Geyikbayiri | chossclimbers.com

Go back to Turkey.
Go back to Dedegol Failure.

Marmara route.

The following day, we tried to climb a smallish trad route called Dusen Karabina (5+). We waited till the afternoon as it was supposed to go into the shade. Eventually it did but the limestone had retained enough heat that it was still like climbing in an oven. We did a couple of pitches but the mid-40s C temperatures were making us delirious and so we bailed (as hot as Queensland 8 months earlier). On the second and final morning, we got up early and did a 3 pitch sporto thing called Marmara (6b) on the walls 10 minutes from camp. The area is not really our cup of tea – tons of single pitch sport lines but the multipitch (trad) looks uninspiring for the most part: nice looking mountains but the routes consist mostly of scrambling interrupted by a few technical pitches that don’t seem to justify the long approaches and even longer descents. From Antalya, we drove a few hours west along the pretty Mediterranean coast to the charming but very touristy town of Kas.

Photos

Views of Antalya (August 2020).

On the drive to Sivri Dag (formation in the photo; August 2020).

Sivri Dag above Antalya (August 2020).

We were waiting for the face to go into the shade as the temps were hovering in the mid-40s Celsius (August 2020).

Views from the route (August 2020).

Leading pitch 1 of Dusen Karabina which we’d combine with pitch 2 …and then bail as it was absolutely stifling (August 2020).

Pitch 2 hanging belay on Dusen Karabina (August 2020).

Shirley in the limestone oven (August 2020).

Pitch 2 (August 2020).

Shirley on pitch 2 (August 2020).

Antalya (August 2020).

Hiking back down (August 2020).

We found this fruit & boiled corn stand back at the trailhead (August 2020).

The figs were in season and pretty damn great (August 2020).

A great swimming hole in a river just below the Climbers Garden (August 2020).

Much fresher than the Mediterranean (August 2020).

Got into a dick measuring contest with some Kurdish guys at the swimming hole; taking headers into the turquoise pool (August 2020).

Ambiance of the Climbers Garden. We’d probably dislike it in high season with a shitload of other climbers around but it was pretty nice in August (2020).