Guvercinlik Valley, Turkey: new routes for Larcher, Oviglia & Co.

During the first half of August 2006 Rolando Larcher (CAAI: member of Italian Academic Alpine Club), Maurizio Oviglia (CAAI), Mauro Florit (CAAI) and Marco Sterni opened a few new routes in the Guvercinlik Valley, a lateral valley of the Emli Valley, in the Ala Daglar massif (Turkey). This mountainous chain has already been the object of repeated Italian expeditions since1955. In 2005, Larcher and Oviglia together with Paissian had opened two difficult modern routes in the mountain chain. The altitude of the mountains climbed were calculated by GPS and a proposal for a new topographical map was made on the basis of what already existed and in agreement with the local alpinists. The Valley of Guvercinlik consists of the west face of  Guvercinlik, an impressive wall of 600 meters known as the Tranga Wall. Maurizio Oviglia tells us how things went. 
Oscar Durbiano

New Gold Dream
Four of us set off, with the same destination as last summer, and this could already be a clue. If it had been an expedition, a holiday, or something else, I don’t know, all I know is that my wife, kissing me good-bye, ironically said  “Work hard!”
I was hoping for a classical “Enjoy yourself darling!” or else “Relax, you are lucky enough to go on holiday…” This made me think. We preferred to spend our money on an air ticket to a destination where we would have probably sworn, sweated and worked hard instead of spending it on a beach … this is who we are! 
The plane which landed at Ankara saw four alpinists emerge who were no longer in their prime, with more than twenty five years of vertical experience behind them … in other words they could all boast forty years of living to the maximum without losing even one minute. During the trip they spoke of nothing but mountains, of rock faces, of future plans …  and in this they were immediately recognisable as life-long friends. They met in Munich, at the intermediate stopover, as each lived in a different city. Their lives would be intertwined for almost fifteen days, far from home, in a far-flung mountain chain in Turkey. On arrival two huge bags were unloaded with ‘HEAVY’ written on them. Two apparently small, light rucksacks belonged instead to the other two. The big bags contained a drill and a large number of shiny metal pieces, strange metal hooks, snacks, a tent, climbing shoes etc. In the other two rucksacks, which in comparison seemed light, ropes, every size of rock pitons, metal nuts and strange gadgets which looked like metal cauliflowers ... a tent bought at a supermarket the day before, more suited to sleeping on the beach than in the mountains. The girl at Customs saw all this through a simple x-ray. She rubbed  her chin perplexed and thought that these climbers certainly must have been travelling together, even though they had a different assortment of equipment.  Why did those with the big bags have a hand-drill and the others not? And what would they do with a hand-drill in August on the high burning plains of Anatolia? Was this a climbing expedition or did they intend opening an ironmonger’s shop in Anatolia?
Marco and Mauro have already opened a route. Instead we are still battling with the first two pitches of this bastard rock face, which the locals call Tranga, as it reminds them of the Trango Towers. But for us it doesn’t remind us of them at all, and the limestone appears very difficult for anyone wanting to ascend from the ground doing things properly! To the right are some bolts which finish after only 30 metres with an abseil carabiner. We discovered that this was left after an attempt by the Swiss two years ago. If they gave up, does this mean something? The rock face disappears up into the never-ending sky, if you look at it from below you can only see half of it. Maybe this is also a message. I feel uneasy: if it is all like this, I won’t have the energy to reach the end of the ‘job’. Rolly is nervous too, he knows that only two and a half pitches in a day, on a wall of 600 metres is not very much, with the time we have left. But there are only two of us and we might as well keep quiet and try to do our best.
Meanwhile Marco and Mauro wave to us from below. They seem happy. In four hours they have opened a good route and reached the top. We are 100 metres from the bottom, and it has taken us twelve hours.
At two o clock the sun turns around and lights up the great wall. At that point it seems that we can really continue to climb and things are not so bad.  Instead the sun inexorably dries your mouth and bombards your head, even while wearing a helmet. Drinking is useful, but not a great deal, cramps are lying in wait. We carry on just the same but in the evening after a twenty-hour day, you cannot stand up. At least I couldn’t, I was staggering. Now we are at the camp, invaded by flies and bees, which seem to have gone mad with the heat and drought. Calm returns only after sunset. Marco and Mauro drink beer to celebrate their great new route on the summit to the right of ours. They climbed over 600 metres and reached the top of a mountain never climbed before.      On the summit they built a cairn, a baba they call it here, and took the reading of their altitude from the GPS. Then they descended by abseiling. We too finally finished our route since the high part was relatively easy. An unexpected turn for the better. But it took another hard day to achieve this and it was not an easy climb.
On the summit, at over 3000 metres, the temperature was over  30c! They told us that day at Adana, the thermometer reached 56c.But how can we believe it? On the other hand for days there was not a cloud in the sky. At night time the sky lit up by a huge moon, outlining the shape of the valleys and the crests of this never-ending paradise which is Ala Daglar. I turn over in my sleeping bag and dream that my harness is still cutting through my legs.
Today Recep, with whom we have been staying these days, comes along too with us to the rock face. He gave us his house, as if it was our own. Now Recep is suspended over a stomach-churning void breathlessly pulling up on his jumars continuously repeating, “Allah, Allah!” I am breathless too on the obligatory traverse of my pitch , where my foot seems to be ready to make me slip from one moment to the next and I can no longer see the last protection which should stop the terrible pendulum.Recep is taking photographs and videos. Rolly is laughing and is pawing the ground from below . He says he is cold. I am dying from the heat and my hands are sweating and my feet are sore. “Good job, good job, guys!,” Recep keeps saying. Today his best gift will be the summit of this tower which is so inaccessible, where only five or six people have ever ascended. He will be able to proudly show off his photographs to his friends.
We spent the last two days beside the house of Recep and Zeynep, in a canyon of conglomerate rock and limestone, where our Turkish friends had started to equip an area for sports climbing. It looks like a fantastic place, with huge potential. They call it  Kazikli Valley because one hundred years ago someone called  Kazilikisalì climbed an overhanging crack by pushing in a few sticks making it like the rungs of a ladder. He wanted to hide his honey in a little grotto, even if on the high plateau it is 37c and there is a cold, dry wind. So here you can climb in the middle of August.  Zeynep, one of the strongest Turkish women climbers, tries two pitches which I have left for her. Rolly battles with a never-ending arrête where she wanted to put her last bolt. Marco is moving on a wall with microscopic holds with his usual elegance, so much so that it is a pleasure to watch him climb. Meanwhile Mauro is about to melt his new Nikon.
So the trip is over, only thirteen days, which have seemed very long. We leave with our eyes filled with light and virgin rock faces, so that I know that we shall return there again. For our route, considered the main obsession the name “Good job!” suits it well, but Zeynep suggests something more subtle, a saying of Mevlàna, a mystic Sufi poet who lived in this area in the 1200s.  “Here we say come to derwish…”, he says, “ to invite everybody, of whatever faith or race, to come and allow themselves to be enchanted by the dance, losing themselves in it, reaching extasy.. …” “Come to derwish, italian guys!”,  Zeynep seems to murmur when next morning we load the baggage on to the Kangoo full of exhaust fumes from the old taxi driver.
Maurizio Oviglia

