When one is still reliving the trip to Mrzla gora and inside somewhere a desire smolders
for some exciting pathless route that one somehow doesn't dare tackle alone and when the phone rings and someone invites you on just such a trip, the day is almost perfect. Yesterday was indeed a perfect day, when we, in a group of six hikers who have become really good friends, set out on the traverse of Zeleniške Spires.
We descend into the gully that needs to be crossed a bit too high. There follows a descent down the gully, across pools that are hard to bypass in places, and so we meet the first warm-up climb. Up the couloir to Staničev vrh, where a short rest follows and then first descent by rope for the first 15 meters. We didn't use the rope any further.
There follows climbing up and down the spires that offer precipitous views all around. Good rock alternates with jammed sections where extra caution is needed so you don't slide to the valley.
You can stick strictly to the ridge or find a bypass, mostly on the left, and adjust the difficulty of the tour.
Before the highest 150-meter tower, some took it almost too seriously and bypassed the foot of the tower on the left, where the path suddenly ends and no further passage is visible. Straight up leads a rugged chimney that stands out and hints at more than II-grade climbing. Three from behind report they found a bypass on the right, but we three are tempted by the chimney and tackle it. The climbing was first-rate in very good rock. When already past the worst, we spot an auxiliary cord tied around a horn. Who gave up here when the worst was behind them, we think, and continue. On the mini ridgelet, it becomes clear what the cord in the wall was for. It was impossible to descend the other side, as an abyss yawned below; right upward was a big steep scree that probably deterred most. But the main guide goes ahead, and my wife and I follow. When we carefully reach the top and look down, a bigger scree interwoven with debris surprises us, over which we somehow descend to the notch where the other three wait. Below, we surprisedly realize we climbed around our own asses and descended almost to the same spot where we started. At home, in the description from Mihelič's book Slovenske stene, I read that this turret is elegantly bypassed on the right and not included in the traverse.
On this turret we experienced everything, from excellent III chimney climbing to loose continuation and descent with debris aid, where you could only grip reliably there.
There follows tense climbing over the highest tower and continuation with knee climbing, rock straddling, and more.
The whole traverse takes place in a tense, adrenaline-filled environment where everyone got their money's worth, especially those who were in Zeleniške Spires for the first time and climbed the back of this sleeping dragon to Srebrno sedlo, where the traverse ended.
Really, a tour that is something special and doesn't leave you indifferent.