Rock Climbing In Romania - A Climbing Guide Of ...

Romania is a mountainous country, which includes the Carpathian Mountains, and therefore has many interesting and varied rock climbing areas. Romania itself is probably one of the last places in Europe where you can still see unspoiled countryside along with the traditional rural civilisation. This combination makes a climbing holiday in Romania an adventurous experience.

Rock climbing in Romania - A climbing guide of ...

As a country, Romania has a lot to offer not just in terms of its scenery but also in its vast array of geographical areas and formations. With that in mind, this country can be perfect for rock climbing enthusiasts as a large chunk of the Carpathian Mountains is to be found here.

More and more Romanians are getting interested in rock climbing. It is a perfect sport for those who work sedentary jobs. The climate and even the surroundings that you get to see are all breathtaking. No route is the same but the variety seen in the Carpathian Mountains includes a series of routes that range in difficulty, in how remote they are and also in the length that it takes to complete them.

If you plan to access these rock-climbing routes, know that the nearest town from which you can have access is Zarnesti. If you are heading to the western routes, go towards Plaiul Foii or Gura Raului for the eastern paths. You can also access some of the routes by heading from Zarnesti to Podu Dambovitei.

The mountain has two massifs called Cheile Galbenului, with 135 different rock climbing routes, and Cheile Oltetului, that only has 15 rock climbing routes. There are 10 routes fit for beginner rock climbers but most of them, over 40, are of medium difficulty and almost 30 are only for experienced rock climbers.

Cheile Rasnovului is a preferred rock climbing area for most Romanian rock climbers since it is very easy to access the routes here. This location is great for those who care about easy retreats after climbing. The degree of difficulty for these routes is between 2A and 6A. When it comes to the inclination level this can be anywhere between 70 and 120 degrees.

Other routes that are very popular with Romanian rock climbers are Bolovanul Prostului, Faleza Metalexpert, and Zona lui Titus. They are of moderate difficulty but, as the areas are pretty popular, the routes are well maintained. Moreover, you can find extra routes that sprout off from your main rock climbing path at certain junctions, offering you options in how you want to tackle the mountain and reach the top.

The beauty of Cheile Bicazului stems in just how versatile they are for rock climbing enthusiasts. Home to over 200 climbing routes, this beautiful region is part of the Hasmas mountains but it deserves a whole section devoted to it. 136 of these routes are intended for sport climbing and 13 of them for trad climbing. You can find most of the routes in Fagetul Ciucului, Suhardul Mic and Peretele Bardosului.

The beauty of these mountains stems not only from its numerous cliffs, conifer overgrowth or the various waterfalls that can be found in the area. It of course also comes from the rock climbing possibilities!

The nearest and largest town is Piatra Neamt. The car ride to the rock climbing sites will only take about one or two hours depending on traffic and the maintenance of the roads. Once you reach the Ceahlau National Park you can embark on the routes.

There are many climbing areas in Romania, but I would like to introduce the region around the beautiful town of Brasov. With 17 crags and more than 700 routes, Brasov is probably the best "base camp" for climbing in the central part of Romania. The crags Tampa and Pietrele lui Solomon, situated in the outskirts of Brasov, are ideal strating points for those visiting Brasov with little time to climb. You'll find nice and easy routes at Tampa and at the same time you can enjoy the panorama onto the old town of Brasov from the heights of the Tampa mountain. For those who prefer steep endurance routes I recommend Pietrele lui Solomon, just 20 minutes from the Brasov town centre, while those who can afford a whole day at the crag have several options. The Piatra Mare Massif has two beautiful crags: Tamina and Prapastia Ursului. Tamina is one of the newest crags in Romania, suitable for the hot summer days with long and sustained routes mostly on pockets, while Prapastia Ursului offers sport climbing in an alpine environment. And if you make it to the Piatra Mare Massif, a visit to the Seven Stairs Canyon is a must. Another beautiful crag with long, difficult routes (and also lots of projects) is located in Postavaru Massif. This is the ideal place for technical face climbing and if you feel that you didn't get enough excitement after a day's climbing here, then definitely go for a bungee-jump in the Rasnoavei Gorge, one of the highest natural bungee-jumping facilities in Eastern Europe. Whatever you choose to do, don't miss Belvedere, one of the country's classic crags: if you love long and steep routes on shallow pockets, this is the place for you! The quality of the limestone and the scenery of Bucegi Mountains which you can admire when reaching the top of the routes makes this crag an ideal place even for summer days, when it can be quite chilly due to alpine climate. If you are in search of multipitch routes, then Costila is the perfect crag. There are two conglomerate towers here with lots of multipich routes (protected mostly with pitons) which will reward the climbers with a sense of adventure, because of its alpine feel. You can stay overnight free of charge in the nearby Costila Refuge or, if you prefer a more comfortable night's sleep, you can choose one of the many guest-houses down in the valley.

