UKC

Hi,

We're contemplating Croatia as a warm weather destination for a 7 day trip in May.

We climb sport upto 6c, and trad HVS/E1.

Enjoy multi-pitch and cragging.

Interested in peoples experiences climbing there, any recommendations for locations, and guide books.

Thanks in advance!

R

In reply to robbiebrookie:

Paklenica - almost certainly your best bet I think, though it's the only place in Croatia I've climbed. Suits your grade and climbing type well with single and multi-pitch to go at. I don't think there's any true trad routes, but I remember finding some trad gear useful on the multi-pitch we did.

I think you'll find that May is one of the top seasons for Paklenica. The gorge has North and South facing crags so you can be in or out of the sun as you prefer.

Fly to Zadar (EasyJet or Ryanair - can't remember which) and stay in Starigrad Paklenica - not too special but some OK beaches. You could just about manage without a car, but probably best with. It's a fair walk up to the gorge from the nearest camping/accommodation.

For non-climbing days, Zadar is interesting and I would recommend a trip up to Plitvice (probably spelled wrong) Lakes.

Have a good time

Martin

In reply to robbiebrookie:

I enjoyed my trip there, nice country.

Did a blog post about it: http://www.jbmountainskills.co.uk/news/rock-climbing-in-paklenica-croatia

In reply to robbiebrookie:

One thing I'd warn you of is that the grades can be a bit weird. I found 6as fairly consistent, 6bs and cs all over the place and anything below 6a could be between 4a and 6a regardless of the given grade. My 6c climbing mate failed on one of the 5s.........

In reply to robbiebrookie:

Paklenica, as every one will say. Lots to go at in the F6s in the gorge plus some MP/spectacular big walling within your grade range. Don't bring a full trad rack, but a set of nuts, 3 or 4 cams and a bunch of slings will suffice. As will a single 60m rope.

Sept is said to be the best month to go. I'd recommend doing what we did, fly to/from Debrovnik, get 12h ferry up/down coast. Stop off somewhere for a night or two each way. We stayed at Hvar, which incidently has great DWS.

Buiy guide book there.

In reply to robbiebrookie:

There's also great cliffs further south around Omis, and the surrounding islands - with Hvar probably being the pick of the bunch. Cliffbase is quite a spot, with lots of long, well-bolted routes at your grade - and DWS.

Not been to Paklenica, but it always gets good reports.

It's a great country. Hoping to get back this year for a non-climbing potter about.

Enjoy,
D.

In reply to robbiebrookie:

A week long trip including multipitch? Definitely Paklenica - take a light rack for some of the big routes
Don't forget to eat at Dinko's at least one evening

Also well worth visiting are Hvar, Split/Omis & further N combined with Slovenia

In reply to Carless:

To get something completely different: dabarski kukovi & strogir. Immaculate landscape complete with bears wolves and boars, incredibly nice rock, 'short' (up to 6 pitches) multipitch. Dabarski kukove should be on UKC and it's in the climbing guide croatia by boris cujic.

Baska for single pitch near the sea and the island feeling.

In reply to robbiebrookie:

I'd agree with the 3 people above who recommend Paklenica, although like Martin Hore, it is the only Croatian climbing location I've been to. (Been twice). The single pitch sport climbing is highly concentrated with easy access, and there's a good range of multipitch, mostly bolted at key places but handy to have a half rack to supplement. The longest multi-pitch is found on Anica Kuk, but I found the grades a bit stiff. The multipitch in the gorge is deliciously exposed. I've been there in both May and in September, only one day rained off with thunderstorms in September.

As mentioned above , the grades can be a bit inconsistent, but there is so much climbing it makes for a great destination. We flew to Split, although Zadar is closer - depends on your access to airports at home. We stayed in Starigrad, where there is plenty of reasonably priced accommodation and local restaurants serving fresh fish and local specialities. There is also a climbing shop if you need it. There is a charge to enter the National Park, either1 day, 3 day or 5 day passes I think. Not extortionate, but you can't really avoid it.

The definitive Paklenica guidebook is: http://www.climb-europe.com/RockClimbingShop/Paklenica-Rock-climbing-Guideb...

If you search the destination forums you'll find more opinions. Have fun

Dave

In reply to full stottie:

Thanks everyone for comments - really useful - will have a good read over the w/e

In reply to robbiebrookie:

Stayed in Bol for our honeymoon and although not a climbing trip for once, we did take shoes and harnesses and top-roped a few routes with a local guide provided the rest of the gear. There's tons of scope for development, and I left a good tip to contribute to the bolt fund. I received an email off the guide a months ago, which a had pic of all the bolts they'd bought. There a two group of climbing clubs on the island, and they develop their respective areas (N and S iirc). Bol itself is small, chilled out, and has great beaches and not as in your face as the bigger more popular islands like Hvar. We will be going back for a long weekend to climb. Car hire is most the best option on Bol though. Restaurants are good and cheap. We stayed at the Villa Giardino, which while not the cheapest was a good comfy treat if you want to spoil the other half.

In reply to full stottie:

p.s. anyone been to Paklenica in May - what was the climate like (most interested in rain), climate info online suggests quite a lot i.e. average 15 days in the month of May!

In reply to robbiebrookie:
For what it's worth I don't think I'd go again in early May for only one week. First trip was ok but lost two days to rain and high winds (Bora!), although we rescued one by climbing in the gorge later in the day. Second trip only two reasonable days even then we had to climb in the rain or wind. Maybe two weeks would be a better plan as I still think it's a great place to go. Really depends on what you want out of the trip, the longer routes on Anica Kuk etc are brilliant but climbing in the gorge is nothing special.

In reply to robbiebrookie:

Our most recent trip was the third week in May last year. We had no rain at all, sunny every day, climbed in shorts and t-shirts and needed the sun cream, but a few weeks previously much of the Balkans, including Croatia, had bad floods. My previous trip was around the second week of September, and we had one day of thunderstorms, otherwise warm and sunny.

Its hard to make decisions based on previous year's experiences by others though....Jim Jones obviously had less good luck than we did..........sometimes you just have to go for it and hope you get enough good weather to make it worthwhile!

Dave