Quads or the architecture of the gods

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Rock climbing in Armenia with the MCS AlexClimb Club

MCS AlexClimb Rock Climbing Club and School

...Once, after a rock climbing training, we were sitting in a small shepherd's hut lost in the mountains, warming our hands by a small fireplace and enjoying incredibly delicious coffee from tiny porcelain cups.

The conversation, as it often happens in the mountains, turned to the secrets of the past and the mysteries of bygone civilizations, the silent traces of which can be seen in many places in Armenia.

That was when I first heard the legend that in some of the neighboring gorges there are ruins of cyclopean structures erected in the immemorial time by the hands of giants.

In especially clear weather, - the shepherd said enthusiastically, when the sun, going down into the gap in the gorge in the west, illuminates from below the rocky ridges of the mountains, against the background of the darkening horizon, the collapsed battlements of the ancient fortress walls of colossal height flare up with a crimson fire...

This story heard in the hut of the hospitable shepherd remained in my memory. And every time I came to Armenia to search for new locations and rock climbing routes, I tried to explore in more detail the gorges in the vicinity of Dzhermuk town, the location which the old man told me about.

But, one way or another, either because of bad weather or lack of time, it was impossible to find anything resembling to the fortress from the legend.

And so, accidentally finding myself in the Dzhermuk region at the end of November, during a period of particularly clear and warm weather (typical for late autumn in Armenia), I filled my old 4x4 with a full tank of fuel and decided to spend a few days searching for those very mysterious ruins of a prehistoric fortress.

...The evening sun had almost went behind the horizon, when suddenly its last rays brightly illuminated for a few minutes the upper rock belt of the gorge, and the words of the legend came to my mind unexpectedly clearly.

At the top, about a hundred meters above the road, I could see the perfectly correct, standing in a row, tall vertical columns which shone in the rays of the setting sun. In some places they were collapsed, somewhere formed into grottoes and arches, and somewhere - as if they looked so perfectly shaped like just come out from under the chisel of a sculptor.

The sight was incredible, especially captivating with the quick and elusive change of all the shades of the sunset.

The sun went out, the night quickly descended on the gorge, as it normally does in winter, it became gloomy and cold.

The next day, waking up early, I quickly had my breakfast and went to explore my find, which, as it turned out, had nothing in common with the giants of the past.

However, due to its unusual shape, it was of interest not only as a tourist attraction, but also as a rare and exotic object for rock climbing in its nature and structure.

While the morning frost had not yet melted, glistering as silver on the withered grass of the gorge slopes, I climbed to the foot of the vertically standing, regularly shaped basalt columns, striving up to the sky in orderly rows.

Indeed, when encountering such a relief for the first time and having a rich imagination, you can believe in its artificial origin. However, this phenomenon is known in the world as columnar basalt and it was formed exclusively due to tectonic processes.

Strange-looking rock massifs consisting of tightly pressed, regularly shaped pentagonal columns are found all over the world, especially in places of relatively recent volcanic activity.

The mechanics of the formation of such relief are based on the algorithms of cooling and cracking (crystallization) of basalt in the form of regular pentagons, which is dictated by the molecular features of this geological specie.

Basalt columns can vary greatly in color, surface character, size and density, but you will never be mistaken when passing by – the strangeness of the forms of columnar basalt catches your eye, makes you think about how diverse, amazing and incomprehensible is the world around us…

Columnar basalt is a comparatively rare form of rock relief in Europe. However, where it is found, always live the legends about titans and giants - as it often reflected in geographical names. For example, the "Giant's Causeway" in Northern Ireland - since the middle of the 19th century, a natural "promenade" paved with regular pentagonal slabs has become a cult place for leisure and beautiful photo sessions.

In Armenia, this type of rock relief is quite popular among tourists - for example, not far from Yerevan, in Garni village, there is a landmark called "Organ Rocks" - a large and beautiful belt of basalt crystals, which the local people call "Quads".

Columnar basalt in many parts of the world is well known to climbers, although not everywhere local authorities allow such use of this relief. For safety reasons, overhanging basalt columns or grottoes are not suitable for rock climbing - after all, this relief is unpredictably fragile and dangerous.

But where the columns are dense and not subject to strong erosion, you can often find the opportunity to climb interesting and very specific routes in both sport and traditional rock climbing.

The ubiquitous presence of good vertical cracks between the columns is suitable for climbing with mountaineering gear - in the trad rock climbing format.

My first encounter with columnar basalt rock climbing was in the Castle Rock sector near Christchurch, New Zealand - a real paradise for rock climbers and mountaineers.

On the South Island of New Zealand, where its volcanic origin makes itself visible everywhere, and everyone from children to old are engaged in rock climbing, a large number of equipped rock climbing routes have been set on the bizarre basalt columns.

In Russia, I have seen the similar relief in the Mount Elbrus region, in the Baksan Gorge - this landmark is called "Organ Pipes" - a beautiful columnar massif of absolutely smooth black basalt at the very foot of Mount Elbrus. "Organ Pipes" in Elbrus region are not suitable for any kind of rock climbing due to the large number of loose rocks and slippery, glass-like surface.

However, the columnar massifs of Dzhermuk region in Armenia are difficult to confuse or even compare with anything else, especially if you think from a climber's point of view.

"Quads" in Armenia are strong, practically non-breaking columns up to 40 meters high, from gray to dark brown in color, with good surface friction. You can comfortably climb these columns using the chimney climbing technique between the edges of the columns, spaced from each other at a distance of up to 1 meter.

Between the columns there are long vertical cracks from 1 to 5 centimeters wide - an ideal option for using removable protection - all kinds of nuts, friends, etc.

As part of the program for developing the region's tourism infrastructure, in 2012, together with my partners in Armenia, we bolted more than 20 sport climbing routes on the compact basalt massif "Wings of Tatev", not far from the famous Tatev Monastery in the southeastern part of Armenia.

One interesting fact - the name "Wings of Tatev" was given to these rocks immediately after their first discovery - the massif really resembled the outstretched wings of a giant bird. And much later, I found out that the very name of the ancient monastery of the 9th century - Tatev, is translated from Armenian as "Giving wings". It turned out to be symbolic.

Author of the text and (almost all) photos - Alex Trubachev
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