Tofana Di Rozes, new route by Jakofcic and Lindic in the Dolomites

In August we reported about Ulina smer, a major new route up the North Face of Triglav in Slovenia at the hands of Tomaz Jakofcic and his wife Tina Di Batista. A month later Jakofcic teamed up with fellow Slovenian Luka Lindic, travelled across the border to the Italian Dolomites, and established another mammoth outing, the 800m Viki krema up the South Face of the Tofana di Rozes.

The route starts in the triangular face to the right of the classic Eötvös Dimai. Above the big amphitheatre it climbs the steep yellow wall to the left of the route established in 1977 by the local Cortina-based Scoitattoli climbers Andrea Menardi and Carlo Michielli. Jakofčič and Lindic established the route over a four day period ground-up, then freed it on 28 and 29 September, forging their way through the last unknown 100m of steep ground.

Jakofčič commented: "Viki krema is not an alpine sport climb and despite the bolts it is a rather serious undertaking with long sections without bolts. Everything we used (23 bolts, four pitons and equiped belays) was left in-situ, apart from the trad rack. Expect 8-10 hours of climbing. One set of friends, nuts and tricams should be sufficient for a skilled climbers. The route generally follows very good rock and the exposure and views from the upper wall  are simply awesome."