Crimea, Sokol mountain. "Dzhaksy" Route
Sokol. "Dzhaksy" Route (Nadtochiy S., Lavrinenko A., February 5, 2008), 6A
The route turned out to be interesting, challenging, and ambiguous in terms of orientation on the terrain. Places for pitons, anchors, and skyhooks need to be found among the resonant slabs and scaly exfoliations. The overall complexity is 5b+ (in other words, it's 6A, but not long enough to be real). Many parts of the route can be climbed, but most likely, they will be aided, as it's very difficult to organize protection while climbing. A team with experience in climbing routes of this type (e.g., "Machembo") can complete this route in:
- 7–9 hours.
Sokol. "Dzhaksy" Route 6A
The route is called "Dzhaksy," which translates from Kazakh to Russian as "Хорошо" (Good). The total length of the route is 225 meters, with a complexity of 5B+ (i.e., practical 6A, but not quite). The approaches to the route are simple, and everything can be walked without being tied up, which cannot be said about the route itself.
Technical Description of the Route:
- R0–R1: 40 m,
key climbing spot 5C, overall 5B+, protection is simple on pitons and cams. Station on 2 bolts hammered by A. Sergeev (Communist).
- R1–R2: 35 m A2
The rope is saturated with bolts; currently, 13 are left (6 were removed as unnecessary; 5 more can be taken down, but time was limited). Bolts were removed if a section of the route could be climbed without them. If there were none at all, an original line could be laid out; unfortunately, we have what we have.
Protection is on bolts, aided climbing: skyhooks plus anchors. Some pieces can be risked by climbing — the rock is monolithic enough. The station is hanging, on a bolt plus your gear — there are cracks for pitons.
- R2–R3: 30 m A2 (conditionally A3).
The first 8–9 meters continue the bolt trail (6 pieces), then you need to fantasize on holes, cracks, and exfoliations upwards and to the right to a bolt. Our bolt is 11 meters away, and from there, it's a stone's throw to the station.
Protection and aided climbing on:
- anchors,
- pitons,
- relief skyhooks.
The station is hanging, on a bolt plus pitons.
- R3–R4: 50 m A2–A3.
Protection is on bolts (7 pieces); between them, there's quite interesting aided climbing (some places can be climbed, but protection while climbing is problematic) on pitons, skyhooks, relief, and hole anchors.
Station:
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to the left of the tree
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on a bolt and a tree
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for convenience, you can add a piton.
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R4–R5: 40 m A2–A3. After the station, immediately upwards with a gradual shift to the left for 4–5 meters up to 20 meters of rope, then up a thin, poorly visible crack for another 12 meters and a gradual move to the right 3–4 meters into a clear gully. Station on a bolt plus a VTsSPSov hook. Protection is complex and interesting, with pitons, anchors, and "fifis" being very helpful. On this rope, there are enough holes and micro-cracks; in the upper part, it lies down, but only one bolt hammered 6 meters away (visible from the station) increases the demands on the reliability of the protection.
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R5–R6: 30 m A2
The most difficult climbing spot is 6a. On this rope, for protection, friends or cams for cracks 30–60 mm are suitable, but you can completely do without them, using anchors and pitons. 6 meters from the station, a bolt is hammered into the monolith; from it, you can start climbing; there's enough relief and holds. The finish is on the plateau: a bolt is hammered, and there are many resonant but deep cracks nearby.
Equipment used:
- 60 m rope
- many quickdraws
- 8 long slings
- 6 anchor pitons
- 3 "CASSIN" vertical pitons
- 5 horizontal pitons
- 1 "Morkovka"
- 3 8mm hole skyhooks
- 4 different relief pitons
- 2 rock "fifis"
- aiders (you can use ladders)
General Impression: The idea of the route is to continue the started but forgotten line (attributed to A. Sergeev) to the left of the "Hohol cherez zerkala" (Hohol through mirrors) route (1992, Kruglenko A., Tsvetkov N., Gromko V., Kaligaev E.). If possible, remove unnecessary bolts on this line.