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After out time Exploring Bafa, and later discovering Sakarkaya, we were sure that with all that rock, the perfect lines were out there, waiting. We hiked a lot, several days in fact were lost in those never ending boulders, eternally tempted by the unseen potential around the corner, or over the hill. We walked past a lot of good walls, and even more routes you would be “happy” to climb back at home, but the possibility for something perfect kept us ever marching forwards, yet always aware time was slipping away.
Caroline was the first to decide on her line, or should we say wall. A tall imposing wall of yellow/orange rock, split by several cracks of various width and style. Shortly after, James discovered THE boulder, and after passing so many blank or breaky faces, we could hardly believe the positive, solid features spaced up the steep brown wall! The boulder could have come directly from Switzerland, and the visible holds and features hinted at something very high, very hard, but probably possible!
Excitement levels were high, and we hesitated at calling it a day for exploration and getting stuck into the climbing. But something seemed different about this current zone, and after a further foray for discovery, persistence payed off when we stumbled upon this…
The first day of climbing saw Caroline realize her project, and here first ever new route! From conception, to cleaning, then climbing. The result was a very “English” style trad route, following a discontinuous crack, protected by spaced and sometimes suspect gear – Jamesinade E6 6b.
James had a little more trouble with his project, but by the end of Day 1 was able to understand the movements of the crack, and have an idea of the projection. Small wires would be the order here, and they were fortunately of good quality, provided they were placed correctly, and that was precisely the problem. Due to the nature of the climbing, the wires had to be placed blind, feeling the way between the specific crystals, before tugging to seat the nut in hopefully the correct place.
By the end of Day 2 James was motivated for a lead attempt, and after passing the crux with a few more problems than expected, found a way to keep it together, place the final nut, and run it out to the top. Cobra Crackinette is now, as far as we know, Turkeys hardest traditional route, weighing in at a tough E8 7a. It’s an amazing line that strangely climbs more like a face than a crack, but makes sure to wait for the shady part of the day if you want to keep any skin.
This left the small matter of the boulder! In all honesty, despite motivation being high, expectations were quite low. It was the last day of the trip, skin was thin, bla bla bla, you have heard it all before… James took his time to clean the block, discovering that it was both higher than he had imagined, and that the slopey crux came at the very top! The landing was poor, we had few crash pads, and even fewer spotters. In fact it wasn’t that much like a boulder at all!
After a few tries to understand the beginning sequence, James committed to the upper section but lost his courage just before the lip, jumping back down to the pads. After a few more tries and falls from lower down, he regained his highpoint and stuck the move to the lip whilst Caroline franticly rearranged the pads below. Turning the lip, the morning sun blinded his eyes, and we all held our breath as he scabbled uncomfortably onto the top of the boulder. “Into The Light” is somewhere around Highball fb8a, and a fine addition to the already excellent boulders of Bafa and Sakarkaya. For someone with the required power, there is a possible sit start that adds a similar number of moves and difficulty, which would surely add up to something very hard indeed!
