Zelenica south east ridge via Na Možeh
Zelenica/Selenitza south-east ridge is partly exciting warmup proposal before main climbing season. Located on Austro-Slovenian border, close to main road cutting Karavanks mountains with difficulties not exceeding II grade makes a great rocky adventure during times when there is still a bit of snow in gullies and northern slopes. Na Možeh peak located on the way offers a mix of chimney scrambling and serious exposition on tiny ridge. The ridge itself guarantees lack of need for winter equipment during spring months, however this may not necessarily be the case for descent.
Starting from Ljubejl tunnel parking lot we head to Planinski dom na Zelenici mountain hut via marked tourist path and from there continue north to the border ridge till we land at Selenitza/Čez Pod col. This is the start of the fun part.
First culmination we need to climb is Na Možeh/Selenitzahnen which is a group of rocky needles. Starting from Selenitza/Čez Pod col we navigate on a narrow path through dwarf pine jungle. Luckily we are shortly saved from them by a rising rocky crest we need to scramble, nothing difficult but good balance is required instantly.
Next two chimneys need to be climbed, first - shorter and easier is around 7 meters high and located on Slovenian side. Then comes the longer, maybe 12 meters high located on the Austrian side. This is the ‘crux’ of the whole route with climbing difficulty around II/II+. It gets us to top of one of the ‘teeth’ - however to get down from the other side we need to abseil. I read about 15 meters of rope needed, however to get to the bottom of the ‘tooth’ rocky needle 25 meters is needed. A 50 meter rope would do then. It also depends on which point will be used to abseil, as there are two screw bolts but located 1 meter between each other - both of them look firm and solid. The abseiling route goes along a smooth wall of at least VI difficulty. There might be an alternative to this rappel using a chimney which might be climbed down but since I had the rope I did not venture to explore this option.
Once down and if climbing in a team it might be a good idea not to hide the rope and start a simul climbing once we scramble the next tooth. There is an airy ridge coming ahead, it is very exposed as we are moving along the ridge edge. There is also firm bolt in the middle to place a protection and also a stance at the top of another rocky needle. Having said that, this part is not that technically demanding.
Second rappel is optional but still advised as the verticality of descent increases the lower we get. Trying to use the rope as a fixed one seems most reasonable. There are two stances on this tooth - the firm one made of two screw bolts and self-made with three pitons and tons of cord. We trusted the first one which then proved not to be optimal as the abseil route crosses ledge with crumbly material that can land on you while rappelling. Definitely would try the piton stance next time here - or maybe setting a fixed rope on this one.
With the last tooth rappelled the terrain eases off and we land back in the dwarf pine maze. However the whole south east ridge is far from completion, now we have more distance to cover and still some elevation. At times the path is nasty and really slippery because of the crumbliness lying ahead. Sometimes there are couple of more options to bypass rocky culminations we encounter. We should always try to look for the well-trodden path and crampon scratches on the rocks. We will still have occasion to use our hands but nothing that exposed and difficult as Na Možeh. After approximately 2hours (check route scheme) we land at the foot of Zelenica and join the normal route to its top. That’s it for the ascent.
To get down we need to reverse our ascent and then turn in the direction of Pautz/Zelenjak. We will land in junction of paths crossing scree. It will take us down to the Planinski dom na Zelenici mountain hut with the whole ridge we covered on our left.
Sunny and warm with some southern wind, around 15 degrees.
Marked trail sections are in decent quality, marking is sufficient. Off-trail sections are well trodden and easy in orientation. In climbing parts the rock is of good quality, there is some occasional crumbliness around rocky towers here and there.
No info
Starting point reached by car. There is no bus connection to Ljubejl tunnel.
Links:Parking location
I found this route particularly pleasant, a reasonable mix of some climbing, scrambling that is not overly exhausting and offers great views. There is protection in key moments when climbing and there is not that much of brittle rock spots which is a rarity for Karavanks. Orientation is fairly easy, farther in the ridge where are more variants possible, if we decide to stay sharply on the ridge we might encounter II+ again. These however can always be by-passed.
There is a longer variant of the ridge, entering it on Ljubejl pass. If you feel under-challenged check it out!
Route is exposed in places, crossing without protection is risky.
ascent shoes, 35l rucksack, hiking poles, helmet, harness, personal climbing set, 2 x 30m twin rope, 3 x loop
