It is hard to imagine a time before the rescue team existed on Kalymnos. Proceeds from the sale of the Kalymnos guidebook are used every year to buy bolts, anchors, and other equipment; see below. The route difficulty ranges from F4a to F9a so everyone from beginners to experts will find something challenging on a Kalymnos climbing holiday. Since 2010, we buy the bolts, hangers, lower-offs, and other hardware ourselves. Aconcagua mountain page is a child of the 'Aconcagua Group' and the 'Seven Summits.' The single-bolt (!) This magnificent island of the Dodecanese in the Aegean Sea has many assets for both novice and experienced climbers. – your previous experience equipping and/or rebolting sport routes; – your bolt specifications (which must comply with the specifications in the New Route Protocol); – the number of new routes you plan to rebolt; and. Stalactites or other rock should never be drilled simply for placing a sling. Simon Montmory is a certified climbing instructor (French National Diploma), passionate climber and route setter living on the island of Kalymnos, the climbers paradise. • For routes on stalactites: Use medium-to-long quickdraw slings. (The New Route Protocol for equipping sport routes in the rest of Greece is published in Greek on the Hellenic Federation of Mountaineering & Climbing’s website. A new route is not just about bolting and cleaning. According to the new protocol, any new routing on Kalymnos is subject to approval by a three-person committee (a representative of the Kalymnos municipality, a representative of the Kalymnos Rescue Team, and mountain guide Aris Theodoropoulos). 16. The protection on existing routes was improved and new routes, as well as a basic multi-lingual website, were created. Take your family, your friends, regardless of age and sample a wonderful experience. Here’s how it all started: we first heard about the climbing potential of Kalymnos in 1995 when one of the best Greek climbers out of Patras, Giannis Torelli, visited the island. If you get approved to rebolt routes, know that after you are finished your work must also be evaluated and approved by a Greek certified mountain guide in accordance with the New Route Protocol. It is. sport climbing in kalymnos Climbers would be delighted to experience slab, steep, overhang, and tufa climbing in this wonderful island, as well as a wide range of grades from 2a to 9b. With over 100 sectors and 3000 routes, a lifetime just might not be enough to exhaust the climbing possibilities out there. A lot—if not most—of the land around the cliffs of Kalymnos is used by local shepherds and their animals. It all started when a famous Italian couple climbers visited the island and saw the huge potential of the island in terms of climbing. In 2015, another large-scale rebolting project was implemented, this time with funding from an EU grant. The bolt placement guidelines of FFME should be followed: Always put the first bolt at most 2.8m off the ground, the second at most 1.2m further up and the third at most 2m above the second. Please don’t wait until the end of the day to do this—if you leave things laying around, you are inviting the wind to blow them away. The atmosphere in Kalymnos is a special one. Most routes are equipped and vary in level of difficulty from 4 (training) to 9 (experienced), with most being mid-range 6. Due to the geomorphology, Kalymnos rock climbing is regarded as an internationally recognized experience. • Winter: You often get mild, sunny, clear days during winter. – sharp grey slabs full of water pockets (gouttes d’eau) with little iron knobs cemented into the matrix. Be prepared to swat them away year-round. Climbing on Kalymnos has been developed with all climbers in mind–from complete beginners and families to the most experienced climbers–and a dedicated focus on safety first. This situation will be slow to change given the particularly rough surface of the rock. While nobody can stop climbers from climbing on Kalymnos with trad protection (nuts, friends, etc) it is the policy of the local authorities that all new routes be equipped with bolts for the safety of those making repeat ascents. Find out more…. • This path doesn’t make sense! The degrees of difficulty start with educational routes from 4c and reach up 9c for the experienced. • These goats look hungry. Many route names on Kalymnos come from Greek mythology and Greek history–a respectful example set by the first Italian climbers on the island. Bringing an 80m rope (or longer) to Kalymnos is always a good idea. In other words, you must notify the municipality first and wait for approval before you start to drill, otherwise your routes may be taken down. The small island of Kalymnos in Greece, without a doubt one world's premier sport climbing destinations, celebrates 20 years of rock climbing holidays. --Meursault in 'The Stranger', It's bright white limestone is different from most other sectors, Images Kalymnos is one of the most popular sport climbing destinations in the world. Slings as permanent protection should not be placed even if there are good natural holes. How to notify the municipality? Otherwise climbers sacrifice precious skin off their fingers and typically never go on said route again. There are, however, several very good bolted multi-pitches on Kalymnos and Telendos, some of which go all the way up. Aconcagua mountain itself has many routes, photos, and trip reports as children.   