New year's first boulders at Barek Mountain

After returning home from Geyikbayiri, I had two visits to Barek Mountain at the weekends. In the first visit, I climbed with Fikret, and in the second one I climbed with Erkin. Both days were great, but both Erkin and I were amazed on how much we climbed on the second one. That was a terrific day which does not happen all the time... 

Please refer to 27crags.com for routes in Barek mountain. 

Bir Zamanlar Anadoluda - Sit start - 6C+

This one is in the Tarla road block in Barek mountain. The problem starts with a sloper crimp for the left hand and good a hold for the right hand. Then I went to another crimp with the right hand. This is the hardest move on the problem, however, the rest is also sustained. I fell almost from the top on my last try before I sent it. 

Tarla Road - Sit, 6C

Fikret's solution on this one was a lot harder, but apparently, I found an easier beta by starting by a heel hook to the good crimp on the left of the block. I guess this beta makes it a full grade easier. 

Replikas, 7A - (feels more like 6C+)

We went to this problem with Fikret, and to my surprise, I could also flash it right after Fikret. Landing looked awful, so, retreating from the top out was not an option for me :) But, I honestly think that the grade is softer than 7A. It feels more like 6C+.

Surprise 7A (feels more like 6C+)

I was a bit anxious about this boulder, feeling like it had a long move, and it is pretty high. We went to this one with Erkin after warming up on Tarla road block. We watched some videos from previous sends by Zorbey. I started by skipping the first hard - long move and climbed the top out to gain a bit more confidence, and that strategy worked quite well. Surprisingly, the first move was not very hard for both of us. I sent the route in a couple of tries, and Erkin flashed it right after me. We both thought the route felt easier than 7A with our beta. 

For the starting move, there were two alternatives for the right hand. We used the crimp which is to the left. You can take this hold like a pinch, and it helps a lot to keep the body closer to the rock. For the left hand, there is a knob like small round feature on the rock. You can't really hold it, it's just to stabilize the body and gain some more upward pull.. Then we went with the left hand to the best hold on the upper left. The hold is good, but it might need some care to land on a grip with optimum position. The rest is high, but easy, especially if you watch the movie from Emre. 

Dadaruhi 7A+, Dadaruhi sit 7B

Ok. this is one of the hardest ones in Barek Mountain as of now. It is a tall block. But in the first session we had with Fikret, I could find the beta that could work for me, and Fikret climbed it in that session. In the second session with Erkin, after climbing Surprise we decided to work on this with Erkin. The boulder is in the shade, and first we thought it will be too cold there in this winter day. However, the weather was quite warm, and there was no wind, so we wanted to have a couple of tries. 

Once again, I started from the middle, and made the top out to gain some confidence, and shortly after that, I could do the standing version. Then, after resting for some time, in my next try, I could do the sit version as well. Wow... 

We set up an anchor and ropes so that Erkin can also have a look at the topout section. He then also sent the standing and sit versions after a short while. 

Dadaruhi sit - 7B

Happy sunny day!