The Kelchstein is one of the best known climbing rocks in the Zittau Mountains. It was first climbed before 1785, when woodcutters fixed a plaque to the summit; the plaque is no longer there. Its development for sports climbing started on 3 September 1911. Dresden climbers ascended the rocks with the aid of a tree at its northwestern corner. The first sports climb without any aids was up the present-day Old Way (Alter Weg) by Siegfried Schreiber on 26 June 1946. The Kelch is one of the most difficult summits to climb in the Zittau Mountains. Today there are only five routes, all at climbing grades of VIIc and VIIIc.