Author: Klemen Vodlan

Alex Ventajas has just sent Halupca 1979 (9a) in Osp cave in just five tries. He tried the route three times last November, and on Saturday, he sent it on his second go just before the big cave of Osp got flooded. The Spaniard is no stranger to 9th grade climbs, having already climbed two 9a+'s and 10 9a's. A 17-year-old Polish climber, Martyna Syzmanska,

Easter holidays in Istria were packed with climbers. Peter Kuric from Slovakia made an impressive ascent of the Sanjski par extension (9a) in Mišja peč, on his fifth try. He first tackled the challenging first pitch (8c+). The second attempt was close, but he fell just one move before reaching the top. After resting for 10 minutes, he tried again and sent it on the

Croatian climber Siniša Škalec crushed the very steep Working Class Hero (8b+) in Osp Cave on his 4th attempt. He proposed a downgrade to 8b as he found a new sequence for the first crux. In the top "easier" part of the route, he broke two holds, but this does not significantly change the route. Škalec's climbing partner, Mr. Igor Čorko, also climbed the same

Vojta Trojan, a strong climber from the Czech Republic, recently sent Sanjski par extension (9a) in Mišja peč. He had previously completed eight 9a routes. It took him three days to finish the first part of the route, which is graded 8c+, and another four days to clip the chains of the 9a extension. To demonstrate his good form, he also did Strelovod (8c) on

Matjaž Zorko's 4th ascent of Malvazija (8c+) in Dvigrad Matjaž Zorko is a Slovenian climber who made the 4th ascent of the difficult Malvazija (8c+) route in Dvigrad, in Croatian part of Istria. The route is known for its technical and sustained climbing, with small holds and intricate footwork required. Zorko's ascent was particularly notable because the route had only been climbed three times in 35

Warning: We have already mentioned a couple of times that many of the permadraws, top binners and slings in Mišja peč are totally worn out. Projekt OSP has replaced some of them with the steel ones on the cruxes of the most popular routes. But, there are climbers who are leaving their own old/worn out quickdraws everywhere. They are very dangerous as they can break

Italian slab master Alessandro Zeni repeated Malvazija (8c+) in Dvigrad, in the heart of Croatian Istria. It is the third ascent of this mythic route in this compact limestone after the first ascent by Maurizio Zanolla “Manolo” in 1988 and the first repeat by American Cody Roth in 2010. Also many other strong climbers tried the route, but until now it counts only three ascents

Slovenian climber, Mitja Jereb has climbed his first 8c, Strelovod in Mišja peč. After one hold partially broke off on the end of traverse, Mitja Jereb used a kneepad to pass the sequence and successfully clipped the chains. Big congrats! Also in Mišja peč, Tomaž Bevk redpointed the rarely done Klobasa (8b). It was first ascended in 1988 by Tadej Slabe and graded 8a+. It was

Finally some nice weather showed up in Istria and made good conditions for climbing on the sun. Looks like our latest article Projects in Istria inspired some climbers for some new first ascents. Domen Kolenko made a first ascent of Jurij Ravnik's project in Mišja peč. The new route starts right from Stinger (7c) and ends on the anchor of Skodelica kave (7b). Now it has

If you think that all the routes in Istria have been climbed, you are completely wrong. There are unclimbed projects waiting for the first ascents in almost all the crags. So, what are you waiting for? Go and crush them! Here is the list, which is not complete as the virgin rocks are almost everywhere. Have in mind as well, that all the projects are