Albanian Climbing Festival

Albanian Climbing Festival: A New Chapter

Dear friends, after a long time of thinking we decided to take a year off.

We know many of you have reached out asking about the 2025 edition, and your messages truly mean the world to us. It’s hard to say there won’t be an Albanian Climbing Festival this year, but this isn’t the end. It’s just the next step in a longer journey.

Since the very beginning, the Albanian Climbing Festival has had one clear mission: to develop sport climbing and promote the incredible crags of our country. 🌍💚

Today, we’re proud to say that this mission, at least in part, has been fulfilled. Thanks to the passion, energy, and support of climbers from all over the world, Albania is no longer a hidden gem. We’re not alone on the rock anymore, and we couldn’t be more grateful to everyone who helped spread the word.

With this milestone reached, it’s time to shift our focus inward.

⚒️ There are more climbers on the rock now than ever before. And with that growth comes new responsibility: crags need maintenance, trails need care, and the land that hosts us deserves respect and stewardship.

Now, we feel it’s time to pause.
To listen.
To rethink.
To grow from within. 🌱

We want to take time to shape new ideas, on how to engage the youth, how to involve the communities who live closest to the rock, and how to make climbing in Albania truly sustainable.

Thank you for being part of this community.

Stay tuned as we share updates on local projects and how you can get involved, whether from afar or right here with us.

With gratitude,
Rock Tirana team.

Deep Water Soloing, or Psicobloc, is a discipline of climbing where you climb above the water using it as a landing in case you fall. 🌊🧗🏼‍♀️

✨During the festival people will have the opportunity to try out this exiting form of climbing! We will have volunteers and kayaks 🚣🏼‍♀️ ready at a sector that can easily be reached by foot from the beach.

🛟We will be there to help people find the routes, and give basic safety advice. The only requirements are that you are a confident swimmer, and that you have some climbing experience; the difficulty of the routes starts at around 6a.

Bring your bathing clothes, a towel and if you have an old pair of shoes you don’t like anymore, bring those as your shoes might get wet!

✨In this edition of the festival, we have presentations scheduled for both Friday and Saturday evenings, covering topics we believe you'll find interesting, important, and perhaps even enjoyable.

📆On Friday, will join us to discuss the challenges of managing Vjosa National Park and the ongoing fight of the Shushica community.

📆On Saturday, we'll dive into the challenges and opportunities facing a growing climbing community.

ℹ️ ACF 2024 is coming closer
Below some useful information!
🔗Registration form in bio

🔹 Transport

When planning your journey to ACF 2024 there are many ways of getting there.

🚙 We encourage car-sharing. We will do our best to help facilitate this through the registration form, but unfortunately beyond that people have to organise their own transport.

🚌 Public transportation: there are no busses that go directly to Gjipe, but the buses from Tirana to Himara/Saranda stop close to the turn off for Gjipe beach (mention to the driver that this is where you have to go, they will help you get off in the right spot). From the main road you can walk along the small paved road that brings you to the parking. From there hike down the unpaved road to the beach (20min).

🔹 Accomodation

🏕️The campsite will be closed, so we will camp on the beach or in the canyon. We all can use the services of the campsite.
⛺You need to bring your own camping gear!

🏠Alternatively you can book an apartment or a hotel in the area.

🔹Food

🍞🍲There is a restaurant at the entrance of the canyon that will be offering some simple food options.
There will be things like eggs, cheese, vegetables, grilled meat etc.

🛒 🍪 If you need anything else the closest groceries stores are in Dhermi.

🍽️ We ask everyone to bring their own plates, utensils, etc. to minimise unnecessary waste.

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Please make sure to fill out the registration form, especially if you are planning to eat at the restaurant.

Registration form 👇🏼
🔗https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1eu4nXQ7WLN9yJXRF9ymDwCpU2mFu-bB4TTbhX-x-K8A/edit?chromeless=1

*CHECK THE HIGHLIGHTS FOR MORE INFO AND USEFUL LINKS

📆Check out the schedule for the 9th edition of !

🧗🏼‍♀️Climbing is what will bring us together but besides that, you will be able to enjoy:

🧘‍♀️Yoga with

🌊Deep water soloing (weather permitting🤞🏼)

🥳Partying together

✅Open talks with special guests. One about sustainability, community engagement and environmental problems as well as another about the challenges of developing and maintaining sport climbs in Albania.

