Castle — 9

Author: Vladimir Mogila, Odessa

Yuri Lishayev's route "through the cave" 6A, VII+, A2, 360 m

On November 17, Vladimir Mogila with Alexey Zhilin (Odessa) finished "repairing" Yuri Lishayev's ("Fantik") route "Through the cave". "...We did the main work three weeks ago, and this time we put the final touches. We did not alter the route, but only tried to restore it:

• Equipped reliable stations.
• Replaced some old drilled holes' pitons. Removed unnecessary ones.
• Cleaned the route from old pitons and chocks.
• Cleaned "live rocks" where possible.

For stations, we used "PETZL" pitons. Typically:

• "Ba­til­nox" (diameter — 14 mm, depth — 5 cm, two-component adhesive)
• "Long Life" (12 mm, 6.5 cm)

You can rap­pel through "Colinox". In case of rescue operations, it is pos­si­ble to quickly descend from the yayla. Most intermediate drilled pitons are "CAS­SIN" bolts (10 mm, 7 cm). On the "road", we replaced every other one. On the second rope, most intermediate ones are "PETZL" "Co­li­nox" (10 mm, 7 cm). We added two additional pitons: at the beginning of the first rope (dangerous section above the ground) and in the middle of the fifth (dangerous section above the ledge). The station in the cave was moved slightly to the right (to reduce rope friction on the sharp rock). On the first three ropes, it is possible to rappel (pull through) with a single 50-meter rope.

• On the first rope — additional rappel station 20 m below the cave
• On the second and third ropes — rings in the middle of the sections

Brief description by sections:

I didn't put numbers on the photo. I think it's possible to understand without them. Classification according to UIAA (i.e., 11 categories of climbing difficulty with "+" and "-", and 5 categories for AID).

R0–R1 85°, VI–A1, VII+/A2, 45 m

In the middle of the rope, a traverse to the right ends with a pendulum into a parallel crack.

R1–R2 95° VI A2 38 m

R2–R3 95° VI–A2 48 m

R3–R4 50° II 15 m

Traverse left along the ledge.

R4–R5 70° V 40 m

R5–R6 75° IV 40 m

R6–R7 45° III 70 m

Starts with a gentle 30-meter section.

R7–R8 45° II 35 m

R8­ — R9 75° IV­ — 30 ­m

On the S wall through (Cave) (Lishayev's route) 6A, VI, A3 R0­ — R1:

• Along an inclined, bush-covered ledge, up and left 7 m. Drilled piton.
• From the piton upwards through a crack, initially climbing 5­–8 m, then on AID to reach a drilled path.
• Along drilled pitons to the right 8 m, then a pendulum to the right 5­–7 m to a piton.
• From the piton to the right and upwards through a blind crack on AID 10 m, further climbing to reach a grotto.

Station. VI, A3, 55 m, 80°

R1­–­R2: From the station, descend and move to the right into an internal corner. Through the corner, then along the wall to reach a piton. From the piton upwards along an overhanging wall on AID (skyhooks, small chocks, pitons, some drilled holes) 10 m, then climbing to reach the station. VI, A3, 30 m, 95°. R2­–­R3: From the station upwards on AID through an intermittent blind crack, to reach a drilled path. Up along drilled pitons. Station on 3 pitons. VI, A2, 40 m, 90°

R3­–­R4: Along drilled pitons to approach a small overhang. Through the overhang on AID (piton, skyhook, small chocks) 15 m, further climbing to reach a ledge. Along the ledge to the left 10 m. Station. VI, A3, 50 m, 80° R4­–­R7: Further, the route coincides with the "Sokolinый" route. Time to complete: 9­–­11 hours.