Rajceva, new route by Luka Lindic and Andrej Grmovšek on Križevnik in Slovenia

Following in the footsteps of legendary Slovenian alpinist Franček Knez, on 17 June 2012 Luka Lindič and Andrej Grmovšek made the first free ascent of their new rock climb up the North Face of Križevnik. This magnificent peak lies deep in the Savinja Alp - the easternmost extension of the Alps - above the sleepy Robanov Kot valley and boasts some of the finest limestone in the country.

Rajčeva was established ground-up last autumn up the steepest part of the wall in 3 days, and the 7 pitches are protected by some pitons and 32 bolts in total (of which 11 are on the belays). Additional pro in the form of camming devices is recommended and after some cleaning this spring, Grmovšek and Lindič redpointed the line at 8a, making it the hardest on the face. "It's really steep and overhanging" explained Lindič "with perfect rock and in such a nice surrounding, it deserves five stars!"

The route is named after Grmovšek's father-in-law, who was in love with Križevnik and understandably so. Lindič explains "I believe that the Križevnik north face has the best rock quality one can find in Slovenia. It is simply perfect, not only by Slovenian standards! Almost all routes on this wall were climbed by legendary Slovenian climber Franček Knez such as his Svoboda (which means Freedom), also 250m long and graded around VII+, and the slightly easier and more popular lines Resnikova and Ruška."