Peretele Gălbinelelor Tutte Arrampicata trad 19 vie in settore

Avvertimento Roccia: Rock fall

Route difficulty: 3A Romanian, 6+ UIAA rotpunkt, 5- A0

Approach: upwards from Costila refuge on the crossing into Galbinele valley

Gear needed: 60m rope if you want to connect some pitches, 50m otherwise. 12 draws, preferably extendable (the route is very sinuous). 3-4 120cm slings in addition to the belay gear. Small to medium friends (BD 0.4 to 1 or equivalent) and/or tricams can be useful

Pitch 1: (40m, 4 UIAA) Easy if a tad runout slab - head upwards and keep to the left to find fixed pro, and supplement it by slinging the occasional tree.

Pitch 2: (20m, 5+ UIAA) Climb a crack to the left, then continue on an airy, if well-protected traverse which crosses a chimney (an alternate route entrance) and head up to the belay in the saddle above the rock formation you've traversed (2 pitons in a vertical crack, or contine up pitch 3 and belay off a tree)

Pitch 3: Walk upwards through the forest until you reach rock again. The rock you reach is right in the fall line of some rather large and loose rock formations (latest collapse: 2022) so, rather than using the bolted belay (also in rockfall line) try belaying off the last tree. Depending on how you choose your tree or protect the following pitch, this may require a few meters of simulling, with the second on easy scrambling terrain.

Pitch 4: (55m, 3 UIAA) Climb the slab on the left, aiming at first towards a tree on the near-the-wall side and then keeping on the dihedral, until reaching a the belay in a flat overhang (single chemical anchor) Both in situ and natural pro are quite sparse

Pitch 5: (40m, 4 UIAA) Continue left on the belay ledge and climb left, up on a dihedral and then left again to a bolt under a dwarf pine field.

Pitch 6: (60m, 1+ UIAA): Walk up through the dwarf pines, crossing a small slab, until reaching a chemical anchor belay on the rock wall

Pitch 7: (50m, 6+ UIAA) Used to be 2 pitches (5+ and 6+) but the intermediate belay lost most of its pitons and they're vertical pitches so it's best to do them in one go. Pitch 7a goes up a small, slabby dihedral, crosses slightly to the right then heads up on a dihedral that leads to a crack up until a ledge where the bad belay can be found. Pitch 7b continues on the rightward crack (the crux of the route, well protected) and heads up to a belay platform.

Pitch 8: (35m, 5 UIAA) Follow a crack on the left to a left traverse, then another friable slabby crack to a belay. There is another intermediate belay in the following pitch that can be reached on 60m ropes, if you prefer.

Pitch 9: (55m, 3 UIAA) Go up easy, friable slab and a small chimney to some bushes,go past the bushes to find an intermediate belay, and up another slab to reach the second belay

Pitch 10: (25m, 5+ UIAA) Head up a chimney. After it, there are two alternatives. To the left, there's a slab with visible pro. To the right, there's an easy variant going to the right of a boulder above (protection can be found behind that boulder, and there's a good horizontal crack under the boulder as well). Belay on a comfortable ledge (3 pitons). The left variant may allow skipping the piton belay and going straight to the bolted belay in the following pitch.

Pitch 11: (40m, 2 UIAA) Head up easy slab to the chimney visible above. Bolted belay on the right side of the chimney, on a large platform.

Pitch 12: (20m, 5 UIAA) Follow the chimney right of a large boulder, to an intermediate piton belay under a roof. Traverse left then climb a friable little ridge to the final belay.

Retreat: Follow the ridge upwards for 300m until Brana Mare a Costilei

Line follows a series of hollows and the cracks uniting them.

Pitch 1: climb a chimney (no pro except 1 piton at the entrance) up to a grassy ledge with a bolted belay. 35m, 3+ UIAA

Pitch 2: slabby crack, belay in a large cave (1 bolt and 2 pitons). 40m, 4 UIAA

Pitch 3: gain the ledge right above the belay and head right on it, then follow the crack back above the belay. Bolt on the face to the left. Head up on an overhanging crack, leave it by traversing to the right at the top of the cave. Head up on easy terrain to the next cave, and the bolted belay. 25m, 6+ UIAA

Pitch 4: partially overlaps with Don Corleone. Start up and traverse to the right to a heavily pitoned crack you'll quickly abandon for easy slab (look for the bolt here). 10m above there's a belay from DC, then a crack that widens to a large funnel with a small ledge on top, above which are a bolt and a piton. DC heads right, we head left on a slab, then straight up on the protuberance until we reach another cave and bolted belay. 50m, 6- UIAA

Pitch 5: traverse left then head up on the crack (lots of pitons) and 10 more meters on easy ground to a grassy ledge and the final belay. 25m, 6/6+ UIAA

Protection: Reasonably well protected as far as Romanian adventure multipitch goes. Belays are at least partially on bolts, and there's the occasional bolt on-route in sensitive areas that aren't piton ladders. Counting the in situ pitons as bolts, there isn't any passage worse than S2. Some small to medium-sized pro can be useful, esp on p3.

Retreat: rap down back to Galbinele valley, or continue on the ledge to the second-to-last belay of Creasta Costila-Galbinele, and climb that then walk to Braul Mare al Costilei.