Nikitsky rocks Crimea. Rainy triptych
(Nikitskaya cleft, Nikita village)If you find yourself in the village of Nikita, or are driving along the Alushta-Yalta highway (in any direction), and you have a little time (an hour or two), you should definitely stop by this wonderful place. This is a wonderful rest-respite for the driver and passengers during a long road trip.
The Nikitskaya Cleft is located above the trolleybus route on the outskirts of Nikita. Intuitively feeling that we are somewhere near our goal, we stop at a roadside grocery store in order to confirm our guesses. As it turned out later, the crevice we were looking for was located several hundred meters away, but people shrugged their shoulders to all our questions. A mini-forum was formed and then He Who Should Know appeared on the horizon. “Yura, Yura!”, the saleswoman waved her hands towards the local history expert. The “professor” looked rather rumpled, but he was happy to help and shared everything he knew. At the end of the lengthy explanations, Yura’s eyes began to sparkle with hope. Having received his honestly earned two hryvnias, the newly minted guide disappeared through the doors of the cafe.
The branch of the road to the Nikitskaya Cleft is located at the entrance to the village from Yalta, opposite the school. The inconspicuous narrow dirt road is blocked by a barrier, so we park our “iron donkey” (well, our equipment can’t handle a mustang or a horse!) on the side of the highway nearby.
Two hundred meters along a picturesque path, in the shade of slender cypresses, crimson ailanthus, golden figs, and we find ourselves at the entrance to the crevice. The grandeur of the landscape appears so unexpectedly that it simply takes your breath away. “ The rocks form a dark, cold gorge here”, - this phrase, having once expressed someone’s impression of what he saw, is now floating around the networks.
Cold - yes: only for a short time it is illuminated by the rays of the Sun, from deep cracks even in the summer heat it draws cold.
But “gloomy” - no and no! It is bright, joyful, yellow-red-blue, with colored climbing flags on the walls. Nikitsky rocks are a favorite training place for climbers from 1 to 99 years old: routes for all ages and tastes. If you look closely in the rocks, you can find many clogged safety hooks. Many climbing routes are signed from below.
The boulders that fell from above at the bottom of the rocky corridor formed a stone chaos along which the path whimsically meanders, leading to the upper edge of the gorge. From here the crevice can be seen through and impresses with its wildness: junipers and pines climb on the cliffs like climbers. Lianas - ivy and clematis - hang like a green stole from the stone blocks.
The upper entrance to the chasm is crowned by the Solntsev pyramid, named after the famous landscape specialist. Climbing from this pyramid to the edge of the rocks, you can admire the picturesque panorama of the coast and mountains. From here, from a height of about 250 meters above sea level, the trolleybus route, the Yalta Valley, closed from the sea by Cape Ai-Todor, are clearly visible. mountain range Ai-Petri, vineyard plantations. From the crevasse you can follow paths to the mountains.
The formation of the Nikitskaya cleft is associated with a fairly rapid uplift of the Main Range of the Crimean Mountains in the last, Quaternary, period of the Earth’s history. During these processes, large masses of limestone broke off from the cliffs of the Main Ridge and gradually slid down the slope South Bank consisting mainly of compacted clays. Some massifs stopped at the foot of the Main Ridge, others lingered somewhere in the middle (Red Stone, Paragilmen), and others “reached” the sea itself (Genoa Rock, Adalary rock-islands in Gurzuf). When moving, cracks appeared in the limestone massifs, and some of them broke up into rocks and blocks.
Thus, Soviet filmmakers had a magnificent film set. Wild canyons, steep passes, mysterious caves filled with gold were filmed here. Each turn of the chasm opens up new landscapes, so when filming it is easy to create the illusion of a multi-day (and even multi-year) journey, as, for example, in “The Children of Captain Grant.” In the film “Treasures of the Flaming Rocks,” a completely African waterfall was created here with the help of a fire truck. And the great Alexander Rowe actually worked fabulous miracles here.
The rocks on the northern side of the chasm are dark gray, sometimes black, and on the southern side they are light, orange. That's all it is, this amazing gorge - wild and sweet, grandiose and miniature.
July 2006
2004 information
Many thanks compiler, Andrey Vedenmeer, Yalta, for the materials provided.
NIKITA CLIMBING CENTER
The village of Nikita is located 3 km from Yalta. On the opposite side of the highway from the building of the environmental complex is the Nikitskaya Cleft. This natural monument is a clear illustration of the enormous power of earthly forces that change the relief of the landscape. As if cut by a giant sword, the rocks form a dark, cold gorge. Sheer walls 25-30 m high hang overhead, and a forest grows along the upper edge of the gorge. The 20-meter Nikitskaya chasm stretches from east to west for almost 200 m. The kingdom of gloomy rocks is complemented by stone chaos and scree, deep cracks in the limestone mass displaced along the mountain slope, from which cold emanates even in hot weather. summer days. These rocks are a kind of natural condenser and moisture accumulator. All three exits from the Nikitskaya cleft are cluttered with majestic pyramidal salas. The steepness of the gorge attracts rock climbers, and the romantic beauty of the rocks attracts artists and filmmakers. Nikitsky rocks are the only and unique rock climbing center in Crimea. On Nikitsky Rocks there are 85 hooked routes of categories from 4 to 8c+.
