Where To Rock Climb in Romania - A Climbing Guide of Brasov Crags

During the last two years, as we went climbing, we would always find Cirpian Draghici at the crags with his camera taking shots of the routes and asking for information regarding difficulty and crux passages. Basically, when he wasn't climbing he was working on his climbing guidebook which was just launched this month - February 2010.

If until now we were heavily browsing the internet in search of climbing topos for Brasov, Zarnesti or Sinaia, now we have a more elegant solution with Cipri's Climbing Guide of Brasov Crags. Being written entirely in English, it makes a perfect guide for the foreign tourist climber as well who can also find contact information (emails, websites) for getting in touch with local climbers.

While the bulk of the work was carried out entirely by the author and his wife - Anamaria Draghici - many other climbers and photographers contributed with pieces of information, tips and photos. So as the community of climbers is well represented inside the guidebook - I have a cool picture in there :-) - we are all grateful to Cipri who mentioned about us even though everything was done at his expense.

What you can find inside the guidebook:

• 17 rock climbing crags
• over 700 sport climbing routes with full description, french difficulty grades and rating for the beauty of each climb
• photo-topos with route lines
• color codes for route difficulty - easier assessing the routes and sectors
• icons describing the route's character, steepens and beauty
• GPS coordinates
• approach maps drawn to scale
• inspiring climbing pictures

The first pages will introduce you to Romania and Brasov, highlighting location, climate, history, culture, what to see, accommodation and restaurants.

Since the guide is at its first edition, we know there's room for better so please send your suggestions and feedback to Cipri. Also you can buy the book directly from him by sending an email to
guide-book@romaniaquest.com.

The book can be found at the major outdoor retailers, mountain shops or climbing gyms in Romania: Himalaya, Sport Virus, Natural High, Vertical Spirit.
For ordering online visit Climbing Shop.


Brasov awaits you to Rock!

Autumnal Multi Pitch Climb in Postavaru

A beautiful autumn day with lots of sun and plenty of wind. We climbed a south limestone face in Postavaru mountain. The route - EN: The Magpie, RO: Cotofana - is neither hard nor terribly easy and passes under a little roof keeping a constant medium difficulty.

Back in 2003 I was a mountain guide and climbing instructor here, leading a German lad and a Swedish young lady on a neighboring route in the same wall - EN: Animals' Wall, RO: Peretele Animalelor.

Castoru captured our outdoor adventure on his video camera and the footage will be aired on PRO-TV Brasov in the following days, perhaps Wednesday. I will get the video this time and I will post it on Highball Blog. Hopefully I can get our previous video from this tour.

Castoru leading on the roof traverseShooting our rappel descent

Cheers!