Up The Rocks

In the evening of July 2 we got to the Noravanq canyon and set up the camp. The next morning we spent few hours trying to find everything in the quickly stacked bags we prepared the day before.
However it was two o’clock of hard, hot day when Vadik and me started to climb the perfect 100 meter crack we noticed right in front of our camp.
It would be considered a blessed crack if it wasn’t full of soil and rocks. Luckily, on the first pitch Vadik was belaying standing a bit far from the wall...

I was almost enjoying my climb trying not to notice the stuff in the crack when about 40 meters above the ground I found the piton…
… fuck, I have been climbing the old soviet union championship “men’s route”… I have heard that it was somewhere here but didn’t know where exactly...

It took me 4 hours to get a small shelf 50 meters above and there I found another piton.. I put a 10x45mm bolt and a nut in the finger pocket and descended down.

The first thing I did was calling up to Rob (one of our old generation climbers) and asked if soviet union competition “men’s route” have ever done lead climbing .. ? I felt a bit happy after Rob told me that the route never was climbed in that way, but only was top roped and the pitons where just for the tapes marking the route.
Well, July 4 was the climbing skills theory training, day for masters of sports, sport climber Vadik, as besides moving on the relief like a cat and clipping the rope in the quickdraws he also knew the way to tie a bowline.. !

July 5, we have got the anchor, I intended to add a second bolt near the first one that was already set but while knocking on the rock with the hummer it sounded really scary, so I put the 13x60 mm bolt on the left face from the shelf. (the bolts were not rappel ones and there are not rappel rings on those ! The second rappel bolt needs to be put near the one on the left face from the shelf !!!)
The crack on the second pitch was as full of the soil and rocks as the crack below, and poor Vadik, who was standing on the shelf below the crack, could escape from the rocks but not from the soil spreading down like from shovels. After repeating a couple of times «..you are throwing the soil on me.. ara (dude)... !!!” we knew that when such a gentle guy like Vadik was saying «ara» everyone could guess how angry he was... ;)
Being about 15 meters below the second shelf I asked Vadik how much slack rope there remained and he told me there were 18 meters of rope remaining but I heard 8 meters, so I made an anchor and rappelled down to go on the route the next day.

"Khalyava" V4"Khalyava" V4

But Vadik was disappointed from the trad climbing so on July 6 and 7 we were seeking some bouldering sections. We didn’t like the huge boulders beside the asphalt in the canyon leading to the Noravanq monastery for a bouldering. And the section above the village Areni is a nice one for bouldering just needs to be cleaned for loose stones. Vadik did there a new bouldering problem “Khalyava” V4. Another harder project remained unfinished because of the loose stones above about 5/6 meters high.

July 8, examining “Hells canyon” about 25 km far from Noravanq canyon.

On July 9th Richard Krcmar and Hana Dol from Czech Republic joined the camp and I finished the rout with Richard. We decided to call the route «Moon fish» as buttress next to the crack line below the moonlight looks like a fish.

While Richard was making the sector triangle’s sport routes for warming up, he announced that “Kaitsak” is definitely not 6c but 6a. for the grades of «Oc> 5a and «Kret»5b he hadn't any argues. Just approached to the second bolt of

And Vadik onsighted “Karich” 7a, “Chxchik” 6c, and “Kaitsak” 6a.

In the evening of July 10 we came back to Yerevan. Richard mentioned some face lines with a pure relief but being not acclimatized to the Armenian hard heat decided to postpone the idea.

The description of the route «Moon fish», 100meters, two pitches.
R1 50m, 5.8 A0. Clean climbed, two bolts on the anchor (not rappel bolts !)
Cams – Metolius from #00 to #10, BD C4 #6
Chocks – middle and large sizes of camp stoppers

R2 45-50m, 5.8 A1, natural anchor(the tree on the shelf)
3 pitons,(left pitons 1)
1 bolt(left bolts 1)
Cams – Metolius from #00 to #10, BD C4 #6
Chocks – middle and large sizes of camp stoppers

From the crack of second pitch a lot of small blocks of rocks were dropped but at the end of the pitch below the anchor shelf there is one quite scary sounding when knocking. So be careful!
On the next climb we plan to remove the pitons of the second pitch and add the second rappel bolt on the first anchor as the route is cleaner and does not need any.
DO NOT ADD ANY BOLTS OR PITONS !!!

We have decided afterwards to change the Festival graphic and instead of July 13-23 Ijevan Mt range climbing go to “Hells canyon” (limestone crags) and Arpa gorge(basalt columns) climbing!