I started the trip on the Christmas Eve at the Heathrow airport. Fortunately, there’s Skype, so I saw the Christmas tree at least through my phone screen. Sounds sad but this was a price to pay for the incredible holidays we had.

After the three flights during the night when you are supposed to hear the animals talking I was met at the Antalya airport by Martynas and the Peak Guesthouses camping lady with the car at 8am in the morning. 40min transfer to the camping and the rocks are 50m away. You can almost belay from your bungallow (only if you have an 80m rope as suggested to Frieder by some very smart girl).

Laura on Müren 7a+ or b

Laura on Müren 7a+ or b

And so the first greetings with Aistė and Povilas, breakfast and off we go to the rocks! We spent the first day in Posseidon and Ottoman - the sectors very close to where we stayed. First day is for the 6c’s. The more you do, the better it is tomorrow. That is my secret (not so secret any more :) rule! It was a very nice day - T-shirt and shorts day! And we even forgot that it’s Christmas.

The Boxing day is for presents. So my present was Toros - a 7b route in Posseidon that I accidentally onsighted. Apart from that we climbed a bit in Mevlana, where we did a route notorious for the Russian swearwords I heard :)

The next day was spent in Trebena - a sector suitable for rainy days, which actually was the case. We did some 7a/7a+’s, worked a bit on Diplomarbeit (7b) and tried Leon (7c/7c+) once. In spite of being rainy, it was a very nice and tiring day. So we deserved a rest day.

Sunday - a market day! We had Turkish cai with gozleme at some cafe, bought local vegetables, pomegranate juice, tahini, peanut butter and similar stuff to our shared table. And also packages to the friends that are coming today and tomorrow.

As said, Vilija and Vilimantas joined us the next day and we went to Trebena again. It was a very lucky day for Martynas. He did several 7a’s very easily and so the ice was broken :) Unfortunately, not so lucky for me - I overstrained a finger pulley which left me unable to climb at all for a couple of days and with questionable training prospects the upcoming month or so.

Finally, Saulė and Gedas came and so we were already quite a huge group of Lithuanians in the camping (we could compete with the Germans :) It was extremely hard to not even touch a rock all day while everybody else was enjoying it. I was super jealous, but tried to learn patience, which is a goal so unachievable for me! We spent a day in Mevlana close to home again.

December 31st. Carefully tried to climb and I saw that it goes. Some easy climbing today, mostly 7a+’s. And if I am not mistaken this was a day when Saulė showed her rich vocabulary for the climbers in Mevlana. That was a nice route I remember :)

New Years party was… wild! Maybe that’s a suitable word. At least for some of us. Some however spent it contemplating the resolutions. I am happy that I did not contemplate too much, probably too little. But let’s not regret anything :) We danced a lot, drank red wine and came home I have no idea when.

On the 1st of January I saw some very bewildered faces in the crag asking me how come am I climbing today. But it was actually a very good climbing day. I onsighted another 7b and a very very long and beautiful 7a+ - Jaja City in Sarkit. Martynas and Vilimantas were resting today, maybe they were tired after hard climbing previous days.

And so our trip was coming to an end. Two days left. We spent both of them in Mevlana. Martynas was trying Little Big Wall 7a+ many times. Saulė joined him last day. Gedas climbed some 7c’s. Aistė did her first 6b. Povilas climbed a 7b. I was working hard on one 7b+/7c and one 7b+. Both were close but sadly unfinished.  was sad and angry or form the other point of view motivated for the next trips to come!

Stay tuned! And let’s meet in Siurana on the 27th of March. We’ll have some very young climbers. Rumors are they are 7 times younger than Martynas.

For Easter some of us are choosing bouldering in Fontainbleau, some indoor competitions, the others are preparing for the weddings. In spite of all that, we’ll meet and climb together again soon! A very poetic end of the post, indeed :)

Vilimantas belaying Gedas on Noir Desir 7a+

Vilimantas belaying Gedas on Noir Desir 7a+

Gedas flying on Noir Desir 7a+

Gedas flying on Noir Desir 7a+

Martynas on Little Big Wall 7a+

Martynas on Little Big Wall 7a+

Martynas on Little Big Wall 7a+

Martynas on Little Big Wall 7a+

Vilija responsibly belaying Martynas

Vilija responsibly belaying Martynas

Martynas on Little Big Wall 7a+

Martynas on Little Big Wall 7a+

Aistė her first 6b

Aistė her first 6b

Povilas on Müren 7a+ or b

Povilas on Müren 7a+ or b

Laura on Müren 7a+ or b

Laura on Müren 7a+ or b

Saulė on Little Big Wall 7a+

Saulė on Little Big Wall 7a+

Martynas belaying Saulė

Martynas belaying Saulė

Laura on Boys are back in town 7b+ or 7c

Laura on Boys are back in town 7b+ or 7c

Mevlana - our local sector

Mevlana - our local sector