Ljubelj - Begunjska Vrtača (Lenuhova grapa)
Starting point: Ljubelj (1058 m)
Starting point Lat/Lon: 46.4324°N 14.2602°E
Path name: Lenuhova grapa
Time of walking: 2 h 25 min
Difficulty: rock climbing ascent
Difficulty of skiing: very demanding
Altitude difference: 933 m
Altitude difference (by path): 933 m
Map: Karavanke - osrednji del 1:50.000
Access to starting point:
From highway Ljubljana - Jesenice we go to the exit Ljubelj and follow the road ahead to the border crossing. Only few meters before the border crossing signs for Zelenica point us to the left and after few 10 meters of additional driving the road brings us on a parking lot below the ski center Zelenica.
Path description:
From the parking lot, we go on a footpath which runs on the left side of the ski slope through the forest in the direction of the mountain hut Dom na Zelenici. A wide cart track after ten minutes of walking, it brings us to a ski track. We continue by the edge of the ski slope and after a shorter gentle ascent on the right side opens large meadow on which there is another track. We go on this track and we follow it to the top, where we run into wide cart track. Cart track, which is in unfavorable conditions exposed to avalanches we follow to the spot, where it again brings us to a ski track.
Here we leave the ski slope and go towards the south straight on gulley upwards. It is quite steep and it is noticeably, that we are quickly gaining altitude. Somewhere approximately on the halfway we cross to the left towards the northwest walls of Begunjska vrtača to the entrance in the route. The entrance is clearly seen, but for better picture let me write only, that there are two entrances. Which we will choose depends mainly from snow conditions. If there isn't enough snow entrance jump can be quite difficult (UIAA 4-/M, if there is a lot of snow than initial jump doesn't even exist. After variety beginning route opens up, which at first goes steep upwards to some sort of confluence of two gullies - we continue on the left, because right is interrupted by overhang. In pleasant climbing we are getting closer to snow field, which splits the route on two parts. From the snow field we go in only possible passage - continuation of gully, which soon leads below the exit on the upper snow field, where there is end of the route. Next follows only a long traverse on a snow field to the spot, where opens up short gully, which takes us on a ridge and with that to the summit. We descend on the same route or on more recommended descent gully. We can extended the tour on a ridge to Veliki vrh of Begunjščica and there we descend through central gully or gully Y.
Even though the easiest in Begunjska vrtača is route Lenuhova grapa serious tour of moderate difficulty. We can have problems already at the beginning, if we don't climb the jump we can try to enter right from it, but also there we can't avoid few meters on rocks. From made anchor we then descend in continuation of the route.
Difficulty: IV-, 300 meters - route isn't equipped. But it offers a lot of options for belaying. Angle is from 40° upwards. The steepest part exceeds 55°. To illustrate, I enclose image of the route and descent.
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