Route description
Committing route with beautiful face climbing and some crumbly rock sections.
Fixed Pro: Stainless steel bolted belays. Pitches contain sparse bolts (stainless steel) and pitons (some moving).
Mobile pro: Selection of nuts and a set of cams for cracks from 14mm to 70mm in size.
The route starts from the grassy ledge located immediately above the Football Field. To get there, follow the first few pitches of the Blue Crack - from the boulder at the base take the ledge system and chimney that will lead to the Football Field. The first pitch starts from the belay (two stainless steel bolts) somewhere in the middle of the grassy ledge above.
Pitch 1 (42m, VI+) - A relatively mild pitch with a few fixed pins, but multiple possibilities for mobile pro.
Go straight up on grass turfs. After clipping a piton hammered in a small grassy crack on the right side, climb a few meters and catch a dihedral and climb to it's end. Continue up on a unprotected face towards the golden piton above. Follow the crack system until the belay station (two stainless steel bolts and a third (from first the first ascent)).
Pitch 2 (25m, VI-) - Another easier pitch and quite short that will lead us in the Great Traverse, close to Diedrul Pupezei. From the belay station, we climb ascending to the right on the clear crack, which is great for cams. After clipping the solid golden piton, traverse to the left horizontally, a few meters until the wall becomes a slab and continue to the right oblique ledges until the belay station marked by a bolt and a piton.
Pitch 3 (35m, VII-) - Beautiful pitch, protected with pitons, with an engagement traverse, on solid rock with good footholds. Fixed gear can be doubled by cams and nuts.
After the ring piton above the belay station we continue ascending to the left, on good holds, then we enter a crack, around the corner, where we clip a second piton. After the third piton, we go upwards to a dihedral crack. We continue to the upper golden piton. Here we start the right traverse, on unclear handholds and good footholds. After about 4m, we catch a large pocket and continue upwards, on good holds until the crack above that we will follow, obliquely and to the left, clipping good pitons. In the end of the pitch we have a small face, with good holds, but not very clear. Belay station at 2 stainless steel anchors.
Pitch 4 (40m, VIII(VII/A0) - One of the two heaviest pitches, can be extra protected with cams and nuts in the beginning and at the end of the pitch.
We clip the piton above the belay station and continue on good holds to a short dihedral, secured with two old pitons at the beginning and end. We get up on a small ledge that does not inspire great confidence and then straight up on a short face with holds not so obvious, we clip two solid pitons and climb on a grassy ledge, where we have the first bolt of the pitch. From here we continue ascending left on good holds, we clip a piton at the base of the arch crack and we continue on the left side towards the visible bolt, then all the way up to the crack at the base of the arch, where we clip another bolt. Here we have some mandatory free climbing, on pockets, well protected, traversing to right to a piton. The length continues upwards on a loose and sometimes overhanging crack, protected by a weak piton and a solid one at the end. The crack has large pockets and ends with an overhang where we clip another golden piton, before belay station. Belay station has 2 stainless steel anchors and a third manufactured one.
Pitch 5 (40m, VI+) - A pitch with a spectacular initial section, on clean and solid rock, and at the end a more orientation-problem section with some loose rock.
We go obliquely to the left towards the first visible anchor, then we continue on good holds clipping anchors and solid pitons on the beautiful face above. After 15-20m of climbing on the perfect rock we go straight up on loose grassy ledges, clipping old pitons until we catch a final dihedral at the end of which we traverse the left to the belay station (a stainless steel anchor and two solid pitons with rings).
Pitch 6 (43m, VII) - An orientation-peoblem pitch with a step on the dihedral at the beginning and an unprotected end (cams and nuts may be usefull).
We overcome a series of ledges on good holds and we engage on an open dihedral and without clear holds towards the piton with a visible ring. After an interesting move we arrive at good pockets (in one of them we can mount a medium to small cam) and continue straight up where we clip a bolt. We continue on a right traverse to the easy dihedral that will lead us after several meters to the belay station (2 stainless steel bolts).
Pitch 7 (40m, VII+/A0) - The hardest pitch of the route.
From the belay station we continue upwards on the face. We clip two bolts, we pass by an old piton with ring set in a little loose arch and we clip the bolt on its right. We continue straight up to the great arch above. The beginning of the traversing under the arch is marked by an old piton. We traverse to the left without fixed gear, but with multiple possibilities of mobile protection, until we arrive at a stainless steel bolt from which we continue horizontally left 2m towards a piton hidden under a small arch. From here we clip a new bolt and continue straight up on the crack with pitons. At the end of it we traverse to the right to better holds, then up on a face we have a new stainless steel bolt after which we climb on pretty good holds until belay station.
Pitch 8 (25m, VII-) - Short pitch, little orientation-problem, which will take us to the White Valley Ridge.
We follow the line of pitons, on the left, under the arch. We continue ascending to the left, we clip a golden piton and we engage in a horizontal traverse to the left, on good holds until we arrive at a crack with an old piton. From here we continue straight up the crack system until the belay station marked with a stainless steel bolt and another rusty one.
Information source Dumitrică Vasile - 2018
Titus Gonţea - http://titusgontea.blogspot.ro/2009/07/traseul-sarutul-pamantului.html
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