Final round on Belladonna 7c+

I was in Geyikbayiri this weekend (November 16) hoping to have another session on Belladonna. My last session on the route was full of surprises. I guess my brain just could not absorb spanning the distance from:

"Yeah, this one is hard, probably will take some 3-5 sessions" 

to:

"Dude, you were so close to sending it! That final jug was just into face, and you literally spoiled it by confusing those feet up there."

within just one day. So, we were in Koridor sector again, as early as possible since the weather forecast was blabbering about some heavy rain after 16:00. I knew I did not have too much time to warm up. Just wanted to hang the draws, remember some micro-beta, maybe tick-mark that last foot so that I won't miss it this time, and all that. 

As we were warming up on the 6b'ish face routes to the right of the giant fig tree with Pelin, I just saw that some guy attempted the route before me. It was no problem for me as long as there won't be a super long queue of people waiting to try the route. I asked them, and viola, only one of them would try. They were a couple of climbers from Germany. The girl was trying Jack Daniels 7c when we just arrived in Koridor, and I believe the guy just walked that thing - an easy flash. I asked the name of the guy to his belayer. His name was - I believe - Honnold. I kindly asked him to make a couple of quickdraws longer: the permanent one in the crux and the one right after that. He agreed, and suddenly we were soul mates trying this weirdo beauty together. 

My first try was: well... as good as a first try after some 3 weeks could be. I wanted to try my new Miura lace shoes; however, they just weren't cooperating much on delicate shapeless features on the limestone. I like stiff and new shoes when the foot holds are discrete and edgy, but prefer something a bit softer and maybe a bit broken down when the foot holds are shapeless non-uniform features. Since my other pair of Miuras was kind of too worn out, I decided to give these new ones a go. I only climbed a 8a last year using these: Karakedi in Karakaya - the route with notoriously hard small feet in its crux. 

So, the first try was kind of spent for getting used to the new shoes,and also remembering some micro-beta on hand-foot placements. I did try my best still, resisting into the crux, and falling while going to the slopy crimp with my left hand, before taking the jug with the same left hand. 

On the other hand, I remember some sneaky creaky movements in my finger ligaments while I was crimping hard on the under-side pull right hand crimp in the crux... At that point in time, I once again remembered that yes.. there was something called warm-up, and no... climbing a couple of 6b stuff before getting on one of the trickiest crimpy 7c+'s around is not right. You just have to find a bolt hanger, hang that damn fingerboard, and pull on some crimps - as hard as you can - a couple of times to get things started with your fingers. Did I already know it? Hell yes. Will I skip it again in the future? Well, probably yes :)

During this first try, I had a chance to find some alternative beta for the upper crux, but I was not 100% sure that I would want to apply this. Anyhow... During second try, I was a lot more composed. I don't want to say that it was like a walk in the park, but things were quite smooth, and I believe conditions also got much better in a matter of hours. Hands were sweating a lot less. It's really amazing to see how everything can change in between two attempts (any sometimes, nothing changes). I just call this like: planets come into a good alignment, so that I can send the route without many hassles. I know very well that the planets came to alignment, since that girl also "walked" Jack Daniels 7c just a couple minutes ago. 

Pelin wanted to try her route Patlican 6c, so thanks to Ali, who belayed me on my send go. In the meantime, Pelin could find an opportunity to take some footage from my send using her shiny new phone:

Also, thanks to the nice German couple Johannes and Annie for their support on the climb, and their warm conversation about Frankenjura. Thanks folks, and hope to meet you again somewhere up in the rocks. 

The next day, it was raining cats and dogs. Since I was quite hyper-motivated, we went to Sarkit, and squeezed some good quality tufas, bruised some knees, and cramped our hips. I tried a long-term project candidate, but well.. It was quite hard, and felt overwhelming, so I decided to give Inner Smile 7b+ some goes. Apparently, I was already too tired when I figured out the correct beta for me, so that tufa beauty is left for the upcoming tufa session. At least, the route is much more approachable after re-bolting by the legendary "Bolting Antalya" team. Kudos folks, keep up the good work!!

Bright - Cold Weekend on Barek Mountain

Sunset: New Block in T9 Sector

We were back at Barek mountain with Guner on Saturday. The sun was bright with no clouds, but the wind was quite high and chilly. We went to T9 sector to see what we can do. We decided to open some new blocks as a warm up, and found a new block that we called Sunset. 

