Peshti Canyon

This week was practicum week for the TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) volunteers. I worked with local teacher in a 9^th grade classroom. I went to the school not knowing who I was working with or how my experience would be, but as soon as I arrived the co-teacher was supportive. We agreed to meet that afternoon after school to plan how I would be involved in the class. I expressed interest in outdoor recreation and rock climbing so she introduced me to her neighbor. He is a rock climber/alpinist. 

We talked about differences in climbing techniques often using the jargon or slang specific to our languages with the help of my English teaching counterpart who would help translate from my novice Macedonian and his unconfident English.  He offered to bring Andreya and me climbing.

The next day we went to his house to check out pictures, stories of his climbs and summits, and his gear. I asked all kinds of questions. How do you set anchors? Do you inspect your rope and equipment? What kind of climbing would we be doing? He was understanding and not frustrated by me questioning his methods. He enjoyed talking to me about it.  Then the most exciting news was that there is a climbing spot less than 10 km from my current home.

Saturday morning we went with our new friend, his sister, and another guy to пешти, or Peshti Canyon. The Babuna River runs through the canyon from Solunska Glava, the highest peak in the Jakupica mountain range, to the Vardar River. The word for cave in Macedonian is пештера, and Peshti has over 100. I would never have found this place on my own. I have been searching the internet for a month looking for hikes or climbing in Veles knowing there had to be something, but found nothing. It is common for people here to not value outdoor recreation, but here we were with three of the few locals who did.

Decked out in packs, boots, jackets, headed to the mountains, we hiked in and set up for our first climb. We had the place totally to ourselves. We were in the canyon for about eight hours, and didn’t see anyone else. It was nice to have that solitude, but that just shows how disinterested many people here are in the outdoors. Our new friends said that people tend not to value being in, preserving, or caring for natural settings. Peshti is easily accessible and near the city center, yet we were the only people there.

The first climb was easy, about a 4 in difficulty (the climbing rating system here is different than the U.S, but it may have been equivalent to 5.8 at home) and about 20 meters tall.  We started on this route because safety was important to our new friends. They wanted to see how I climbed before we ventured to more difficult routes. I first watched them climb, paying attention to how they belayed and inspecting the anchors.  Once I felt comfortable, I climbed my first outdoor climb in several months.

About 10 meters away from that route, was another taller and more difficult route – 6+ and 30 meters tall. This route was a struggle for my strength, technique, and endurance, but in my limited climbing experience, it is the best thing I ever climbed. It had opportunities for me try many different climbing techniques.

We hiked around and climbed some more at a higher point in the canyon near one of the many caves there. The view and the company were wonderful. I was pretty tired by this point and climbing more was not a priority. I just sat and enjoyed being in the mountains away from the city, admiring the view.