Teteven Rock Climbing

A small Bulgarian town tucked away in a mountainous valley approximately 1.5 hrs by car from Sofia. A great crag to visit in summer months if the heat is too stifling at Karlukovo or other closer areas to Sofia. The temps here at the wall sit about 5-10 cooler than most of the other areas within 2 hours of Sofia, usually has a gentle breeze, and is mostly protected from rain. However to gain all these benefits the trade-off is a 40 minute hike, usually partially overgrown in the last section just before the wall. It is well-worth the effort. If you come to climb in Bulgaria and need a day to escape the heat of sun-exposed walls or mank/crowds of the Prohodna cave, this is the spot for you.

Both Zaslona and Sinyoto Kolelo crags in Teteven are accessible from the same parking lot. Zaslona is a brand new sector developed by Aleks Yanev, Boyko Lalov and friends between 2023 and 2024. It sees afternoon shade and is not very protected from rain. It hosts a variety of grades from 5.11a-5.14a, but I wouldn’t recommend this sector unless you are comfortable climbing 5.12+/13- as this is where most of the quality lies. Sinyoto Kolelo hosts a more accessible diversity of climbs, most of them very high-quality. Developed between 2009-2020 by the same group, this area boasts some seriously classic tufa lines up to 55m in length. Most of the lines start on an easy jug system for 3-6 bolts before turning up the heat as you get through the steepest part of the wall. This area also has some of the best 5.9’s I climbed in Bulgaria on extremely interesting rock. A bonus of this wall is the cave smack-dab in the middle, which stays way colder than the surrounding ambient air. You can walk into here to cool down, and even stash gear to return for so the hike isn’t as brutal next time (especially that last uphill…damn!)