The following report is courtesy of Cristina Cucu, Romanian Alpine Club representative on the UIAA Youth Commission.
Cristina reports on activities organised in Romania in collaboration with the UIAA Youth Commission. Further details on UIAA Youth Commission events and how to get involved will be published shortly.
OCTOBER WORKSHOP
Workshop organised to initiate people into climbing more difficult routes. The workshop was meant to teach hikers the basics for passing to another level, from a normal hike to a more technical route which includes scrambling, steep valleys, exposed traverses, abseiling, and orientation in unknown terrain. The first day was dedicated to theoretical knowledge, what kind of gear you need and why, how to prevent accidents, how to secure people on delicate segments. The second day, we split into different teams, each of them being accompanied by a trainer, and the trainees had to find their own way, to secure their partners and find a way down, using the gear they had carried with them.
Accommodation – in the Alpine Hostel which belongs to the Romanian Alpine Club patrimony. The participants paid the accommodation which goes into the budget of the Club and they also paid a donation to cover the expenses of the trainers. No extra fee was added.
Purpose: train other members of the club in order to organise safe climbs for them and for other less experienced members, in the future.
Participants: members of our club, age 20 – 30+
Location: Bucegi Mountains, 2.5 h drive from Bucharest
Trainers: Andrei Dumitrache, Bogdan Sandu, Alex Racoti, Ionut Papa, Alex Pauna, Stefan Mera, Cristina Cucu – they are all either mountain guides, climbing trainers or very experienced members.
SEPTEMBER – NOVEMBER “TRAD CLIMBING SCHOOL”
Organised within the Bucharest Branch of the Romanian Alpine Club. After a few indoor meetings, where we discussed the theoretical aspects of the trad climbing discipline, we moved outdoors for three weekend workshops of hands-on practice, with 18 attendees (six of them for each workshop). For the outdoor activities, Cuca climbing area was chosen, a schist cliff with a lot of trad climbing opportunities (a pity that most of the routes are bolted…) and although the weather was pretty cold (and a little rainy sometimes) we managed to check all the list of the intended themes: how to prepare for climbing a trad route, placing and cleaning gear (both passive and active protection), building belay anchors using slings and/or the rope, the transition at the belay stance, communication between climbers, building abseil anchors and descending from the route (either at the end of the route or bailing).
Accommodation: camping in tents right next to the crags.
Purpose: promote and teach clean climbing
Participants: members of our club, age 20 – 40+
Location: at the foot of Iezer-Papusa Mountains, 2.5 h drive from Bucharest
Trainer: Laurentiu Anghel, special member of our club, a master of trad climbing.
The workshops were free, just some logistic expenses have been covered by the participants. No extra fee was added.
Photos and report courtesy of Cristina Cucu
