Ascents in Sredna Stara planina having Beta

Had to bail before the final section; ran out of light. Really epic climbing. Undercling blobs to techy vertical section with a few sparse and hard to read moves.

A 2nd go wonder. Once you find your beta for the top it feels significantly easier. 1st try hanging draws a few days ago I fell just before the final moves, using bad beta pulling into the RH undercling off the double kneebar. Absolutely smashed it today first go. Double kneepads very helpful. Classic V3 tufa boulder! Felt 7a+ with beta, but the onsight go was definitely 7b.

#2go

A good intro to the sector 5b to a 6A+/6B boulder. Kneebar clip at the top. If Putsai Kume is a 7a+ then this is softer BUT i dont think kume is a 7a+

2nd Go

Fun 6a climbing to a four move V4 boulder problem with optional kneebars after every hard move. Really difficult to read, which is maybe why it gets 7a instead of 6c+…got pretty lucky choosing the correct beta. Strongly reminiscent of the Obed… got a little homesick to be honest. Left kneepad useful, right is optional.

#2go

Amazing, flowy warmup on some of the coolest limestone holds I’ve ever touched. Probably my favorite 5.9 I’ve climbed in Europe thus far. From the midpoint to the top anchor is the same grade, but a little more runout with smaller holds. Still worth doing especially since you can set draws on the left one on the way down.

Really chill entry section followed by a balls-hard final crux move on thin and greasy slopers and weird edges. Once I found the foot beta it went and it was over but man that was quite a puzzle. Not worth doing again since the entire grade is just that one move.

Crap start leads to some of the most fun climbing ever. Honestly the first 3 bolts were the hardest for me trying to read the choss. The tufa is all jugs and good right kneebars which you don’t even need.

Feels only about 6b+/c unless you do the final move to the black tufa above the anchors to clip the higher one…which felt 6c+ on the onsight.

This was probably the most fun I’ve had on a warmup in Bulgaria. Stellar line on drastically better rock than the line to the left. Pretty committing near the top, with some spicy runout but good holds. Epic finish! Felt pretty soft, maybe 5.10a/b at most.

Jug edges all the way until the final few bolts where it changes to sick tufa-pulling. Amazing finish moves.

Really nice quality moves on consistently poor, chossy rock. An interesting mix. The final moves are the only pumpy bit, and it really isn’t that bad if you read the sequence well and nab the pocket. Hanging anchors from underneath isn’t really an option, you have to go up and left to the final edge. Soft.

5.9+. Less-classic than the one to the right but still worth doing, albeit a lot dirtier. If this route gets a good cleaning with a blower and ivy-pulling it would be really awesome. I did what I could wit bc the time I had.