Registration form 👇🏼
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1eu4nXQ7WLN9yJXRF9ymDwCpU2mFu-bB4TTbhX-x-K8A/edit?chromeless=1

Are you getting ready?😎

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✨Dear climbers, we are happy to let you know that the next edition of the Albanian Climbing Festival is in the works! 

This year, like in the past, the festival will be held the last weekend of October, from October 25th to 27th.

We will be located in the stunning canyon of Gjipe in the south of the country.

Over the next few weeks, we will be sharing more information about why we chose Gjipe as this years location as well as all the practical info you may need.

For now, save the date and get ready for a great weekend of climbing and a good time with the community in a beatiful canyon by the beach.

📆Dates: October 25th to 27th

📍Location: Canyon of Gjipe, in the south of Albania

Stay tuned for updates on our social media channels.

Happy climbing! 🧗🏻‍♀️🧗🏽‍♂️🌄👏

Throwback

🎉 Yesterday 'Four for Glory --> 8c+' got its second ascent by Léon!

This route in Brar was bolted by Frank Wehner back in 2010 and first freed by .ondra in 2018. After climbing it Ondra said it was the best tufa route he’s climbed so far!

That’s high praise coming from someone who has climbed so many great routes! Indeed it’s a special line that combines many factors that contribute to making a climb inspiring.  

It’s an aesthetic line of obvious tufas up the biggest overhang in the sector. Right next to ‘The Dream’ (9b), you see it immediately when you arrive at the crag. It’s a route with some significance in the story of Albanian sport climbing.

It blends the flow of climbing 40 meters of continuous tufas with a lot of varied movement: there is kneebars, frogging and drop knees as well as bouldery sections on crimps and pockets.
It has good rests and no extremely hard moves, but almost every move is interesting making climbing it an immersive experience and a big effort from the first move to the last. 

When heaping so much praise on a route it’s also good to mention that there is one crimp that has been reinforced with sika. Otherwise the route is entirely natural.

Keep on climbing! 🧗

Photo 1 -->
Photo 2 -->

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✨ What better way to greet you all a wonderful 2024 than this lovely photo of happy people taken by .. in Përmet.

May your year be filled with happiness and adventure.

Vjosa Wild River National Park is one of the main reasons for the festival to be organised in the Përmet region this year. And what better way to experience this special river than floating down it? Below you can find all the practical info you need for the rafting.

Special price for the Albanian Climbing Festival: 3500 lekë p.p., it provides the equipment (neoprene wetsuit and socks, technical t-shirt, life jacket, k-way, helmet. All new and according to European standards security, https://photos.app.goo.gl/9uMTNtsyKsV2aS9G6), fotos made by the staf, taste of mix local tea, biscuite and fruit, guide in the boat, transport from our rafting center (https://maps.app.goo.gl/xD5bd74KDVuTT5R86) to the starting point in the river and back to our center at the end of the tour, where are provided changing rooms, summer showers, toilettes, parking. The activity lasts approximately 3 hours and there is a stop in a panoramic place where it is possible to swim and jump from the cliff.

We recommend our guests to wear swimsuits, swim shorts/ leggings (cotton or jeans shorts hold back lots of water), long-sleeved technical/ synthetic long sleeved shirts, and sunscreen. It is necessary to wear sports shoes or aqua shoes (if you don't get any, it is possible to rent aqua shoes at our rafting centre, 200 lekë/ pair). It is necessary to have a towel and spare clothes to change after the activity.

🏞️The Vjosa river: Europe's first wild river national park

🌊The Vjosa is one of the last rivers in Europe where the river and most of the tributaries are free of dams. This makes it a special ecosystem, and with it a habitat for a wealth of biodiversity in a time where fresh water ecosystems are heavily threatened around the world.
In 2022 the river was declared a national park, helping to protect it from the construction of no less than 40 dams. This park is a big step towards protecting the Vjosa and is the result of more than a decade of hard work by committed activists!

*️⃣Bringing attention to this work, this river and the region is one of the main reasons for organizing the festival in Përmet, close to the Vjosa, this year.
This is important to us also because despite the big victory that the park has been, the work continues and many threats to this vital ecosystem remain. Those who want to learn more about the challenges Vjosa is still facing can follow to learn more.

💠 Don't forget to bring with you your yoga mat!

🧘‍♀️🌄Sunrise yoga with

Saturday 07:00
Sunday 07:00

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