| № | Name | Length | Col. from. | Category |
| Sector A | ||||
| 1 | Scam | 17 | 8 | 6b+ |
| 2 | Ratchet | 16 | 8 | 6a |
| 3 | Goliath | 19 | 10 | 6c |
| 4 | Fandanga | 22 | 10 | 7c |
| 5 | Repeat | 22 | 11 | 7a |
| 6 | Hype | 15 | 8 | 6b |
| 7 | Marilyn | 26 | 13 | 7a+ |
| 8 | Limpopo | 14 | 8 | 6b |
| 9 | Wise | 19 | 10 | 7c+ |
| 10 | Wanderer | 19 | 11 | 8a |
| 11 | Union | 18 | 10 | 6c+ |
| 12 | Esaul | 27 | 14 | 8a |
| 13 | Asteroid | 25 | 12 | 6c+ |
| 14 | Chameleon | 24 | 12 | 7a |
| 15 | Agate | 25 | 11 | 6b+ |
| 16 | Balm for the soul | 22 | 13 | 6c |
| 17 | Gusto | 21 | 11 | 7a |
| 18 | Indiana Jones | 21 | 11 | 6b+ |
| 19 | Tomboy | 22 | 12 | 6b+ |
| 20 | Matador | 14 | 8 | 8c+ |
| 21 | Centaur | 15 | 8 | 8b+ |
| 22 | Fantastic | 16 | 8 | 8a+ |
| 23 | Pilgrim | 26 | 13 | 7c |
| 24 | Caravan | 26 | 12 | 7b |
| 25 | Nerve | 27 | 13 | 7a |
| № | Name | Length | Col. from. | Category |
| Sector B | ||||
| 1 | Aborigine | 27 | 14 | 6b+ / 7a+ |
| 2 | King of the Hill | 27 | 12 | 6c |
| 3 | Scythian | 26 | 13 | 8b+ |
| 4 | Squadron | 25 | 11 | 8a |
| 5 | Helicopter | 21 | 10 | 7c |
| 6 | Car kiss | 19 | 9 | 6b+ |
| 7 | Quarry | 19 | 10 | 6c+ |
| 8 | On horseback | 23 | 11 | 7c+ |
| 9 | Anniversary | 22 | 11 | 7a |
| 10 | Benefit | 22 | 11 | 7a |
| 11 | Don't throw grandma into the nettles | 22 | 11 | 7c |
| 12 | Last rollout | 20 | 10 | 7a/7b |
| 13 | Monkey | 20 | 9 | 6b+ |
| 14 | The daring Pashka | 19 | 9 | 8a |
| 15 | Love games | 18 | 10 | 7a+ |
| 16 | Breeze | 17 | 8 | 8a+ |
| 17 | Clown | 16 | 9 | 7b |
| 18 | Mowgli | 15 | 8 | 7a |
| 19 | Call of the Jungle | 13 | 6 | 6b+ |
| № | Name | Length | Col. from. | Category |
| Sector C | ||||
| 1 | Thorn | 5 | 3 | |
| 2 | Tile | 9 | 5 | |
| 3 | Myth | 10 | 6 | |
| 4 | Red Fox | 25 | 13 | 7a |
| 5 | Little vampire | 16 | 8 | 6c+ |
| 6 | American Gregory | 21 | 11 | 7a |
| 7 | Abyss | 19 | 11 | 8 ? |
| 8 | North Pole | 20 | 11 | 5a |
| 9 | Bastion | 20 | 11 | 5b |
| 10 | Painter | 21 | 11 | 5b |
| 11 | Firefly | 18 | 10 | 5b |
| 12 | Cornice | 5 | 3 | |
| 13 | 9 | 5 | ||
| 14 | Kant | 5 | 3 | |
| 15 | 6 | 4 | ||
| 16 | KONG | 19 | 9 | 5s |
| 17 | Pinery | 18 | 9 | 5b |
| 18 | Fresh breeze | 15 | 7 | 4 |
| 19 | Chafer | 15 | 7 | 4 |
|
Name
We ask everyone who has already been to our climbing walls more than once and those who come for the first time to pay attention to the following information:
1. The length of the routes (even familiar ones) and the number of quickdraws. That is: it is advisable to have a rope 60 meters long and a set of guy lines of 15 pieces.
2. In connection with the equipment of climbing walls with modern descending devices - rigidly fixed carabiners - to organize the “top belay”, a quickdraw is additionally used, which is snapped into the descending device (carabiner) when setting the route, and then the top rope is snapped into the quickdraw.
This allows you to save the trigger carbine.
3. Route categories are pre-defined. The information will be updated throughout the year. Current information on rock routes can be obtained from Andrey Vedenmeer (Yalta).
