On 10 July Stef (sjarelkwint) and me made a new route and a possible FA of the peak Maja Preht (about 2430 m) in Prokletije/Bjeshket e nemuna, Albania. The route goes up the peak's east face (visible on the photo - see below - in the shadow) and is IV+ UIAA, 2 pitches (can be made 1 pitch with a 70 m rope), quite dangerous due to the choss, with a very long and strenuous approach to a remote part of the range. The name of the route is "No Pegs, More Rakija", as we managed to climb it without pitons and abbed down from a single sling only.

Had Maja Preht been climbed before or not? On a flat rock at the summit we found a stone which must have been sitting there for very long - it was broken into a few pieces by natural erosion, there was moisture and lichens below it, and it was a home to a woodlouse. Had it been placed there by a human, it would have to be a very long time ago. After abseiling to the bottom of our route we found a line to its right which may be easier. Had some skilful local shepherd kid scrambled to the top before us? Let this remain another mystery of the Accursed Mountains.

We built a little cairn at the summit, with a plastic bottle containing the details of our climb inside it.

Maja Preht is the sharp peak (BTW its name in Albanian means Sharp Peak) in the middle of this photo, the nearest neighbour of Maja Lagojvet which we climbed for the first time with Seba 3 years ago. Now Seba was on the trip with us too but unfortunately a big chunk of rock hit his leg so he could not climb with us. Luckily the injury was not serious and he was more or less alright the next day

Details of the peak and the route coming soon.

Making history again!
Bravo Kamil, Stef, and Seba

Thanks Borut! Not that much history, just a forgotten peak in a forgotten corner of Europe, but still a great adventure

One down, three to go for you Kamil

Seba's leg looked bad, though it kept functioning. Felt bad for dropping that stone down to him though ...

UIAA grade IV+ is a consensus between me and Kamil. I would say it was IV, Kamil would say it was V. Think it depends a bit on where you have been climbing if you climb it.

On the right there seems to be a demanding grade 3 or 4 scramble (american scramble grade) on a grassy slope which might be an option ...

Thanks for the trip invitation and Kamil, I was in Torun at noon the next day, hitchhiking in Poland is a bitch

Moving to krakow on the 24th btw, got my contract in, only have to book flight now ...

Great news Stef, congrats on getting the job!
And good to hear from you finally
I'll repeat the question here, whose is the Marmot t-shirt that smelt like a marmot? Now when you're in Krakow you get a better chance to get it back if it's yours. If not... we were all smellin' like marmots after the return

The marmot is yours or Seba ... I heard i smelled like roses when I arrived

That's great news. Congratulations! No pegs is fine with me while rakija is not any longer If I ever got there, I'd try that scramble to the right. But is there any water nearby or only the hospitable shepherds treating you with barrels of rakija

On the way up from the Montenegro site there is a small source (working when going up, not working when going down)

Best option is melting snow like we did for a couple of days

No pegs is cheaper and didnt trust them being hammered in either
Rakija is good, but mastika is better though

sjarelkwint wrote:Rakija is good, but mastika is better though

I wish I had a younger stomach.