Turkey Trip has come to an end

I will start of by saying I really enjoyed my stay here. I’ve enjoyed the climbing area, the camping Jo.si.to, the weather (when it was Sunny), the food and most of all the people.
From all the staff here, with 19 years of age, I’m the youngest. But here, young and old (the oldest volunteer is 39) share the same mindset. So age difference for me is not an issue.
My Turkish however is a slight issue, because it’s so little. In fact it’s rubbish, but I do now some basic and useful words. My nickname ‘Tabbi’ for example means ‘sure’. ‘Tammam’ means ‘OK’ and ‘Yok’ means ‘is no more/gone’. Thanks to Fatos my pronounciation is quite good for a non-Turkish speaker, they say.

Now let’s talk about the climbing. I can say something about the different areas I’ve been to. Trebenna is the area which never faces the sun. There I climbed my first (outdoor) 7b on sight (‘Greek’s Gift) and my first 7c flash (Be Yourself). There are also some nice 7 and 8th graded routes I’ve climbed or tried. Most of the routes there can be seen as tufa climbing and overhang, from which are very overhanging like one of the cooler routes I tried there ‘Freedom is a Battle’ 8a+.
The area closest to the camping, which is like a minute’s walk from Jo.si.to, is called Turkish Standard. There I’ve climbed nice easier routes (6b+ Turkish Standard) and ‘Black Moon’ 7b (2nd go) and Pipis&Popos 7b.
The line of rock which is situated close to the main road (5minutes uphill) is Sarkit, followed by a.o. Magara and Anatolia. In Anatolia you climb faces and slabs. There I flashed the hardest 6c I ever did, called ‘Sado Mazo’ (40metres of slab). I experienced Magara as a nice-looking cave with very polished routes. Sarkit is in my opinion by far the best crag up there. However it always faces the sun, so you can only climb there when it’s cloudy (if you don’t like to be burned alive during climbing). I tried really awesome routes there f.e. an 8b which I believe is called ‘Over the Top’. All the moves feel possible, but it’s just too much in the sun to try it more without getting really hot and sweaty hands.
Further to right of these crags is the ‘Kanyon’ named ‘Kanyon’. There I did my best on sight on Arsenik 7c: a short, steep and bouldery route. It contains some far moves and positive pockets. I don’t know if it’s a 7c, because it felt easier than some of the 7b(+)’s I’ve climbed. Apart from the goatshit that covers the ground by ten inches, I really enjoyed Kanyon. Most of all because it got me falling out of this 6a (‘69’) with a slopy crux.
If you follow the path out of Kanyon more to the right, you will end up in Poseidon which is linked to Ottoman, Mevlana and more areas. I did not really like the routes I tried in Mevlana, because they wereThe fact that the routes I tried are polished is not so strange, because these routes were all ‘classics’.

In Poseidon I found a nice project in a style that is not really my forté. It’s called ‘Poseidon Tavan’ an 8a+ extension of a 7b. The first part contains a technical face followed by a overhang which goes more overhanging the higher you get. It’s a tufa climb in the 7b followed by a horizontal roof with quite some reachy moves out when you climb out of the roof. It took me 5 attempts divided over three days. The third day I had not slept great, but I still felt really psyched to climb this route. After the pumpy 7b I found my no hands rest, clipped the next few draws, climbed back to the rest and recovered a bit. There I memorized all the moves again and when I climbed I felt I was in great flow. This flow kept my brain focusing on getting to the next hold each time and doing all the moves. When I clipped the anchor I also realized that I skipped the second to last clip (which doesn’t matter, because you have a so-called ‘free fall’). Once again I realized that climbing brings the body and mind in full focus and if everything goes well you get in this nice flow. And when this flow is followed by topping a route, it gives me a real euphoric feeling.

In the end I will miss it here, but I also look forward to coming trips. For now I really look forward to seeing my friends and family again. I’m looking back to this trip as a new chapter of my life. As a person I’ve become more content with the perfectionist that I am. I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m a people’s person and enjoy climbing outdoors (but only with good company). My goal in life –for now– is to be happy with everything I do and share this happiness with other people. Finally I thank my Creator for everything he made.. Mankind, animals, nature and of course the rocks making it able for some people to try and be like the squirrels in Geyikbayiri, which are exceedingly skilled climbers. I thank Him for giving people the possibility to enjoy life, fall down sometimes, but also to learn how to get back up the mountains again. For the rest of my life I will praise Him.