Climbing in Aladaglar, Turkey: Zorbey Aktuyun adds difficult trad route, completes Orient rope solo

Zorbey Aktuyun from Turkey has made the first ascent of what promises to be one of the hardest single pitch trad climbs in the country. Cobra Crackinette put up by James Pearson at Sakarkaya in 2014 currently holds the sceptre, but a thin crack in Pınarbaşı Canyon in the Aladağlar massif called Kült now lies not far behind.

"The biggest challenge for me was finding a natural line" Aktuyun told planetmountain.com "I’ve been searching for suitable trad lines over the years but it’s so hard to find one which is right at your limit, some are way too hard or simply impossible, while others are far easier than they initially appear…. so the hardest thing is the discovery, then the adventure starts." The 15m crack is protected with small wires and difficulties check in at 8a.

Aktuyun knows the Ala Daglar massif well, in fact in 2013 on Demirkazik he made the first repeat of Üç Muz (650m, 8a), the route established in 2005 by Rolando Larcher, Maurizio Oviglia and Michele Paissan. Furthermore, in 2017 on Cima Vay Vay he was the first to repeat Nessuno (8a+, 470 m) put up by Rolando Larcher, Luca Giupponi and Nicola Sartori in 2012. 

Now Aktuyun ventured into the massif to make a rope solo repeat of the ultra-classic Orient, established in 2006 on the striking Parmakkaya obelisk by Helmut Gargitter and Pauli Trenkwalder. Aktuyun started climbing at 10:00 on the 14th of September and managed to onsight all the pitches before reaching the summit at 14:20.

"It was quite a big challenge for me but also extremely satisfying... although the route is almost fully bolted, you can use some cams, but I preferred not to use them in order to not lose my focus. The hardest bit is reaching the first bolts, and even on the easy sections you can’t lose your concentration otherwise you might easily fall and brake your leg. I would like to thank my friends Ali Keskin and Arda Mert Poslu for their support and congratulate them for their on-sight. The pitches are graded 7a, 6c, 6c +, 7b, 6b+ and 7b, but I have to say that the last pitch seemed harder than all the others below."

Zorbey Aktuyun thanks: Yüksekİşler, Petzl, The North Face, Tenaya