Ferda wanted to get out and try using crampons for the first time. Cemalettin and I thought Alabelen would be a good mountain for a little practice. It’s easy, short, not-too-steep, and had enough snow (at least up high) at the end of December to enable a short crampon course. Ferda did a great job with the crampons. She avoided stabbing her leg, her pants, Cemalettin, me, or anything else that we prefer to avoid with crampons. One look at the legs of my snow pants and you can see that I’m not always so successful.
We had brilliant weather and not too much ice on the road to get the start at Feslikan Yaylası. The climb on the mountain was fast — only 4.5 hours. Now Ferda’s ready for something a little longer and a little steeper. A snow climb on Tunç sounds great, but it’s currently bone dry so we’ll have to wait for next winter.
Beautiful scenery!