Crimean Mountains
Route Description: По Ц стене с траверсом Зубцов
SSummitMateA route of the 5th category of complexity to the summit of Ai-Petri via the central wall with a traverse of the teeth, 700 meters long, and an ascent time of about 6 hours.
Ai-Petri (main peak) via the central wall with traverse of the teeth, 5a cat. diff.
R0–R1: From the pine tree near the Hosta-Bash spring, a slanting earthy ledge with a pine tree growing out of it is visible. Ascend to the pine tree via moderately difficult rocks with ledges, then via a vertical 40-meter chimney (very difficult rocks, pitons). From the pine tree:
- 10 m right along the ledge,
- then up an inside corner for 25 m to another pine tree, with moderately difficult rocks. Then:
- move to a large slanting inside corner,
- ascend to a grotto (40 m), difficult rocks. The grotto overgrown with holdfast bushes remains on the right. 1-2
Route Description: По Ю гребню
SSummitMateAscent to Ai-Petri via the South Ridge (Cat. 3B difficulty), which includes challenging rock sections and requires the use of specialized equipment.
Ai-Petri (Main Peak) via South Ridge, Category 3B
R0–R1 To the right of the main couloir, ascend leftwards and upwards along an inclined ledge to the beginning of the south ridge. Access the south ridge via an 80-meter wall with very difficult rocks. Climb an 8-meter smooth wall by free climbing until a crack, then ascend using ladders and hooks. R1–R2 Continue rightwards into an internal corner, 7-8 meters, to a protruding cork, under which it is possible to set up an anchor. The protruding cork is overcome with the aid of:
- ladders,
- hooks,
- wooden wedges. Then, ascend 13-15 meters straight up along a crack that transitions into a crevice near a dried bush. This is a very challenging section. From the bush, ascend the crevice, then along an internal corner to access an inclined ledge. The ridge is 5-8 meters away. Here, it is possible to set up an anchor using a large pine tree. R2–R3 Continue along the ridge (rocks of medium difficulty, section length is 175 meters). Then, overcome 25 meters of medium-difficulty rocks along the ridge, bypassing the first and second sentinels on the left. Ascend a couloir to a saddle between a boulder and jagged peaks. The summit is 60 meters away.
Route Description: По ЮЗ гребню
SSummitMateAscent to Ai-Petri via the southern ridge, difficulty category 2a, length 800 m, ascent time 4 hours.
Ai-Petri (Main Summit) via the South Ridge, cat. 2a
From the Yalta–Sevastopol road (9th kilometer), follow the forest road to the Hostа-Bash clearing for 30–40 minutes. Ascend to the main couloir of the Ai-Petri massif from the Hostа-Bash clearing via the high riverbed. The route begins to the right of the main couloir and continues left and upwards along an inclined ledge to the start of the ridge. Then:
- Traverse 160 m across large slabs to the beginning of a counterfort,
- Ascend the counterfort, which leads to the south ridge. The route then follows the rocky south ridge (moderate difficulty) towards the summit tower. Bypassing the encountered gendarmes, ascend a couloir to a col between the pinnacles and the summit tower. From the col, ascend the moderate difficulty rocks to the summit. The route is 800 m long:
- easy rocks — 600 m,
- moderate difficulty rocks — 180–200 m. The ascent takes 4 hours.