Technical data
During the first half of August 2006 Mauro Florit (CAAI), Marco Sterni, Rolando Larcher (CAAI) and Maurizio Oviglia (CAAI), opened some new routes in the Guvercinlik Valley, a  lateral valley  of the Emli Valley, in the massif of Ala Daglar. This chain of mountains has been the object of repeated expeditions by Italians since 1955. In 2005, Larcher and Oviglia, together with Paissan, had opened two difficult modern routes in the chain. The altitudes of the mountains climbed were calculated by GPS and a proposal for a new topographical map was made on the basis of what already existed and in agreement with the local alpinists. The Valley of Guvercinlik consists of the west face of  Guvercinlik, an impressive wall of 600 meters known as the Tranga Wall.

GUVERCINLIK VALLEY (Turchia)
Lower Guvercinlik (Tranga Tower), 3000 m, West face
Route  “Come to derwish” - Rolando Larcher and Maurizio Oviglia, assisted by Recep Ince, 3/5/7 August2006 –Redpoint
10 August 2006
600 m - 7b max (7a obligatory).
The route ascends the overwhelming western part of the tower, already the object of an attempt by the Swiss Giovanni Quirici, in 2004. A route already existed on the south west wall, bolted and opened by unknown climbers most probably Czechs.The new route offers demanding climbing and proceeds along the initial two thirds of the route. There are sixty-five bolts plus anchors. Bring kevlan threads for chock stones. Small friends are useful but were not used by whoever opened the route. The obligatory sections are exposed.

 Middle Guvercinlik, 3185 m, West face
Via “Italian Classic” - Mauro Florit and Marco Sterni, 4/5 August 2006 -
600 m - VI+ max.
Beautiful climbing which, according to the climbers who opened the route, deserves to become a great classic. A hand-drilled bolt has been placed for each anchor. Pitons. Descent by abseiling. The summit reached was most probably virgin.
 
Upper Guvercinlik, 3183 m, West face
Via “Remembering 1955” - Mauro Florit and Marco Sterni, 8 August 2006 -
500 m - VI+ max.
Beautiful climbing on great rock. Equipped anchors.
 
Yeniceri Dagi, 3073 m, parete E
Via “Ocio muli!” - Mauro Florit and Marco Sterni, 3 August 2006 -
210 m - VI+ max.
Beautiful climbing on great rock, not easy to protect. Four pitons.

Kaziliki Valley
Natural woman, 7b (Maurizio Oviglia)
The king of Ala Daglar, 7b+ (Maurizio Oviglia)
Trans Ala Daglar, 7c+ (Rolando Larcher)

Info
For any further information on the routes or on the logistics in the Ala Daglar massif, please contact Maurizio Oviglia (movigli@tin.it) or Recep Ince (incerecep@yahoo.com)

Special Thanks
We should like to thank Recep and Zeynep Ince for their hospitality and logistical assistance.
Mauro Florit and Marco Sterni thank the Alpine Society of the Giulie Alps.
Rolando Larcher thanks North Face, La Sportiva, Kong and Lizard for their technical equipment.