Day 21-24 - 'You are climbing in bizarre places!'

After feeding our minds in Ljubljana, it was time to balance and challenge our muscles and finger joints. The best thing about Slovenia, as mentioned several times before, is that you can see the mountains from everywhere in all directions - even from the capital city. Therefore, it was not too difficult to choose an area near Ljubljana. Since it is slowly getting cooler here as well, it was important to take advantage of the good weather forecast for the next few days.

Križevska Vas lured us with the promise of a sunny wall and pleasant temperatures due to the few altitude meters. It is a smaller wall named after the same-named place. Despite the comparably fewer options for routes compared to other areas, we spent two days here. This area is certainly one of the older and more frequently visited in Slovenia, many climbers from Ljubljana and the surrounding area come by on weekends or after work. Unfortunately, this was noticeable mainly on the easier routes, which already had greasy holds and steps. However, from 6c and above, nothing of that could be felt anymore and the view from the belay station to the surrounding valley compensated for some worn-out holds.

The best thing about this area, however, was that we finally met local climbers. Of course, we took advantage of the opportunity and got some recommendations for climbing areas in Slovenia and Istria.

On the recommendation of Miro, who co-developed this area, we continued to Gornji Ig. By a happy coincidence, this area also bears the same name as the adjacent town (- we are starting to recognize a pattern). However, it is significantly larger and offers over 80 routes in five sectors.

The breathtaking view alone and the south-facing direction are a major plus, and there is a wide selection between the fifth and seventh grade. Only the approach holds some inconveniences. The "parking lot", aka "a gap in the trees", and the path to the rock are quite difficult to find. The latter is also poorly defined and goes steeply downhill. However, this is quite bearable with an approach of about fifteen minutes. If only one didn't have to climb back up after an exhausting climbing day...We spent a day in Sector B, which offered everything a climber's heart desires: slabs, chimneys, ridges, and cracks - even a place to hang a hammock.

We would have loved to visit Sectors A and C as well, but after a rainy rest day and a following morning with dense fog and wet routes, we had to move on without further ado. However, we can highly recommend Gornji Ig.

Slovenia definitely has more great areas to offer than Osp, that's for sure. Although we were repeatedly told by the few local climbers that we were making a strange choice of rocks, we find it nice to be able to visit the smaller and lesser-known areas as well. When else can you be as flexible as with a camper and have as much time as we have at the moment?

The last three days of climbing were very relaxed despite their forced end and finally felt as we originally imagined. The warmer temperatures and the shorter break between climbing days were definitely helpful, and we were able to build up our climbing skills again. And at least Jan was able to show his performance and climb two 7bs. But regardless of the grade, climbing is simply fun with fingers that are not frostbitten, a few rays of sun on your face, and the right rocks.

For now, we will occupy ourselves with other things for a few days while the autumn fog lies over the mountains. As beautiful as it looks, it is rather hindering for climbing. Fortunately, there is plenty to explore in Slovenia that is impressive even in bad weather. Our next destination is the (all-weather) caves near Postojna. And we also have to go to Trieste because on Tuesday we can finally receive our new charger booster.

We are curious to see what the autumn in Slovenia still has in store for us.

Until then, fall on!