Crimea, Sokol Mt. "Sestry Zaytsevy" Route, 2B

The "Sestry Zaytsevy" route (2B) is located in the near sector of Sokol Mt. In summer, this sector is in the shade around 3:00 PM. It was interesting to climb through the crack that goes through the first bastion. The approaches to the route, like most routes in the near sector, start from the "3rd kilometer" sign. You pass by the start of:

• "1" route,
• "Menuet",
• "hAachu" and go further. The crack is clearly visible from both the road and the start. First ascent: Vlad Chumachenko and Alexander Gorbatyuk (August 22, 2007) Sudak, Sokol Mt. The original thread of the "Sestry Zaytsevy" 2B route

Later, the thread of the "Sestry Zaytsevy" route was corrected:

So­kol-51

Chico * 3А complexity cat.[№4]

(S. Na­dto­chiy — E. Gay­nu­lov, November 2005) R0–R1: 50 m, 5c+. Belay is organized easily:

• large friends facilitate belay organization,
• don’t forget to lengthen quick draws at the turn. Belay station is on a convenient ledge on a big tree. R1–R2: 20 m, 4b+. Belaying is still necessary. Station coincides with Muchacha’s R1 station R2–R3: 50–55 m, 6a. Two thirds of the rope — there is protection, then 9–10 meters

Sokol - 3

Knife edge, 3B grade.

(S. Nadtochiy — O. Leviash — V. Chumachenko, 2005)

R0–R1: 50 m, 5a. Protection on trees. Belay station on a large ledge on a tree. R1–R2: 55 m, 5c+. Protection is conditional, points won't withstand a light jerk. Small nuts, possibly pitons. List:

• Belay station on a ledge
• To the left of a "dead" sapling. R2–R3: 55 m, 5c+. In the beginning of the pitch, 8–10 meters of climbing is done without

Crimea, Sokol Mt. "Vecnaya molodost" Route, 3B

The "Vecnaya molodost" route is located in the western sector of Sokol Mt., next to the "Grebnevaya dvojka" route. A good, logical 3-pitch route that leads to the "Grebnevaya dvojka" route in its upper part. Protection is natural (nuts, friends, pitons); there is little old gear. Belay stations are on trees, on key ropes on their own protection points + pitons (bolts). The approach to the route coincides with the approach to the "Grebnevaya dvojka" route. Start 30 meters to the right, from the sign. It's convenient to set up a belay station on a large pine tree.

Sokol — 13

Authors: Alexander Kuzmitsky, Moscow, Sergey Nadtochy (Terrorist), Simferopol Guidebook Sokol

Sector 4 (southwestern wall)

This sector contains routes: "Galochka" 3B, "Ryzhiy ugol" 5A, "Dva karniza" 5A, "Yaponskiy sadik" 5A, "Vechnaya molodost" 3B, "Grebnevaya dvojka" 2A, and some others. The approaches are fairly simple: from the pocket near the road, above "Bukhta lyubvi", up the trail, under the wall (detailed descriptions of approaches and descents will be given in a separate material). We haven't gotten around to describing routes such as:

• "Legenda"
• "Skazka"
• "Grot"

Sokol Mount, "Kosaia" route, classic variant — 3B (V, 8 pitches), author unknown.

The original name of the route is "Kosaia chetverka" (Kosaia four), initially classified as 4A, later it was (quite reasonably) downgraded to 3B. For a 3B category route, it's quite complex. One of the old classic routes on Sokol Mount. Logical line. Plenty of old "iron" (pitons) can be found, belay stations on trees or bolts. In recent years, a variant of the upper part was climbed via the right crack — in this case, the route category is 4A. Sokol Mount. Description of the "Kosaia (chetverka)" route, classic variant — 3B. Lower part of the route (R0–R4) Approach to the route: from the parking area at the 4th km of the Sudak — Novy Svet highway, opposite the viewpoint with a stone bearing the inscription "Slava voinam-geroiam" (Glory to the hero-warriors). From the parking area, a good trail leads right-up under the cliffs. You need to ascend to the "Galochka" (right) ledge. The landmark during the ascent to the ledge is a large dry tree. The exit to it is via a wide internal corner, climbing is not difficult (I–II), but it's better to rope up. Approach to the route and start of the route. Then along the ledge left, practically to its end. The landmark is a slanting crack with an overhanging block on the left and a tree on the right. Start of the R0–R1 pitch. R0–R1: 50 m, IV (5c). The start is from a large tree in the lower part of the slope.

