BIWAK Returns to Saxon Switzerland: Balancing Climbing and Forest Fire Concerns

The new BIWAK season of the MDR is a thematic balancing act between pure joie de vivre and deep worry lines for almost everyone involved. Since the severe forest fires in the summer of 2022, hardly anyone has gone climbing or hiking in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains who has not had the frightening images of blazing spruce forests, firefighting helicopters, soot-black firefighters and burning rocky reefs in the back of their minds. “Of course we can’t avoid this topic when we’re out and about in the home mountains,” says BIWAK moderator Thorsten Kutschke. The episodes can be seen from June 30th in the ARD media library and from July 3rd to 6th and July 8th at 7:50 p.m. on MDR television.

Nevertheless, in the five-part report, climbing is difficult and beautiful. It’s not just about mastering difficult paths, but also about controlling the rocks. After all, not only part of the forest was on fire, some climbing rocks were also on fire. Together with experts from the Saxon Mountaineering Association (SBB) and rangers from the National Park administration, the BIWAK team wants to find out: What did the fire do to the sandstone?

Winter adventures in the Biela Valley

A winter adventure in the Biela Valley promises unalloyed joy: a courageous student from Dresden wants to cross the entire Glasergrund on a three centimeter narrow webbing, a so-called highline – a 250 meter long tightrope walk at sub-zero temperatures at dizzy heights. With breathtaking footage.

The real dimensions of the forest fire of July 2022 are revealed on an extended hike with a “ranger”: Julia Flor is a blogger and nature lover, she knows about mosses, woodpeckers, tree fungi and actually everything there is to discover along the way when you are on your way without haste. She, too, hikes parts of the two percent national park area where the fire raged. And she too asks herself: what will happen in the future to all the bark beetle deadwood in the forest, how are the Czech neighbors tackling the problem, what responsibility does politics have? And: is it even possible to guarantee effective fire protection in a national park with its strict nature conservation regulations? (SZ)