisownik, Grochowiec), as well as in the area of the Kroczyce refugium (Popielarka, Łężec, Okiennik Morski, Barwinek, Lew, the Nietoperzowe rocks, Cydzownik, the Jamnicze rocks, the Sowie rocks, the Zamkowa rock, Łóżeczko, Barak (Sfinks), Ula and Różowa Ściana). All in all, the replacement involved 337 routes.

In order to disseminate the knowledge on the need for protecting the rock grasslands we have issued a guide book for the rock-climbers including the summary of our project actions, the tips on climbing in the areas which are valuable for the natural environment and plans of the selected caves of the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland.

New rappel anchors on the Straszykowe rocks

A new fixed belay-rappel anchor

Disassembled old anchors

At work