Sunset block at T9 sector

After a few hours of playful discovery, the block became a very nice one to warm up, with 7 problems ranging from Fb 5 to 6C. The video is from Guner climbing "Crispy Crimp 6B": 

And this video is from "Dope Out 6C". 

Nimrod 7A+

We finished the other half of the day on a 7A+ opened recently by Bozkir folks: Nimrod. We were so focused on the route, so I forgot to take even a single photo there, but the problem looks like the following: 

Sit starts from a side-crimp with right hand, and an undercling for the left hand. Then a couple of moves with slopers, and a couple of jumps for me, with some weak heel hook. The top out was also quite tricky. When I first tried the problem on this day, it looked so far from my reach. Too hard. But it was quite magical that as I did more and more tries with some good rests in between, I could finally pull off the problem on the last minutes of sunlight. I guess this became the first 7A+ that I could climb in a single session in Barek mountain. 

There was a small rock crystal on the rock surface that we used for right heel hook, and it unfortunately it was broken before my final attempt. I think it makes the heel hook somewhat more tricky, but it still works. 

Kiddo: New Block near Skoptoma

The next day, we came back again. We were tired, but we still had some easier stuff on our todo lists, and maybe we could open another new block. When we arrived, Mert, Yesim and Nihat was already there, and they started opening a new block. In a couple of hours, we opened 4 new problems in this block. 

B.B. Kiddo is a very short, compact 6B+ that involves pulling on a sloper crimp, and then mantling over the lower of the block. This is the video from my first ascent: 

This is Hattori Hanzo 6A+ (FA by Nihat Candemir):

And finally, this is O-Ren Ishii 6C:

Dombisot 7A

After spending some time on the Kiddo block, we went to Skoptoma. The weather was perfect for trying Dombisot. After a series of desperate attempts, I could finally to the stand start version which is 6C. For that, I had to micro-adjust my beta by using the upper side gaston on the right (thanks to Yesim), and using a higher foot for the left foot. 

I was already tired from yesterday, but the conditions were soo good, so I thought this should not be missed. After a few tries, I could also climb the sit start version which is 7A. Happy. 

Dombisot 7A (sit start version)

Dombisot 6C (Stand version crux move)

Crossing the Bridge 7A+

My mind was just stuck on this route since I left it on Saturday. On Monday, instead of spending my training time in the gym, I could arrange my things, and could go for a couple of hours to Barek mountain. The weather was a lot colder than I expected, and the wind was very strong. I only had some 2 hours to try the boulder, and I chose to warm up using the actual moves on the boulder. I first tried the top out part a couple of times to spare myself from the stress of being solo. 

So, my expectation was: ok, I already figured out my beta the last time I was here, and now, I would only warm up, and put my fresh power into that one for a quick send. But the reality was not as I thought. Warming up alone was quite hard under this windy and chilly conditions, and when I finally could condition myself, after a few unsuccessful tries, I was pretty sure that there was something going on with my beta. 

I was making a toe-hook with my left foot to the yellow mark in the photo below. However strong I tried to endure and squeeze the rock with my legs, when I released the left toe hook, I could not resist the pendulum effect, and I was instantly lying on the pads. So, after a moment of realization, I started searching for something else. Heel hooking to the red mark in the below photo was another option, but that was even harder, as it did not help a lot for reaching the next hold. 

As I was trying to find something for my right foot, totally by coincidence, I could realize that I can indeed heel hook to somewhere in between (green mark in the above photo), and after some brushing, that place was perfect. It was nothing like a crimp or a big hold to heel hook onto, however, it was a big smooth surface with just a little fracture on it, and suddenly, it worked like a charm. The position of the heel hook was so perfect that the moves after that began to feel like a couple of grades easier. 

At the moment I realized the beta, I was both happy, and a bit angry with myself. I just can't remember how many times I tried this move, just thinking that I was just not strong enough for it. For the move before that (going to the big pinch with right hand), I apparently did not change any beta, but just got a bit stronger and coordinated. But for this move, it was not working. Regardless of how many sessions I would spend on that, it would not improve. But this new beta... Oh man... I wish I was more experienced.. But on the other hand, experience probably comes as a result of these "experiences", right? 

I was quite tired and wasted because of the previous 7-8 tries with the wrong beta. Anyways, after discovering the new beta, which is just some 20 centimeters shift of the heel hook, I could do the route on the very next try. In my video, you can actually see that I struggle more with the move before the heel hook, but the moves after the heel hook went a lot smoother. 