In rock climbing, mountaineering, and other climbing disciplines, climbers give a grade to a climbing route or boulder problem, intended to describe concisely the difficulty and danger of climbing it. Different types of climbing (such as sport climbing, bouldering or ice climbing) each have their own grading systems, and many nationalities developed their own, distinctive grading systems.

Climbing grades are inherently subjective.[1] They may be the opinion of one or a few climbers, often the first ascensionist or the authors of a guidebook. A grade for an individual route also may be a consensus reached by many climbers who have climbed the route. While grades are usually applied fairly consistently across a climbing area, there are often perceived differences between grading at different climbing areas. Because of these variables, a given climber might find a route to be either easier or more difficult than expected for the grade applied.[2]

The Yosemite Decimal System (YDS) of grading routes was initially developed as the Sierra Club grading system in the 1930s to rate hikes and climbs in the Sierra Nevada range. The rock climbing at Tahquitz Rock in southern California was pioneered by members of the Climbing Section of the Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club in the 1950s.[3] It quickly spread to Canada and the rest of the Americas.

The system consists of five classes indicating the technical difficulty of the hardest section. Class 1 is the easiest and consists of walking on even terrain. Class 5 is climbing on vertical or near-vertical rock, and requires skill and a rope to proceed safely. Un-roped falls would result in severe injury or death. Originally, Class 6 was used to grade aid climbing. However, the separate A (aid) rating system became popular instead.

The system originally considered only the technical difficulty of the hardest move on a route. For example, a route of mainly 5.7 moves but with one 5.11b move would be graded 5.11b and a climb that consisted of 5.11b moves all along its route would also be 5.11b. Modern application of climbing grades, especially on climbs at the upper end of the scale (>5.10), also consider how sustained or strenuous a climb is, in addition to the difficulty of the single hardest move.

The YDS system involves an optional Roman numeral grade that indicates the length and seriousness of the route. The Grade is more relevant to mountaineering and big wall climbing, and usually not stated when talking about short rock climbs. The grades range from grade I to VI spanning a one-hour climb to a multi-day climb respectively.[6]

III: Requires most of a day perhaps including the approach, which may require winter travel skills (possible avalanche terrain, placing descent anchors). The East Buttress route on Mount Whitney is a grade III,[7] yet it requires 1,000 feet (300 m) of technical climbing and a total vertical gain of over 6,000 feet (1,800 m) from trail head to summit. Only a minority of climbers, the most fit and seasoned, could do this route car to car in a day. Other grade III climbs, such as Cathedral Peak in Tuolumne, are typically done in one day.

An optional protection rating indicates the spacing and quality of the protection available, for a well-equipped and skilled leader. The letter codes chosen were, at the time, identical to the American system for rating the content of movies. Grades range from solid protection, G (Good), to no protection, X. The G and PG (Pretty Good) ratings are often left out, as being typical of normal, everyday climbing. PG13 ratings are occasionally included. R (Run-out) and X (eXtreme) climbs are usually noted as a caution to the unwary leader. Application of protection ratings varies widely from area to area and from guidebook to guidebook.

The British grading system for traditional climbs, also known as the UK grading system, used in Great Britain and Ireland, has (in theory) two parts: the adjectival grade and the technical grade.[8]Sport climbing in Britain and Ireland uses the French grading system, often prefixed with the letter "F".

In 2006 the hardest grade claimed was E11 for Rhapsody on Dumbarton Rock, climbed by Dave MacLeod, featured French 8c/+ climbing with the potential of a 20-metre fall onto a small wire.[11] In August 2008, MacLeod completed a new project close to Tower Ridge on Ben Nevis called 'Echo Wall'. He left the route ungraded, saying only that it was 'harder than Rhapsody'. Many climbers consider such high grades provisional, as the climbs have not yet been achieved on-sight/ground-up.[citation needed] 041b061a72