robi2107 - Recent messages

Hello. I have a problem viewing panoramic images. Every time I click on an image to view the panorama, instead of the image a white field with "Error. Click for details" appears. When I then click on it, I get the message "Name index 0 in LocalVariableTable has bad constant type in class Panorama". I think this is something related to Java, which is needed to view these images. I use 64-bit Windows 7, for web browsing IE 11, and I have the latest Java version installed (build 1.8.0_111-b14). Has anyone had this problem and how did they fix it? I would be very grateful for a reply.

There must be something to it when they say don't believe everything that's written.

Catastrophe. Apparently the woman poured kerosene into the pot thinking it was water. Unbelievable, surely a reasonable person at least smells what's in the bottle before intending to drink the contents??

Approach from Suhadolnik direction to the saddle is OK. Both paths, the old one and the path over Taško, are without peculiarities. On Monday I ascended over Taško, descended the old path.

Thanks Anansie, I tackled it today. I was angry at myself for hauling crampons, though two answered my question that there's no need. But mountains are like that; one cold night is enough for snow to be frozen in shady spots in the morning. Today it wasn't so. Little snow actually, where it is, it wasn't frozen. Maybe early morning, but by noon, when I reached the first serious snowfields to Skuta, the snow was just soft enough to walk nicely on it without sinking. Actually, the snow was very handy, as the sun was scorching today, thirst was bad, I used snow for cooling and filling the bottle. Otherwise, snow conditions on Skuta are clearly visible from the photo below.

Otherwise, the tour done as planned. Path well marked, only in wall below Štruca need to keep eyes open so not to stray (talked to one such today), and on screes marker stones sometimes buried in gravel, but path visible where it leads. Protections mostly in good condition, only on ascent over Taška ladder one rung missing (no issue), and on descent from Malih vratc one piton loose (I tested if there's risk it would pull out, but luckily it still holds well).

Also: on descent I found a sports shirt on the path between Suhadolnik and Cojzova koča. I think it was lost today, as it wasn't there in the morning. Whoever misses it, message me on PM.

Thanks to both for the info. From Skuta I'll head back down the same path, so back towards Štruca and the bivouac under Grintovec, as that's still probably the technically least demanding and least exposed route. If the path over Velike Podi seems too demanding uphill, I might detour on descent and at the junction below Štruca turn towards Mlinarsko sedlo then down to bivouac. That would extend the route by about 700 m, less demanding than descent over Velike Podi. Anyway, that's it.

Has anyone climbed Skuta these days? Planned route is Suhadolnik - Taška - saddle - Kemperlet bivouac - Štruca - Skuta. What are the conditions, any peculiarities? Thanks for replies.

I temporarily postponed the planned ascent to Planjava through Repov kot because I didn't gather enough info in my opinion. I'm more cautious and want to know what I'm getting into, not rush into trouble due to thoughtlessness and have GRS rescue me or worse. Since Planjava was a blank page for me, I didn't fully give up on ascending it and used the last nice day before forecasted deterioration to go up from KS. I started from the parking lot before Dom in KB, which was still empty in early morning hours, clear starry sky promising a beautiful day.

The path from KB to Pastirci and higher through bushes is completely dry, in the final steepness below the hut there are some small snow patches, but easy to bypass. Then had to cross some snowfields that morning sun hadn't reached yet and were still frozen on the west side of the mountain. Crampons not needed, could step in footprints left by predecessors in the snow, but in the gully (grapa) risk of falling rocks. Especially note that the exit part from the gully where the last two fixed protections are on the path was icy in the morning. Higher in the wall snow melts during the day, water drips exactly on one of those two protections (I think it's a step, correct me if wrong term), overnight it freezes and is very slippery in morning frost. I didn't dare step on it, used it as hold instead, stepped on rock. Snowfields on the ridge unlike those on west side were softened and passable without winter gear. East side of mountain almost completely dry, summit too. Descent same way, but by then strong sun did its thing, warmed and softened snowfields on west side that were hard as stone in morning ascent.

Successful return from mountain I celebrated in the hut, closing from Sunday, with tea and shot of excellent ruševec. Meanwhile another hiker arrived, we chatted a bit and returned to KB together, otherwise surprisingly few people yesterday for such nice day. During entire ascent to Planjava summit didn't meet a soul, only on top met another hiker who then descended to KS. Some pics from recent KS ascent already posted by someone else here, I attach just a few vistas.

Sometime this week when dry days are forecast, I'd hop to Planjava. Plan is from KB through Repov kot up and then descent to Kamniško sedlo and down towards KB. Has anyone done this ascent these days? Is the ascent orientationally demanding in current conditions, given it's a difficult pathless terrain. Is the difficulty on any part of ascent or descent to saddle greater than e.g. ascent to Brana? Thanks for answers.

