Rock Climbing in Cobani

One of the few places suitable for rock climbing in Moldova is Cobani. The village is located on the north of the country in Glodeni District. On the edge of the village there are toltres with the altitude of ~12 meters – Stînca Mare.

По-русски: Скалолазание в Кобани.

How to get

The easiest way is to go by car from Chișinău or Bălți.

Points of interest on the location

The village has water wells, shops. Tents can be placed directly under and above the rocks.

Climate

You can climb in any dry season with positive temperature. The sun shines on the rocks after 13:00 and until the evening, it is hot during summer and late spring. Here are often winds.

Daria Shanina makes first ascent of Satisfaction 6a+

History and bolting

Since the 80s, tourists and mountaineers from Bălți have been training in this region as well as in Butești. In 2006 the Mountaineering Club of RM held here the championship of RM in rock climbing.

In autumn 2017 I was in this place and was very pleasantly surprised by the quality of the breed. In June 2018, me and a group of Chisinau enthusiasts bolted several sport climbing routes here.

We used glue in bolts. On the anchors there are only two bolts – no chain. You can lower directly from the bolts. We will put chains in the future.

Climbing routes

Warning! Rocks can fall from above. Be sure to wear a helmet, belay from a safe place, be careful. Especially after rain and away from the routes.

Sport climbing and bouldering sectors are listed below. The rocks circled with white dotes have potentitial for new bouldering problems.

Routes bolted for lead climbing are shown with red lines. Triangle shows the anchor. Dashed white lines show routes suitable only for top rope. Blue lines show bouldering problems.

Sadovyj (Garden)

First sector on the left.

Name Sector Type Difficulty Length Quickdraws Note
1 Rassvet (Dawn) Sadovyj lead 6b 10m 5
2 Covid-19 Sadovyj lead 5a+ 10m 5 5c if you don't use left corner
3 Nojabr' (November) Sadovyj lead 5b+ 10m 5

Ptichij (Birds)

Name Sector Type Difficulty Length Quickdraws Note
4 Al'ternativa (Alternative) Ptichij lead 5c 12m ?
5 Kto tam? (Who's there?) Ptichij lead 6a 12m 5
6 Satisfaction Ptichij lead 6a+ 12m 6
7 Olimp
Ptichij lead 6b+ 16m -
8 Highway (Left) Ptichij lead 5c 16m -
9 Highway (Right) Ptichij lead 6a+ 16m -
10 Păcală Ptichij top rope 6a 13m ? First bolt is 4 meter high, use stick to clip. Common bolts with route #11
11 Tîndală Ptichij top rope 6a+ 13m 6 First bolt is 4 meter high, use stick to clip. Common bolts with route #10

In order to put top rope for routes 6-10, you need to walk around and above the rocks.

Routes 6-8 can be climbed with the same rope. You need to build a natural anchor. Put slings through holes in the rock. Tie up a huge stone.

To climb routes 9-10 you need to make 15 meters extension from the tree. You can connect this extension with an old anchor.

Hobot (Trunk)

Bouldering sector

Name Difficulty
12 Batman 6b
13 Noname 6b
14 Hobot (Trunk) 5b
Sector Hobot from behind
Video of climbing Batman 6b route

Credits

The routes where bolted by:

If you have any comments, suggestions or additional information, please contact me on facebook.