April 15th 2012 İzmir…
 
After a long time I am in İzmir again.. Again the same house, the host, Evren Kirazlı opens the door..  He greets me with the same hospitality still.. Years didn’t change anything in the house except sharing the room with my teammate Zorbey.. After returning tired from the İznik Ultra Trail Marathon I chose to spend the next day resting in the house.. After enjoying a long breakfast and coffee sessions, I felt welcome in İzmir with its sunny weather when I went to Alsancak in the afternoon. I miss İzmir..
 
April 17th 2012
 
After a long break I went to the Mağara(Cave) Sector of Kaynaklar to climb. Old-new friends, routes, sectors.. Had been a long time away.. Shame on me, why had I not come all that time? Life and all its rush, years just went by quickly.. I’m back.. Melancholic.. Kaynaklar had a major influence on me..
 
With the weary legs remaining from the marathon I climbed Alsancak VII+, an extension of the route Tatu. We were there all afternoon anyway.. Kordon, the sea, the sun, beer, friends... In order to complete my warm up I flashed Karakucak IX, had seen others climb it years ago and really liked it. I tried İlk İnsan IX- on sight but apparently I had forgotten about Kaynaklar’s climbing style fast.. Got to do it on my third try.. Welcome to Kaynaklar.. Finally warmed up.. Welcome Kaynaklar.. With two attempts at a Flight of Ikarus, a project set in the past years, we finalized the first day of climbing.
 
As it rained  we spent a day of active rest through cleaning the house and waited for the next climbing day..
 
On Thursday I completed warm up on Jefferson Airplane IX- and continued trying to solve Flight of Ikarus.. After clarifying my solution the second and third attempts of the day got quite good but partly due to bad luck I couldn’t succeed at the route..
 
Spent Friday with the sector signs prepared for the festival and the dam which consisted of the masonry wall we built to cross the strait, and finished off with the nightlife of İzmir..
 
April 21st 2012
 
The festival is on.. IX. Kaynaklar Climbing Fest..
 
After the registration we got done early in the morning we are at the new sector Karşıyaka again. I climbed the prize routes Dirty Diana 6c, Karşıyaka 7a, Spinning into Space 7a+, Bay Köse 7c+.. A bit hangover, a bit tired, we spent a nice day of climbing with old friends.
 
In the evening we made a presentation on Petzl Roctrip 2011 China with Zorbey Aktuyun and finished the night.
 
On Sunday we went to bed late, woke up early and set off for the rock again. At the Tapınak(Temple) Sector we climbed Baijo 6b+, Pornova 7a+ and tried I shot the Budha 7b+, Shaolin 8b then moved on to Karşıyaka Sector, I tried İzmir rock band 7c+ but there was no skin left on my fingers, so I took a break from climbing and tried to regain my strength for the big concert. Echoes made a perfect performance and everyone had an amazing time until morning..
 
I bummed around throughout Monday and gained strength in the sunshine to try Flight of Ikarus.. I had expected shade for the route and energy for myself in the afternoon but the route was all wet.. Packed up and went back home.. Was a good excuse to go there again..
 
I hadn’t attended the festival for a long while.. I was very happy to be there.. Congratulations to everyone who made it happen..
 
Thanks to Ozan Atasoy for the photos..