Since no one has given their opinion yet, I'll do it, if it helps you at all. I don't think it's bad. As much as I could learn from various sources when I was facing your dilemma, for SVK it's important that the carabiner gates are large enough to clip onto thicker protections, that the gates have a protector that prevents them from opening uncontrollably, that clipping/unclipping the carabiner is fairly easy (some newer models have one-touch system, like Edelrid Cable Lite 2.3 One Touch, but I think such gates are still too easy to open, which goes against safety), and that both arms of the SVK are long enough, and also elastic, so they don't flap around when you're not clipped in. Some kits already have an added short or third lanyard for resting (the SVK you're looking at doesn't have it). But all that is completely unimportant if the SVK isn't made and tested according to the latest standards. I doubt that in our serious stores with such gear you get ones that don't comply, but still. Unfortunately I can't help you much here. Try to find more opinions and info. I dug up this, if it's useful to you:

https://www.alpinetrek.co.uk/rock-empire-dynastop-via-ferrata-set-review/
http://www.extremeclimbing.co.uk/use-of-rock-empire-via-ferrata-sets-statement-by-rock-empire-company-ltd/

In the end I decided for Black Diamond Easy Rider, which I got at Kibuba on clearance for very similar money as this one you're interested in. It had lots of very good reviews and in the end herd instinct pulled me too. Didn't go wrong. Good luck with the purchase.

I agree with you as I actually wrote the same about access to the starting point from the south side myself. If someone vacations in the south part of the island or in Pag town, this is anyway the most logical choice. Those setting off from the north side of the island (I am already one such) would have to first go around the hill on the main road to Pag town, but that road is not flat at all and the path is much longer. For car drivers this plays no role and due to the mentioned road closure they actually have no other options, cyclists will surely prefer the descent to the bay from the mentioned junction on the north side as crossing the closure is no problem for them. I mentioned this option so no one thinks it is impossible to reach the starting point from this side AT ALL. It is possible, just not in principle with a car. It must also be said that the currently closed road between Sv. Duh and Pag town is the most popular bike path and the nicest panoramic road on the island. Locals since the collapse have been strongly pushing to reopen it. LP

Macesna, this explanation of yours won't hold entirely. If you look at the map you'll see that village Sv. Marija, starting point for ascent to Sv. Vid, is east of the "mountain", not north. Anyway, to the starting point (Sv. Marija) one can arrive from two sides: from south from Pag town, and from north, Novalja side, on gravel road that branches off from local road D106 before the hill. This is junction from north side, to road closure mentioned here, there is still quite some drive and it is actually placed much closer to Sv. Marija than to Sv. Duh. If memory serves, a little further from this closure (viewed from north side) since last year there is a marker indicating 15th meridian, then soon we reach starting point. As said, closure can be bypassed with car on some provisional detour a few meters higher above road and some do it, but I would rather not try, at least not with some lower or more expensive car. Maybe with some junker for 200 eur.

This year I also went up, once on foot and once by bike. Actually, in the first case too, I set off on the path by bike and persisted until the path became impassable due to coarse gravel. During the ascent it didn't affect the time much, but during the descent a lot, since I was in Bol all together in a few minutes, the whole tour (bike ride to the starting point, ascent to the top, descent and bike descent back to Bol) didn't take me more than 3 hours.

The bike ascent I did from the south side starting at the junction for Farska bay. Unlike last year, when the ascent still mostly ran along that steep winding road that is nicely visible on Google maps, this year the path is entirely routed on a new road, which is not yet asphalted. It is drivable with a MTB or trekking bike, road bikers will have to wait another year. The ascent on the new road is quite easier than on the old road, but due to the rough terrain still quite demanding. Once this part is asphalted too, the ascent will be quite similar to the ascent on the main road, which descends more to the east towards Bol.

Otherwise, the hut/cabin/inn at the top is still closed and falling apart, so be equipped with sufficient liquid.

This year I was up there twice, first from Kolan side (starting point shown on picture 1 in route description), second from eastern side with starting point at Sv. Marija (picture 1 in description by vukovivek). Both times I reached the starting point by bike.

From Kolan side approach you could ride quite a while on fairly solid dirt road before further biking became impossible, continuation to top was completely easy walking on very gentle terrain. After cca. 10 min walk we reach junction where right towards Šumuni, left to top. Path is marked, even without it almost impossible to miss as soon we reach clearing and top in sight.

From eastern side completely different story. Path steep and partly on unstable terrain, several times need to grab some rock. As SilvesterO wrote on this page, ascent reminds of high mountains but not demanding, just some caution needed. Also from this direction path well marked, but on descent marks easy to overlook so more attention needed. Who goes up this side must reach starting point from south as road above Paški bay from north closed to cars for years due to road collapse. Can get around but needs quite some gymnastics and car won't thank you. For bike access no problem.

Maybe you could have bought better, especially the SVK, but let's leave it now. What's done is done. Above all, now learn well how to use SVK so you don't become part of the black statistics. Different carabiner types clip differently on horizontal cables (in your case from bottom up so gates are on the outside, away from the wall), on vertical ones always each from the other side. As long as no slip or fall happens, it's the same, but if it does, it can be decisive. Second rule is always clip both strands (that's where Y system differs from old V system, which allowed clipping only one leg on horizontal sections), otherwise in a fall it can rip and you're screwed. There are more rules for SVK use worth checking. Lots written online. Good luck.

Sitback, I see you haven't even made the most basic choice of what type of climbing harness you'll get. Maybe this will help you decide: Climbing harnesses - Still the upper part of the harness, for whom and why?, there are more sources on the web on this topic. I was faced with this dilemma too, and followed the majority and chose the most basic option, sit harness. Once you decide on the type of harness, you can help with final choice by looking at climbing harness tests, there are quite a few online, and user reviews and ratings. There are differences between harnesses in weight, comfort, adjustability of gear loops, number of gear loops... and of course price. I ended up choosing Petzl Corax, which I got from SportsDirect.com from England with 50% discount for ridiculous 25 eur, and no shipping because I ordered via their mobile app.