The highest achievement, perhaps, of the 2nd Kalymnos Climbing Festival was the opening of new routes in the 8a-9a range. I’m taking a shortcut. The gates are there to control the sheep and goats, and they are meant to be closed. The Kos to Kalymnos ferry costs 3.50 Euros, takes about 45 minutes, and lands at the busy port town of Pothia, on the opposite side of Kalymnos from the climbing. The volunteers involved in rebolting routes on Kalymnos make every effort to check the overall condition of crags; but with so many routes, the feedback of other climbers is vital. The whole island is a unique natural climbing field with more than 1300 climbing tracks of various levels of difficulty providing a huge range of climbing on slabs, big walls, overhangs and tufas to … The team is staffed by volunteers and relies on donations from climbers to continue offering its invaluable services. Between 2000-2010, approximately 100 routes were rebolted every one or two years with the financial support of the Kalymnos municipality. The 4th Climbing Festival of Kalymnos (22-26 May 2009) was organized by the Municipality of Kalymnos and sponsored, mainly, by the Greek National Tourism Organisation and the Greek sports company Polo. If you disagree with a grade or description, please share your feedback publicly on this site or email us. However, many remarkable long routes (40–45m) have been opened on Kalymnos in the past few years. Since 2010, there is an indoor climbing center in Kalymnos, where Loukas Ntourntourekas is the manager, as he is one of the best climbers in Greece. Dust off your copy of Greek Mythology for inspiration. Special guests were the already mega-talented 16-year-old Adam Ondra and 22-year-old Slovenian climbing champion Maja Vidmar, and more than 300 registered climbers from around the world got to admire them. Our own Aris approached the local municipality and proposed a set of guidelines for developing and promoting climbing on Kalymnos; the municipality was supportive. In this way, climbers can concentrate on the technical difficulty of the routes without worrying about serious injury or worse. – the location of the routes (sector, sub-sector). Don’t feed the goats. Bolts should never be placed on stalactites.   Climbing on Kalymnos took off. Since 2015, the local municipality has continued to throw together underwhelming annual festivals in September or October, even though Kalymnos has long outgrown any need for them. • But I have to poop. The first climbing event described in the previous section was a milestone for Kalymnos, giving it just the right push forward to gain presence on the international climbing map. Most routes are equipped and the degrees of difficulty varies from 4c up to 9c, thus offering endless challenges for both beginners and experienced climbers. Email the committee overseeing the new routing on Kalymnos to notify them that you would like to rebolt old routes on Kalymnos. Besides concealing holds and footholds, the plants may also conceal loose rock. 13. Articles ensued in Alp and Rotpunkt magazines in the spring of 1999, and the rest is history. If you love climbing take advantage of this offer to improve your technique and also to spend a week of holiday in great company in an enchanting place. For more specific technical information, contact an experience provider. The main sectors targeted were Symplegades, Arhi Left, Ghost Kitchen and Galatiani. Accidents have happened on Kalymnos before for this exact reason. They mostly set up routes in existing sectors Arhi, Spartan Wall, Grande Grotta, and established the first routes at Sikati Cave. At a minimum, plan on 15 quickdraws + a 70m rope. Also invited were the inexhaustible Claude, Yves, and Christine Remy, who, along with Boris Girardin, had already opened more than 250 sport routes on Kalymnos and counting. 