Shaan-Kaya — 11

Author: Alexander Lavrinenko, Odessa

Alexander Lavrinenko

Shaan-Kaya is located in the Alupka area. It is not part of the Southern ridge, but is jutting out to the sea, in front of the Alupka wall. The wall height difference is about 250 m. In the central part, the wall overhangs. There are 6 routes laid on the wall (Note: as of December 2001, 8 routes have been completed), all 6B category.

To get under Shaan-Kaya, you need to:

Reach Alupka "Pitomnik" stop
Go up the road from it
Pass through the vineyards
Reach a dirt road that leads almost under the wall

There's a spring 15 minutes walk from the wall.

Galitskiy route 6A, VI, A3, 305 m (№1 on the photo) — passes about 100 m to the right of Grishchenko route. Time taken is 6–8 hours.

Author: Max Kostrov, Mountain.RU

In September, we completed several new routes for ourselves. We were especially pleased with:

"Chapa" 5A/B, 7a+, 360 m on Zamok (Saveliev route — variant of Geniush — Shcherbakov route, 1994)
Galitskiy route on Shaan-Kaya

Shaan-Kaya, "Arsenal" (Galitskiy route) 5B, 7a, A0, 270 m (or VI, A3)

Galitskiy route is one of the oldest on the wall. Sasha Lavrinenko ("Odessit") described it to me in his letter. The words — "This is, in my opinion, the most beautiful and interesting route on Shaan-Kaya" — motivated me. I tried to climb all sections with free climbing, but what happened, happened...

We climbed in three — with Olya Kostrova and Sergey Tretyakov.

The route starts in the far right part of the wall, behind thick ivy, about a hundred meters to the right of Grishchenko route. You can't miss it — there's a big cornice visible at the top.

Shaan-Kaya, © photo taken from the website of Odessa mountaineering club

Easy climbing on the blocks of the inner corner leads to a small, but comfortable ledge. Station on two old bolts.

R0–R1: 4c, 35 m

Up from the ledge. I try not to fall on Olya, who is belaying me. I move to a ruined crack on the right and climb up to the "live jagged feathers". I move carefully — there's something to break off here, and the feathers are shaky. On the left on the wall, there's a bolt — I move to it in the adjacent crack. The crack is narrow, the rocks are strong — I get excited and "kuраж"... This is important when you try to climb the route with free climbing...

It becomes easier — there's a bolt, three hooks — convenient for a station, but if you stop here, you might need to dig the next rope to avoid strong bends when passing the cornice. So I climb further — steeply to the left — to the crack under the big cornice. Climbing is easy. The beautiful texture of yellow rocks reminds me of Les Vuards massif in France. Sixty meters rope barely reaches the bolt, there's a hook.

R1–R2: 6B, 60 m (or VI A2)

Up under the cornice, there's a steep crack. Wide at the bottom, it gradually narrows. I hang on the first meters. After the night rain, the crack is not dry — it's slippery. My hands become soapy from touching the rock, I have to abundantly magneze.

I pass the first three meters to the dry rocks, using chocks and friends as holds. Then:

I climb with strength up the vertical crack, littered with chocks and hooks,
I reach the cornice.

I block a chock, a hook — I climb. I grab the crack under the cornice with my fingers, push my feet into the wall on the right with force. My shoes crush the limestone, something breaks off — I push harder. On the very edge of the cornice, there's a hooked hook — this allows me not to waste strength on organizing insurance.

I throw my left leg high up and rest it on the loose belly of the cornice,
I turn to the wall with my right side — 180° — it becomes quite stable.

The narrow shells broken by hooks at the exit from the cornice are small and slippery. I try to squeeze my fingertips into them — I roll out with my whole body up and over the cornice. Further, it's easier — the inclined inner corner leads to the station — there's a bolt and an old hook.

R2–R3: 7a A0, 35 m (or VI A3)

Behind a big block, a view opens up on a wide fracture, going steeply to the left and up. I climb along it. The crack is abundantly filled with earth and grass. In one place, a big beautiful bush with crimson berries grows, but with VERY big thorns.

"Oh, MA…" — below, on straightened perches, Sergey flies off the station further to the left behind the cornice.

Gradually, the crack narrows and practically converges to nothing. Station on a bolt. Below, about forty meters away, there's a ledge with a huge dry pine — this is the fourth station on Grishchenko route. R3–R4: 5c+, 50 m.

A wet slab leads to a vertical wall. A channel hook with a jammed chock sticks out. It's damp.

I grab the chock, move my feet on the slab, pull myself up, and reach a small flattening — here, there are "grabbers" under my hands.

Up, there's a wall — there's nowhere to belay on it. I vainly search with my eyes for any artifact that would indicate the further path.

From below, Sergey approaches Olya. At some point, removing one of the intermediate points, he loads the rope, tears out the next point, and unexpectedly for himself, flies on a long pendulum to the wall — noticeably below the oblique fracture...

The loggers working near Shaan-Kaya stop working for a while and listen with relish to Sergey's monologue, rich in epithets and comparisons...

Not finding anything, I shout to Olya to be more careful — I climb straight up. Falling here will be unpleasant — for a long time... I climb, scan the rock with my eyes again... suddenly, on the left, about five meters below myself, I notice an old bolt. I carefully descend and traverse to it. Then, even further to the left behind the bend — there's a crack. Easy climbing leads to inclined "mirrors". There are trees 15 meters to the right — there's nowhere to belay.

"Odessit" was right when he wrote that:

dry weather is mandatory
the fifth rope on the wet rock is impassable

If you're caught by rain in the area of the fourth — fifth rope — don't hesitate — rappel from the fourth station to Grishchenko route — you can climb it even in the rain. We were lucky — the "mirrors" were dry...

R4–R5: 6c A0, 40 m (or VI A2)

From the trees, on easy rocks, we reach the top of Shaan-Kaya.

R5–R6: I/II, 50 m

About five minutes after reaching the top — it started raining...