Route description prepared by: Alexey Abramov, Moscow Uarch-Kaya, "Karnaval" route, cat. 4B, (10 pitches, 6a grade), 270 m

"Karnaval" route line

Condition as of August 30, 2003

Approach: From the forester's house near Kilse-Burun peak, take the Upper Road for 3.5 km towards "Chortova Lestnica" pass. You can leave your car near the second bridge (counting from the forester's house).

From the memorial, follow a wide, well-trodden path (the path starts from the "Opolznevskoe forestry" sign on the left side of the road, if you're driving from the forester's house) upwards towards "Chortova Lestnica" pass for about 3-4 minutes until you reach the southeastern ridge, where the "Surpriz" 1B route begins.

The start of the "Surpriz" route is marked with blue paint on the rock. From the inscription, follow downwards along the riverbed for about 50 m, then turn right and move about 20 m under the wall to the characteristic blocky rocks (a sign should be installed here soon).

R0–R1:

• Climb simple blocky rocks to the left onto a ledge with trees (20 m, no protection)
• Then, follow an internal corner with a stationary piton at its base, move 25 m (III+, medium and large stoppers, friends) right-upwards along moderately difficult rocks to a large terrace with juniper. Belay station on two stationary pitons.

20 m — no protection; 25 m — III+

R1–R2: From the belay station, traverse left (an arrow is drawn!) 3 m along smooth rocks (IV), then follow an internal corner 20 m (III, stoppers, friends) to a wide vertical crack — the key section of the route. Three stationary pitons are installed along the crack.

On the left side of the crack:

• 10 m — 5a
• 10 m — 6a
• medium friends

Belay station on two stationary pitons. On the key section, after the third piton, there are small, hard-to-see footholds.

3 m — IV; 20 m — III; 10 m — 5a/b; 10 m — 6a

R2–R3: Continue left-upwards along an inclined crack

50 m (5a/5b, medium friends, two intermediate stationary pitons) to a belay station on two stationary pitons.

50 m — 5a/5b R3–R4: CAUTION! From this station, it's easy to exit upwards onto the simpler "Surpriz" route! The correct path continues along a crack left-upwards (35 m, 5a, medium and small friends, intermediate stationary piton) to a point where the crack becomes horizontal (at the time of description, a rusty old piton was present). Then:

• Climb a vertical wall to a visible stationary piton
• Exit onto the ridge (10 m, 4c)

Belay station on two stationary pitons. The route then coincides with the "Surpriz" route.

35 m — 5a/5b; 10 m — 4c/5a R4–R5: Follow the ridge to the sub-summit, then descend simple rocks into a col, from which you can climb right-upwards to a pine tree (40 m, I–II).

40 m — I–II R5–R6: From the pine tree, climb 8 m up steep rocks (II+) onto the ridge, then follow a simple ridge (30 m, no protection — I) to the summit.

8 m — II+; 30 m — no protection — I

Descent: From the summit, follow a path right and down, then along a path leading from "Chortova Lestnica" pass to the road (10-15 minutes).

Recommended equipment:

• Medium and small friends — 5-8 pcs
• Medium stoppers — 3-5 pcs
• Quickdraws — 10-12 pcs
• Rope — 50 m

Personal impressions:

Alexey Abramov: "A very high-quality, strong route for a '4' category. Newly completed the day before our visit. Significantly more difficult than 'Ukh'; I wouldn't recommend jumaring for novices (large pendulum moves on the third and fourth pitches). The 'key' is more characteristic of '5' category routes. Hearing emotional descriptions of the 'key' from the preceding team of wonderful girls from Novgorod, I felt a surge of tension inside; however, the route is well-protected and safe. You can easily bail out from any piton on the 'key'."

Climbing is on monolithic rocks, but since the route is new:

• You can pull out rocks from cracks in some places

It's easy to exit onto the "Surpriz" route after the third pitch; I advise against it, as the fourth pitch is quite interesting.

The route is convenient in terms of approach and descent and will undoubtedly become extremely popular among enthusiasts of Crimean wall climbing with a medium level of difficulty. Special thanks to the team that prepared it — Igor Saveliev and others...

Alexey Abramychev: "Very pleasant climbing, not too much 'gardening', diverse terrain — there's friction, wedging, and counter-pressure. You can bail out or take a '1' category exit from anywhere. I agree with Lyokha's classification. Although the third pitch seemed quite difficult to me (maybe 5b?). There's little 'live' rock, but it exists (especially unpleasant when it's in cracks during counter-pressure). The third and fourth pitches are similar (but significantly more difficult) to the pitch in the internal corner of 'Ukh'. The 'key' is excellent. It's also nice that there's practically no 4B category route on Foros, and this one has relatively even climbing, not 'gardening'."

I still can't help but drool over the '1' category ("Surpriz"): in my opinion, it's the most beautiful and well-designed '1' category route in Crimea. Very even climbing with elements of mountaineering, many cracks and ledges where you can practice placing protection — I highly recommend it as a first route in Crimea.

In the spring, there's water in the stream under both routes, and you can take a swim.

Respects to the creators (Sava, Mogila, Ivankov) (guys, if I forgot anyone, sorry). Thanks to Novgorod for their cries that boosted our confidence.

P.S. I almost forgot to mention that, among other things, the funds we collected back then in Crimea were used to create:

• Surpriz 1B
• Karnaval 4B
• Serpompo (stress on the last syllable) 2B
• Shambala 3A

All on Uarch-Kaya...