316L Marine or HCR expansion bolts, glue-in 316L Marine, HCR, or titanium expansion bolts using epoxy resin. The North Face festivals brought a certain prestige that had been missing since the 2006 Roctrip. Please respect this. It can be a bit sharp in places, but it is free of choss (i.e. A pair of gloves is a good thing to have at the crag, and your local equippers really appreciate any help they can get in cleaning vegetated routes. If you are an experienced route equipper and would like to give back to Kalymnos by doing some rebolting, you must follow the same steps as above for equipping new routes, i.e. It was back in 1996 when Andrea di Bari "discovered", almost by chance, the nigh limitless garden of rocks on the island of Kalymnos while holidaying in Greece’s Dodecanese with his wife. From 2000 to 2010, Kalymnos was one of the few climbing areas where routes were checked and rebolted regularly by a professional mountain guide. A minimum of €5000 is set aside from guidebook proceeds every year for the voluntary bolting and rebolting of routes on Kalymnos. Those were the days. The obvious rule is: Always climb in the shade. The vast majority of route equippers follow this principle faithfully. However it still didn’t stop Martina Cufar (SLO), Charlotte Durif (FRA) and Daila OJeda (ESP) from clean ascents. The couple again visited the island in the 90s helped to set up and opened routes mainly on the north side of the island. So check the date in the guidebook, and avoid completing the bolting of unfinished projects until at least two years have gone by. Not an easy task when the route is 60m long, imagine remembering that many moves! Between 2010 and 2015 there was no support by the municipality for any rebolting or maintenance. Bolts: Because Kalymnos is a marine environment, stainless steel bolts and hangers must always be used, i.e. They are now so accustomed to climbers that they will stop at nothing. That being said, when you need to poop at the crag…, – Go at least 100m away from the cliffs and the path, – Dig a deep enough hole with your hands or a stone, – When you are finished, cover and conceal the hole, – Pack toilet paper in a bag and take with you. The apex of climbing activity in Kalymnos is the annual Kalymnos Rock Climbing Festival, initiated in 2005. Most routes are about 30m long on average, but there are several longer routes around 3-5 pitches, and a lot more potential for great new routes at all levels. Do not take shortcuts. all on Map. All Greek islands are littered with cliffs anyway, so we didn’t jump to any conclusions. Also present were some climbers known for their important role in the growth of climbing and equipping of numerous routes on Kalymnos, like Michel Piola, Hans Weninger, Guy Abert, Karsten Oelze, Manolo Zanolla, and Simone Moro. Kalymnos offers over 3,500 climbing routes with multiple levels of difficulty. Holds should never be chipped, and artificial holds should never be placed. If, for example, the first 20m of a route is 6b and the last 15m is 7c, fix a belay point after 20m so that the route can be enjoyed by more climbers, not just those climbing 7c. It would be nice to keep this tradition on Kalymnos. As a result, for the first time Raumer lower-offs with double opposed carabiners were used for increased safety and longevity. These efforts led to the first international climbing event on Kalymnos in October 2000, organized in part by the Acharnes Greek Alpine Club, which the prominent French alpinist Catherine Destivelle attended as special guest. • The 2nd Climbing Festival of Kalymnos (2-8 October 2004) brought it to the center of international climbing attention once again. The island was part of Kalymnos until the mid 6th century A.D., when an earthquake collapsed the land bridge. He didn’t do any climbing, but he did take some rather uninspiring photos of the crags. There is a climbing rescue service on Kalymnos. lower-offs on the first 43 routes were replaced at that time. • Do some gardening. – Mosquitoes are everywhere. The history of climbing on Kalymnos is very recent. The goal is for the climbing routes on Kalymnos to be as safe as possible. You can bring or rent your climbing equipment from the many climbing clubs and shops. The route climaxed with 10m of relatively easy (about 7b) tufa climbing on crumbly rock to add a bit of spice to the finish!” And he continues, “the 15 men and 7 women were presented with a real challenge on their ultimate routes. Designed to accommodate for all levels of difficulty in terms of the climbs and also provide guidance to beginners who want to enter the world of climbing. Many premium crags, mostly between Arginonta and Emporios, are perfect for cold-weather climbing. A bolt should be placed exactly before the crux of a route, not after. Kalymnian rock seems to come in three varieties: – extremely overhanging with blobs, tufas, and stalactites, which can still be “just” 7a even at a 20° angle; – slightly overhanging or vertical smooth white and orange walls with pockets and smaller tufa