Kletterwald Wuhlheide

Kletterwald Wuhlheide: climbing in the Volkspark beside the FEZ

Volkspark Wuhlheide in Koepenick is a full stretch of woodland complete with a park railway, a bathing house and the FEZ as neighbours, and among the trees right next to the leisure centre hangs Kletterwald Wuhlheide. From the Freizeit- und Erholungszentrum tram stop it is five minutes on foot, served by lines 27, 60 and 67, and from Wuhlheide station on the S3 the walk can be shortened by taking the park railway to Eichgestell. Drivers can leave the car in the FEZ car parks, which normally cost nothing. The site borders directly on the leisure centre, so a morning of climbing can be combined with the bathing house or the park railway without a detour. The operator describes itself as the first climbing park in Berlin, and the installation has matured accordingly: the courses hang in grown trees rather than on masts, and there is no roof anywhere. That is what separates it from the inner-city gyms: here you climb among pines, hear the park railway pass and have to plan around the weather rather than ignore it.

Eleven courses with over 150 elements, from the toddler trail to the Risiko route

Dogs are welcome on the grounds on a lead but stay below during the climbing. The stations are spread across eleven courses with more than 150 climbing elements between them, graded from very easy to very hard. Four of them are toddler courses between 40 centimetres and two metres for children under 1.30 metres, while the topmost platforms of the Risiko route sit at ten metres and are reserved for young people aged 13 and over. In between come wobbly bridges, cable runs and elements where a bicycle and a skateboard are ridden along the steel cable, plus a Tarzan jump. Since 2017 Kletterwald Wuhlheide has used a continuous safety system to DIN 15567, on which the carabiner cannot be released by accident in the first place. Two hours of climbing time cost 25 euros for adults and 21 euros for children aged seven to twelve, harness and briefing included. There are no changing rooms on site, but there are toilets and a terrace serving pizza and hot dogs, and anyone bringing their own food will find picnic tables in the woods. Those who would rather stay on the ground can explore the Wuhlheide with a tablet and a digital treasure hunt instead.