Paklenica is a national park on the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia, famous for huge karstic limestone cliffs and sparsely-bolted, sandbagged routes. The climbing here, especially on the multi-pitches, is more akin to adventurous alpine rock climbing than sport climbing. In fact, Paklenica roughly translates as “little hell”… Conveniently, I’d forgotten all of that when I suggested to Ric and Shaun that we tag on a few days of “chilled bolt-clipping” to an existing trip. Oops.
We probably (read: definitely) should have got our eye in first, but I was keen to get straight on something big and despite a late start we headed for Slovenski PIPS (6a+) on Debeli Kuk. With three of the seven pitches being in the 6’s and the rest a bit easier, we thought it would be an enjoyable formality. Oh, how wrong we were!
Barring the introductory slab, the route follows the main groove, corner and crack line up the left side of the 200m face. Climbing in a three, we decided to lead in blocks for more efficient change-overs, with Ric taking the first three pitches and me leading the rest. As the Mediterranean sun beat down on the white and grey rock, Ric cast off and led boldly up the first pitch. Only a handful of bolts protected the 50m stretch and Ric made cautious but purposeful progress.
The next pitch was the crux and it really packed a punch – a steep groove, with little in the way of positive holds, necessitated metre after metre of strenuous bridging on smears before it finally capitulated. As we puffed, panted and groaned our way up, hip joints threatening to explode, I was thankful we hadn’t expended more energy to get to this point! Pitch three started more amicably but ended with insecure thrutching and humping to put us back in our place.
A quick conflab ruled out any possibility of bailing (’cause we’re well ‘ard/stupid) despite being slow, tired and Shaun forgetting half his water. As I racked up, the overhanging corner-come-offwidth of pitch four loomed menacingly above. It put up a serious fight but ended spectacularly with a short and exposed traverse out onto the lefthand face. Feeling very beaten, the next two pitches were a struggle and I unashamedly resorted to aid at the base of the 5c(!!) corner to reduce the risk of benightment.
The final 6a pitch went by in a blur as I raced up it, intent on getting us all on top and locating the start of the abseils before darkness fell. Thankfully the descent was uneventful, even with two head-torches between three, but was still significant as it was the first time Shaun had done a multi-pitch abseil (he survived). All in all the experience was much closer to an E2 5c mountain route and prospective suitors should probably be comfortable with that if they’re going to find it pleasant!
Needless to say we were FUBAR, so the next day we actually did some chilled bolt-clipping while attempting to recover.
On day three, feeling not-at-all recovered and racing incoming rain, we (foolishly?) made a dash for the incredible Stup of Anica Kuk and the classic Domzalski (6a). Harbouring deluded notions of completing this four-pitch route and then continuing up a further seven pitches to the top of the face, we were nothing if not ambitious.
The route takes an amenable crack line right of the crest before breaking out across bald slabs to reach the crest of the buttress. Another couple of pitches take you to a terrace and the choice of an abseil line or continuing up. Unfortunately for us that detail was extraneous, as we immediately got off to a slow start given the ridiculous placement of the first bolt – 8m up above committing moves with a horrible landing. Spiced out but intent on pressing on, I took the reins for the crux second pitch. Launching up the lay-backs to the start of the slab felt great, but my initial hubris was short-lived as I promptly got shut down by the climbing above.
Maybe I was just mentally and physically exhausted from the battle on Debeli Kuk, but I’m sure these were the hardest “6a” moves I’ve ever encountered! In any case, it’s good to humbled sometimes, even if its infuriating at the time. As the clouds drew in and the wind picked up we decided to bail with the first spots of rain landing on the ground just as we did.
Later that afternoon, when it had dried up, we salvaged the day with some single pitches back at Klanci. The routes there did nothing for our bruised egos but it was great to get something done and just enjoy the spectacular surroundings!
For the final day, a different approach was called for – with the emphasis on fun and actually completing a route in good style! We opted for the classic Sjeverno Rebro (4b) which follows an elegant ridge line on the left side of Veliki Cuk for five pitches. It was very pleasant, stress free and took just over two hours. The final pitches were the highlight but once again the grade was much more reminiscent of VS 4b than f4b, although at least we were expecting that by this point!
Despite the trials and tribulations, this was still a great trip to an awe-inspiring location, with plenty of adventure thrown in. I wouldn’t hesitate to go back but a slight adjustment in tactics would be prudent – not having a 13 hour epic on day 1 might be a good place to start…