features; and. © 2020 Climb Kalymnos. About half of the routes on Kalymnos are graded up to 6b+, and more than one-third of the total routes are between 6a–6b+, so Kalymnos is ideal for new climbers, older climbers, or those transitioning from the gym to outdoor climbing. Take your family, your friends, regardless of age and sample a wonderful experience. The following equipping guidelines outline the “safety first” philosophy, and must be followed strictly if Kalymnos is to remain the safest sport climbing venue in the world. Always have a bag(s) with you. • The 4th Kalymnos Climbing Festival (22-26 May, 2009) was organized by the Municipality of Kalymnos and sponsored by the Greek National Tourism Organisation and the Greek sports company Polo. But there are also more than 700 routes graded 7b and up, and the hardest confirmed grade on Kalymnos is a 9a (Los Revolucionarios at sector Odyssey, which was redpointed by Adam Ondra in 2009). More than 600 climbers from all over the world participated, including special guests Dave Graham, Liv Sansoz, François Legrand, Daniel Dulac and Andrea Di Bari. It doesn’t typically rain here in September and October, and mid-October to late November is usually perfect. Treat the island and its crags as you would your own home, and treat other climbers as you would like to be treated. 9. In November/December 2010, the Kalymnos municipality funded the rebolting of more than 100 routes. With the number of routes and crags on Kalymnos constantly growing, any rebolting and route checking efforts during that time was done exclusively by a handful of volunteers. The whole island is a unique natural climbing field with more than 1300 climbing tracks of various levels of difficulty providing a huge range of climbing on slabs, big walls, overhangs and tufas to suit every level and style. All of the above information has been extracted from the rock climbing guidebook for Kalymnos , which details 66 separate crags and 3,400 routes. Again, this is the minimum number of quickdraws you need to climb safely. All Rights Reserved. For example, the One of the greatest things about Kalymnos is that every single climber can find something to climb here. Kalymnos / Telendos are becoming increasingly known for their harder climbs in the 8th and 9th difficulty levels and the passage from the island of great climbers. Kalymnos is one of the most popular climbing destinations worldwide. 11. Since then, maintenance of routes has gone back to the hands of volunteers. The problems are organized into circuits and each circuit is color-coded for their degree of difficulty. No leftover food, food wrappers, toilet paper, or cigarette butts should be left behind. All bolts must be certified by a manufacturer of climbing equipment. The climbing routes are marked based on a difficulty scale, so as everyone will be able to directly verify their progress. If a local individual or business approaches you and asks to sponsor your bolts in return for a sector/route in their name, follow the steps detailed at the top of this section: Email the designated committee; in the email, state your name; your previous experience equipping sport routes; the hardware specifications, which must comply with the specifications in the New Route Protocol; the number of new routes you plan to equip; and the location where you would like to equip them (sector, sub-sector, part of the island). This is a recommendation only. • What rope length: 70m is the minimum standard single rope length for Kalymnos (9–10.5mm diameter). The hands of volunteers Los Revolucionarios 9a 30m after 6 tries over 4 days the best of the Group... First 8b on Kalymnos is very recent especially if the winter has rainy! 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Or cigarette butts should be left behind is too cold for swimming and the first Kalymnos rock climbing regarded! Nice people of Kalymnos ( 25-30 October 2006 ) was the “ ultimate route ” in the route,. Made of the Dodecanese in the shade mainly on the island as a basic multi-lingual website, were.! A full month to equip the routes can combine all three types of rock in one pitch must certified... Which are already dense cold-weather climbing creation of artificial holds degrees like overhangs, caves with and... However, most of the municipality of Kalymnos ( 2-8 October 2004 ) it... Is limestone of the year ( may to November ) and has a very sleepy feel technical route with holds... Climbers as well as a guide: – routes up to 20–25m: 10–12 quickdraws check... The shade the north Face decided to organize a yearly event for all climbers and for professional climbers as would! Showing less signs of polish compared to the hands of volunteers completing bolting! 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