4. Carefully read the documents regulating your stay at our climbing walls. This will help create comfortable conditions for everyone: RULES for staying at the climbing walls of Big Yalta, RULES for safety when conducting classes at the climbing walls of Big Yalta
Best regards, M.S. Panferova, Honored Trainer of Ukraine, International Master of Sports. We went towards Yalta. Along the way there is the village of Nikita, where one of the most famous attractions of Crimea is located - the Nikitsky Botanical Garden. We are not fans of plants and also given the scale of the garden (you need to spend at least half a day). We decided to skip it. But in the lesser known, natural place
with the name Nikitskaya Cleft, we went with pleasure and did not regret it! For those who do not like to read the text, you can immediately watch the video version.
Nikitskaya Cleft. Video:
Nikitskaya Cleft. General information. The Nikitskaya cleft belongs to the Ayan rocks. The rocks reach thirty meters in height. Popular with climbers. The famous “Tiger of the Rocks” Mikhail Khergiani trained here. A large number of
films were shot in these places due to the uniqueness of the landscape.
Nikitskaya Cleft. Our review.
The location is simply wonderful. We stopped at the side of the road, saw a barrier, went behind it, walked for 5 minutes along the path and found ourselves at the gate to another world:
We came closer for a more detailed inspection; in some of the rocks we saw masonry made of something like brick:
We walked along the crevice, it is small, about fifteen minutes is enough. If you wish, you can climb up and admire the panorama that opens from above. We limited ourselves to an ordinary walk. It would be great to sit here, drink tea, talk calmly, and just enjoy the silence. On way back New angles of the rocks open up:
As we left, we turned around to say goodbye, looking at this miracle with gratitude:
Nikitskaya Cleft. Map:
Nikitskaya Cleft. Bottom line.
The place is great! We had just been on a noisy highway for 5 minutes and found ourselves in a quiet, secluded place. It gives peace, fills with tranquility. We recommend everyone to visit, it’s easy to get to, it won’t take much time, and the feeling it gives is priceless!
When I emerged from the forest and saw THIS, I couldn’t help but sigh “Wow!” After all, we were very close so many times and were too lazy to walk a couple of hundred meters from the stop to look at this miracle. And the place is truly amazing - very close to the road there is such exotic rock!
At the entrance, as if stone guard, there is a pyramidal rock torn into two parts. Limestone rocks, as if cut by a giant sword, form a gloomy, cold gorge here. Sheer bare walls 25-30 m high hang overhead, and a forest grows along the upper edge of the gorge. The Nikitskaya cleft is relatively small and easily passable. With a width of about 30 m, it extends from east to west for almost 200 m.
The boulders that fell from above at the bottom of the rocky corridor formed a stone chaos along which the path whimsically meanders, leading to the upper edge of the gorge. From here, from the side of Yalta, it is visible through and impresses with its wildness: on the cliffs here and there single specimens of juniper and Crimean pine manage to grow. The cracks sheltered the Crimean liana (evergreen ivy). About a hundred species of plants grow in a small area of the tract, among which you can see the red trunks of the evergreen small-fruited strawberry.
In the middle of the gorge, in the southern rock, there is a deep crack covered with a protective net. From here, even in the summer heat, it is constantly cold. And the rays of the sun do not penetrate into the crevice itself for most of the day. Cold rocks act as moisture condensers. Therefore, even in the hot summer, it feels cool here. Small narrow cracks and grottoes are also found on the northern side of the gorge. In the western part of the gorge there was a medieval settlement, as evidenced by fragments of ceramics.
The upper entrance to the chasm is crowned by an original stone pyramid, named after the famous landscape specialist Professor Nikolai Adolfovich Solntsev, who explored these places.
Smooth and steep rock surfaces have become a favorite place for rock climbers to train. Their groups can be found here almost at any time. In the rocks themselves, if you look closely, you can find many clogged climbing pitons used for belaying. Some climbing routes from below are signed with humorous names, probably reflecting the climber’s posture and climbing style depending on the topography of the rock surface.
And of course, the relief of the Nikitskaya Cleft could not help but enter Crimean folklore. On website about Alushta(from which I took the information about the gorge) you can read the legend about Mary and her seven brothers who died defending themselves in these rocks from the Janissaries who came to take the proud girl to Istanbul to the Sultan’s harem.
While I was walking around the crevice in an inner circle, studying the names of the numerous climbing routes, the marks of which dotted the rocks, somehow the fog suddenly descended and the rain began to drizzle. However, for some time I didn’t even pay attention to it - after all, the local exoticism in the blink of an eye was transformed into mysterious oriental landscapes. I take a few “Chinese” shots and run back to the entrance - I want to show what is happening in the gorge as widely as possible.
But the rocks in the depths are no longer visible - everything was hidden by fog. It's time to take a break and put on a raincoat. It looks like they won’t show me anything else here - I have to go to the tulips. How on time I arrived - if I was half an hour late, I wouldn’t have seen anything here - at all! So, we can say that my last April day in Crimea gave me a luxurious gift - in sunny weather, I think there would have been much less impressions...
