New Croatian climbs in Montenegro's Grebaja valley

From 24 August 24 to 8 September 2024 the Alpinism Commission of the Croatian Mountaineering Association organised a camp in the Grebaje Valley, located in the Prokletije region of Montenegro. The purpose of the camp was twofold: to explore the potential for establishing new routes and to foster connections between promising young climbers and experienced members of the Croatian climbing community.

During this two-week camp, 11 Croatian alpinists took to the valley's rock faces, dedicating their efforts to repeating significant routes, including the legendary Prvo Koplje (VII, V-VI, 500m) on the spire known as Koplje (Karanfili) where they performed three free ascents. After the 1st ascent in 1972 by Ante Bedalov and Žarko Gostović, the route was claimed as one of the most demanding in the Balkans and received its 2nd ascent only in 2005. Four other repeats followed from 2013-2024 by Slovenian and Serbian alpinists, which included first free ascent and first free rope solo ascent.

The Croatian team also focused on creating new and exciting climbs, resulting in the seven high-quality new routes and one ongoing project on the peaks of Zastanit, Dževahirit, Lagojvet, Fortit, and Koplje.

The Prokletije region proved to be both challenging and rich in climbing potential, with rock formations offering everthing from tricky steep grass and choss to impressively solid pitches. The new routes were specifically designed to take advantage of the latter, and we are particularly pleased to report that none of the routes required the use of drills or bolts.

List of new routes:
Kuja (Maja Lagojvet), V+, 210m. FA: Kazimir Bišćan, Marko Buljan, Luka Fućak, 26/08/2024
Mojne Zastranit (Zastanit), 6b+, A1, 200m. FA: Lukas Grbac Lacković, Rene Lisac, 30/08/2024
Dobre naočale (Zastanit), V, 195m. FA: Goran Glumac, Ivan Sabolić, 30/08/2024
Đezbahirit (Dževahirit), 6c+, 270m. FA: Vid Fantov, Lukas Grbac Lacković, 1/09/2024
Sasvim Drugo koplje (Koplje), 7a, 480m. FA Marko Kalčić, Siniša Škalec, 1/09/2024
Dečački san (Maja Lagojvet) V, 185m. FA: Luka Fućak, Goran Glumac, 1/09/2024
Ljubav na zadnji pogled (Fortit), 6b+, 375m. FA: Luka Fućak, Lukas Grbac Lacković, 7/09/2024
Džabahirit (Dževahirit), 7b/c?, 3.5 pitches, project: Vid Fantov, Siniša Škalec, 7/09/2024 4