My own adventure, with my own beta, with a top out that coincides with the beautiful sunset on this gorgeous Bozkir evening. Could it be better than that? I guess not...

Crossing the Bridge 7A+

Back to Barek Mountain: finishing some projects, and progressing in others

We were back on Barek mountain for a bouldering session with Guner, Aysen, Murti and Cansu. The day opened at Masa Kaya as always. Murti and Cansu was just trying bouldering outdoors, so we spent some time at Masa Kaya with warm ups. 

Skoptoma 7B: What a send with what a fight!

After we tried some of the warmp ups on Masa Kaya, we went down to Skoptoma 7B to give it some tries. I unfortunately broke my index finger nail badly about ten days ago here. Maybe it was also because we were kind of in a rush since that was a weekday afternoon attack. 

Today, my finger nail was much better, and having climbed three days in Geyikbayiri let me take my mind a bit off from the pressures of sending my projects. I was just feeling more relaxed, a bit more confident I should say. The weather was still surprisingly hot. We gave a few tries to Dombisot 6C, however both Guner and I was still far from doing it, maybe also because the sun was still shining on the sloping holds of that route. 

Skoptoma was all in the shade. So, we switched our focus to that, since the main goal for coming there was that route. My initial tries were quite desperate, but I was also feeling that I just needed a bit more warm up, a bit luck, and well, maybe a bit more wind? I tried to show all the patience I can, by trying to take long rests between the tries. And finally, all the planets and the stars aligned, and I could pull the dead-point move to the left undercling crimp with near perfect positioning, and I was suddenly on the small footholds, trying to take the high sloping crimp with my right hand. Guess what, that move also went, and I just do not remember if I could close my crimp or not, well, maybe I closed it, because I felt quite powerful on that, and I could finally take my left hand to the other crimp. 

I was just hanging there with my feet on quite loose footholds, and my both hands holding the two crimps. One side of my brain was telling me that I was already two tired, and a soft-landing to the crash pads would be a good retreat. The other crazy side of my brain said: shut the f..k up, and jump to whatever hold there is in front of you. There was no time to think, and I was tired of falling from the last moves of this route, so I just lunched up with a loud slap on the sloper on the lip with my right hand, with no clue if I would be able to hold on or not. Guess what? I held on, and took the other hand up too, and after a few seconds of hesitation, my right heel was already grabbing the far side of the lip, and finally I was on top of this hard route. 

Well, this was a great route, and this ascent on this very day, was a great fight on my side. I would definitely try this route again in later times. It is such a nice looking, accessible and proper boulder. 

Here is some climbing-shoe tripod footage of the climb, with some tunes for sparing you from my actual screams during the climb:

Do It - No Name 6C

We went to the Do It block after Skoptoma, and tried some easier routes there. Guner made a nice accent of Do It 6b+, and I could send the line that starts on the left of the block and going directly to the top without using the holds of Do It. Ugur Yilmaz and Fikret climbed this route the last time they were here and there is not a name yet for this route. Unfortunately, the drawings of the routes on this block is quite tangled in 27 Crags, so, it is really hard to put this route there, but I could squeeze it here, anyway. 

Progressing on Crossing the Bridge 7A+

We ended the day on T7: Crossing the Bridge. I was back in this gorgeous route. It was a bit cooler than the last time, and I instantly noticed that the friction was better. Maybe I was also stronger, I don't know, but somehow, I could pull the move from the sloper crimp with a left arm lock off, to the far right pinch. The last time we were here, I wasn't even close to doing this move. 

However, the route is still hard after that move. I struggled a lot by changing the beta over and over, and when I finally could find one that could work for me, I was already too exhausted, and whatever Eminem song we would play and however loud, it would be silly to push more on this day. I left the route for another day, but I have a strange feeling of overall satisfaction on this route today. The progress since last time was well... quite noticeable. 

And I should one more say that this route feels quite hard for me. Harder than its assigned grade. I don't know, some routes are just harder on some people, and this comes harder to me. I can go as far to say that it feels harder than Skoptoma 7B - but their styles are so different, and I know that it would be a silly comparison. But that's just how it feels to me. 

A perfectly spent day with lots of good chit-chat with friends, with an energizing and patient team. Many thanks to Guner, Aysen, Murti and Cansu for their positive energy and the great photo shoots on this beautiful day.  

Here are some shots from my tries on Crossing the Bridge: