Kalymnos Sport Climbing and Walking trip
Sport climbing on the Greek island of Kalymnos ticks all the boxes. Awesome limestone crags, stunning routes, a relaxed holiday atmosphere and the warm Aegean sea to dip into after a hard day on the rocks. The people are as warm and friendly as the weather and the food is great! The list is seemingly endless and if you haven’t been there yet then you really must! Now that Ryanair flies Liverpool to Kos starting in late March, a sun rock trip is viable at this time and the flight can be very cheap if booked early.
Choose 1 week or 2.
Climbing
As well as catering for elite climbers, Kalymnos is a low-mid grade sport climbing paradise with 40 per cent of the guidebook routes graded F6a+ and below. The recently developed Julian and Irox sectors are particularly good for the easier grades. It is said that Kalymnos has the highest concentration of sports routes anywhere in the world. The current Kalymnos (2010) climbing guidebook describes 64 sports crags, mainly west and south facing, with over 1,700 routes ranging from F4a to F9a. The rock is top quality solid limestone, which is a little sharp in places. The style of the climbing has everything from stalactites and tufas on steep and overhanging wall to delicate slabs and pumpy walls with pockets and smaller tufa features. The majority of the routes are single pitch of around 20 to 30m. However, there are a few longer routes up to 11 pitches. The limestone at Kalymnos is as yet almost unpolished, and this will be slow to change given the particular rough surface of the rock. The largest concentration of crags and routes are situated above the villages of Myrties, Masouri and Armeos where we plan to stay.
Walking
There is excellent walking to be had as well with rugged peaks up to 2000ft which is quite significant for such a small island. A superb 1:25,000 map has been produced by Terrain (Greek publishing house): http://www.mountains.gr , which shows both the established paths and much scope for off piste walking. The north west peninsula of the island is entirely wild and undeveloped.
This guidebook can be bought from: http://climbkalymnos.com/?page_id=2626
The largest concentration of crags and routes are situated above the villages of Myrties, Masouri and Armeos where we plan to stay.
All of these sectors can be reached on foot, and the approach takes between 20 and 35 minutes. Another well-established rock climbing area is the north of Kalymnos around the villages of Arginonta, Skalia, and Emporios. The island of Telendos is only a 10 minute boat trip from Myrties jetty. The island has seen a lot of recent development in terms of opening new crags and routes. Many of these routes are in caves and face east making them ideal to visit during the summer.
Costs
Studio twin or double self catering accommodation costs E15 per night, per studio, at Armeos in a simple but clean and spacious room:
http://www.climbing-greece.com/katalogos-epixeiriseon/katalogos-domation-studios/studios-i-boinoplagia
Hiring a scooter (E9 per day) is a popular way to get around and car hire is only E20/per day.
For eating out there there are plenty of restaurants which serve large portions of fresh food at reasonable prices: E6 -E15.
There is plenty to see on rest days, not least because of the islands 6000 year history and scenic sights.
Full info can be found here: http://climbkalymnos.com/?page_id=2628
