[Translate to "en"] Four Women, One First Ascent: “Örümcek Women” in the Aladağlar, Türkiye

Armed with climbing gear and the idea of climbing a new route in Türkiye’s Aladağlar Mountains and exploring the area, Leonie Filz, Jana Scheiring, Hannah Rabl and Lisa Perwitzschky set off east in August, travelling by train and bus. They share the story of their adventure together and the creation of their first ascent, “Örümcek Women”.

"Our adventure began at Innsbruck’s main train station. With our bags packed more or less minimally, we set off east. Each of us was carrying around 40 kg of luggage, which we decided to treat as training for the mountain routes in the Aladağlar (;

Our first stop was Vienna Central Station. While Leonie was already highly motivated and went for a run to burn off some energy, the rest of us had the ‘unfortunate’ task of keeping an eye on the luggage. After that, we took the night train to Bucharest and continued towards Istanbul by bus and public transport. We passed the long journey by doing all sorts of things, including trying to learn the Harry Potter theme song. What initially seemed like a great idea quickly fell apart amid all the laughter. With every kilometre further east, we gradually began to realise that we were actually on our way to Türkiye, the four of us, with a huge pile of climbing gear and a plan to climb a new route."

"After a few more hours on the bus, we finally arrived in the Aladağlar. For the first few days, our home was Recep İnce’s campsite. Recep is pretty much the local host and a familiar face in these mountains. At first, our main goal was to get to know the area, explore different cliffs and valleys, and get a feel for the rock, the protection and the grades. We started with sport climbing in Kazıklı Canyon and Pınarbaşı Canyon before exploring Emli Valley and climbing a few multi-pitch routes on the Kayacık and Karayalak Towers. Little by little, we got a better idea of which walls might be interesting for us. Eventually, we decided to take a closer look at the Kayacık Towers.

At Kayacık Camp, Mehmet welcomed us warmly. Between watching ferrets, riding ponies and drinking çay (Turkish tea), it didn’t take long for us to spot an interesting line right next to the camp. We quickly agreed: this was the one we wanted to try. We were a little nervous, of course. After all, none of us had much, if any, experience putting up our own first ascents. But that was also one of the main goals of our trip: to gain experience independently and push ourselves to try something new. We wanted to make our own decisions, assess a line ourselves and find out how far we could get with the knowledge and skills we had.

On the first day, all four of us headed to the wall together, not least because the drill, batteries, haul bag and the rest of the climbing gear were anything but light. Hannah was keen to take the lead and was the first to venture onto the wall. However, by the second pitch, it quickly became clear that the drill wasn’t going to get us much further that day. After placing just a few bolts, it gave up on us. Leonie wasn’t ready to call it a day just yet, though. At the very least, she wanted to finish the pitch. So she continued cautiously, not knowing whether there would be a suitable trad belay further up. Luckily, she eventually found a good spot. That was it for the day, a little earlier than we had hoped, but with two pitches started and a few new insights into our line. Back at camp, we quickly figured out what had caused the problem.

The next morning, it was Lisa and Jana’s turn. They climbed up to the high point from the previous day and followed a buttress further upwards. The distinctive finishing crack was already visible from a distance. The only question was how best to reach it. When the two finally arrived beneath the last pitch, they found exactly what we had hoped for from below: a perfect crack corner. Rough limestone, a continuous dream crack and natural protection. Not a single bolt was needed here.

After two days, our route was complete.

The following morning brought the real highlight: we wanted to free climb the new route together as a team of four. We certainly weren’t short on motivation, but fresh arms and legs were another story. After so many days of climbing and the unfamiliar movements involved in drilling, our bodies were pretty exhausted. Jana and Lisa set off as the first rope team. The first two pitches were by far the most technically demanding, so there was plenty of loud encouragement from below. When both of them made it through the crux sections, our excitement was at least as great as theirs. Then it was Leonie and Hannah’s turn, and they also free climbed the first two pitches. From there, the climbing became a little more relaxed. Together, we continued over the buttress, through water grooves, cracks and small corners, and finally reached the last pitch. The roughly 35-metre crack corner that had impressed us so much during the first ascent was another highlight when we free climbed the route. Our verdict was pretty unanimous: “Like the corner on Bayerischer Traum in the Schüsselkar, only way better!”

Two hundred metres and five pitches after the start, all four of us were finally standing at the top. We had free climbed the entire route, graded up to 7a, and our excitement was huge. Of course, the route needed a name, too. We named it "Örümcek Women" - "Spiderwomen". Mehmet had always called us that whenever we returned to camp from climbing. So the name had practically been decided before we even knew we would need one for a route.

That evening, Mehmet had even cooked for us and congratulated us on our new route. We were all incredibly happy and a little proud of what we had achieved together. Not because we had ticked off some big objective, but because the route embodied everything our trip had come to represent: trying something of our own together, making decisions, trusting one another, improvising when things didn’t work out and constantly motivating each other.

We took things a little easier over the following days, went sport climbing a few more times and visited the famous Parmakaya before our time in the Aladağlar slowly came to an end. Beyond the impressive mountains and fantastic climbing, what will stay with us most is the incredible hospitality. We were surprised by how warmly we were welcomed by the local people and the Turkish climbing community. What had started as a climbing trip focused mainly on finding our own lines became just as much a journey full of encounters, evenings spent together, çay and new friendships. And just as special was the fact that we had made this trip as a team of four. Four women with different strengths and levels of experience, who somehow clicked surprisingly well right from the start. Perhaps that was one of the best things about the whole trip: we didn’t just return home with a new route, but with the feeling that, as a team, we could dare to try so much more together than any of us could have done alone."

by Leonie Filz