Mshatka-Kaya — 15 h

Author: Aleksandr Lavri­nen­ko, Odes­sa

“Not That Way!” 5B 270 m 6c A3

T. Tush­ko — A. Lavri­nen­ko, Feb­ru­ary 2007

The idea was to fol­low a big cor­nice to the right of “Ryzhiy Vyval” (The Red­dish Out­burst); pho­tos gave hope

• as a crack was vis­i­ble along the cen­ter of the cor­nice. Up close it turned out to be not a crack, but a scar from a de­tached boul­der. Hav­ing said good­bye to a beau­ti­ful idea, but sav­ing a dozen bol­ters and avoid­ing a cold over­nigh­t, we reached the sum­mit via a com­plex zig­zag.

The ap­proach and first 2 ropes coin­cide with the “Treugol’nik Sleva” (Tri­an­gle on the Left) route.

2-3

• Along the ledge to the right, then up, to­wards a tree
• Move to the left of the tree and reach a ledge at the base of an in­te­ri­or cor­ner
• Up the in­te­ri­or cor­ner, 10 m 5b, to a de­cid­u­ous tree

Bel­ay sta­tion. 50 m. Most­ly very easy climb­ing, last 10 m 5b. Pro­tec­tion — pitons, nuts.

3-4

• Up the in­te­ri­or cor­ner 7–8 m 5b
• Eas­i­er rock ahead, move up to the right 20 m

Bel­ay sta­tion on a small ledge slight­ly above a thin de­cid­u­ous tree. ~30 m.

4-5

• From the ledge up a slab with short cracks, first straight up, then left
• Climb­ing + aid, reach a ledge at the top of an in­te­ri­or cor­ner

Bel­ay sta­tion, bol­ter avail­able. 40 m 6a A2.

5-6

• From the sta­tion up a crack to a bol­ter
• From the bol­ter swing right 2–3 m
• Un­der­climb a slab to­wards a short crack with grass
• Fur­ther aid climb­ing on the slab 65–70°, plac­ing thin pro­tec­tion, pitons, avail­a­ble boul­der holes for 8 mm sky­hooks, reach a red streak
• Here the slab be­comes gen­tler, and the ter­rain gets more com­plex
• Un­der the over­hang­ing wall, tra­verse right, free climb­ing
• By­pass the cor­nice and climb up a steep in­te­ri­or cor­ner
• Reach the yayla (plateau)

50 m 6c A3.

Gear:

• Pitons
• Thin pro­tec­tion
• Stoppers
• Cams
• Vari­ety of sky­hooks, at least 2 for boul­der holes

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