So­kol — 47

Is­tukan 3B[#8]

(A. Kuz­mit­sky — I. Ar­temov, Feb­ru­ary 2006)

R0–R1: 40 m, 6a, A1+. Up left via the internal corner by simple climbing to a ledge with a tree, then up via a vertical crack by climbing interchanged with A1+ gear, with a gradual drift leftwards. Belay station on a ledge, on a juniper. R1–R2: 40 m, 4a. Straight up. Belay station on one of the large trees at the base of the ridge. R2–R3: 40–45 m. Simple traverse along the ridge, protection as necessary. Belay station on a tree left of the ridge base. R3–R4: 40–45 m, 5B. Up left — traverse via slabs to a system of cracks, via them up to a vertical wall (be cautious, loose rocks) and through it to a ledge. Landmark — a huge tree on the ledge. Protection is easy to arrange while climbing. Further along the ledge — traverse rightwards to the base of a leaning slab. Belay station on a large boulder. R4–R5: 25 m, 6A+. Up via the right part of the leaning slab (huge gap between the slab and the wall) with an exit onto it, further up via a bolt to a plateau. Belay station on a large characteristic pine tree 5–7 meters from the edge.

Recommended equipment:

50 m rope, 12–16 quickdraws, a set of nuts, large cams and hexes — 2–3 pcs., slings — 2–3 pcs., hammers, pitons.

So­kol — 49

I want 36 cat. sl.[№7]

(A. Kuz­mit­sky — S. Na­dto­chiy, November 2005) R0–R1: 35 m, 5Б+. Climb­ing in the crack be­tween the wall and an at­tached block, then up­ward through the left-hand crack to a ledge in­side the in­ter­nal cor­ner; belay is self-pro­vided. Sta­tion in­side the in­ter­nal cor­ner. R1–R2: 35–40 m, 6А. Care­ful climb­ing up­ward through the crack. Then exit onto a ledge and move right up­ward along it, be­neath the base of a char­ac­ter­is­tic gully. Sta­tion on a tree. R2­–­R3: 35­–­40 m, 5c. Straight up­ward fol­low­ing the wa­ter­fall line, through a small jun­iper, care­ful slab climb­ing “on de­ter­mi­na­tion”; on the crux — a bol­lard. A few me­ters above, a sta­tion on a bol­lard + pro­tec­tion gear. R3­–­R4: 45­–­50 m, 5c. Pro­tec­tion is avail­able at times (dur­ing the first 15­–­18 m pro­tec­tion is

So­kol — 4

Along the val­le­ys and along the uplands, cat. 4B diff.

R0–R1: 35–40 m, 5b+. Pro­tec­tion is self-pro­vid­ed, can be or­ga­nized eas­i­ly, but only some­times. Sta­tion on a small tree on a shelf. R1–R2: 40 m, cat. 6A diff. Pro­tec­tion is self-pro­vid­ed, or­ga­niz­ing it is quite prob­lem­at­ic: pitons + nuts. At the end of the rope, there are a cou­ple of old piton. Un­com­fort­able sta­tion in the be­gin­ning of a de­te­ri­o­rat­ed crack on a bad piton and on own gear. R2–R3: 35 m, cat. 6A diff. Pro­tec­tion:

Sokol — 5

Rope 50–60 m, 14 quickdraws, nuts, cams, slings.

General Impression:

Interesting route, not cluttered with ironmongery. The route has something in common with the "Ear" on Foros, although the key rope section here is more challenging.