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Olhava is THE place to climb in Finland! The crag is situated in Repovesi National park beside a small lake which makes the setting absolutely breathtaking!
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Most climbers come to Olhava for the routes on the Laatta sector. Laatta is a slab of 38 meters height and 80 degrees of inclination. The climbing on Laatta is on small friction edges with some stellar cracks. All routes on Laatta would get full 3 stars on any crag. In the middle of Laatta sector rises the Kantti (6a+) pillar which is probably the most sought after and feared route in Finland. Leading Kantti is full-on exposure with stellar climbing!
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The climbing on Olhava is mostly trad climbing with the odd bolted / partly bolted route. All anchors are bolted. The routes are mostly safe unless otherwise specified but the protection can be spaced sometimes. The protection in-situ is of good quality glue-in bolts.
Olhava is within the core of Finnish climbing tradition and history. The climbing on Olhava has evolved with Finnish climbing trends over decades.
In the mid 1970's rock climbing was an unknown sport in Finland. There were only a handful of climbers, but they managed to find Olhava. The first routes were ascended on aid which was the norm for the time. Before the 1980's, the norm had changed and all the main cracks were free climbed. During mid 1980's, with the evolution of bolts and sport climbing, climbers started to ascend the faces between cracks.
The iconic route Kantti (6a+) was first ascended in 1984 and by modern standards the bolts may feel spaced. There are also odd trad placements between the bolts which was the norm those days. The original bolts have been replaced later but the character of the route has been left untouched. This is also the case on other routes on Olhava.
With the evolution sport climbing some obvious and logical sport climbs have been added. Oma Planeetta (8a+) would be the most popular of the hard sport climbs in Olhava.
