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Typical Kalymnos sunset!         Photo Steve Crowe

Kalymnos is about 300 kilometers south east of Athens, and 100 north west of Rhodes. It has 15,500 permanent inhabitants, most of which live in Pothia, the capital of the island. It is well known as the sponge fishers island. The sea has always been a focal element in the local life, which has preserved its traditional character, colour and style to a great extent. It is a mountainous island with impressive rocky crags, nude of trees, but with plentiful aromatic plants, such as thyme, sage, thrimbe and oregano to which the excellent Kalymnos honey owes its fragrance. It is surrounded by a number of small islands, only two of which are inhabited, Pserimos and Telendos. Pothia is a picturesque town built like an amphitheatre around the port. It has all the necessary facilities such as banks, a post office, a hospital etc, as well as an intense commercial life with shops selling all kinds of goods although up till now there is nowhere to buy climbing equipment. It is well known as the sponge divers' island. The sea has always been a focal element in the local life, which has preserved its traditional character colour and style to a great extent. The divers, who initially dived nude and the best of whom could remain under water for over three minutes, travelled in small boats to the beaches of Africa looking for sponges.

The well-known Italian rock climber Andrea di Bari discovered the rock-climbing interest of the island in summer of 1996 while on holidays with his wife, also a rock climber; however, they had no equipment with them! He came back in May '97 with an intermediate school with the purpose of opening routes. About 43 were then opened on Arche, Odyssey and Poets by the pupils. Next October Andrea di Bari came back with the photographer Andrea Gallo to make an article about Kalymnos' rock-climbing in Alp magazine.

Up until 1999, the equipped pitches were easier sport standard on grey slabs (from F5b to F6c), but now the yellow/red overhanging sections are also being taken into consideration, and the island is really full of superb caves with incredible holes, stalactites and rifles that look like Thai climbing, but sharper. The potential for new routes is huge, and many crags are still waiting the first route. New multi-pitch routes are also possible. At Easter 2000 there was a rock climbing course for ten locals organised by the Municipality of Kalymnos aiming to form a group of local climbers. The instructors were ArisTheodoropoulos & Thomas Mihailides. The above instructors also undertook in the summer of 2000 a programme in collaboration with the local council to open new routes and to check the protection of existing routes. Thus, Kalymnos is one of the few rock climbing areas whose protection is certified by professional mountain guides working to strict specifications.

Getting there:

Chartered flights to Kos are available from most major airports for £100-£200 between April and October. Once you have landed take a bus or a taxi to Mastichari (12 Euros) and then catch the ferry to Pothia on Kalymnos (3 Euros, takes 45 mins) The ferry travels between Mastichari and Pothia three times a day but it doesn’t sail when the wind is blowing so allow plenty of time if the weather is bad. The airport on Kalymnos started construction in 1988 and finally opened on the 10th of August 2006. With connections twice a day to/from Athens International Airport it is now possible to get all the way from Europe to Kalymnos without risking being cut off on or from the island because of rough seas. Apparently the runway is not long enough for commercial jet aircraft so prop jets only. Olympic Airlines is offering daily flights from Athens all year round. To book online click at http://www.olympicairlines.com/ For other flights via KOS try:

Where to Stay:

You can find rooms to rent in  Massouri at very reasonable prices. Free camping is strictly forbidden on the island. The distances you need to travel to get to the cliffs are short - usually only 4 or 5 km, and 15-20 km at the most. Try the excellent Triantafillos Studios. 

Shops:

There are three general shops in Massouri. Mini Market Maria is a small market close to the Glaros Bar and the larger Ibiscus Supermarket, and Anna's Supermarkets, are 5 and 10 minutes walk further towards Myties, respectively. All stock a useful range of food and drink, including fresh bread daily.

Eating Out:

Steve you in the Glaros Bar (climbers Bar).

Transport:

The big advantage of Kalymnos is that you don't need a hire car once you get there. For getting about a good option is to hire a moped. There are several places in Massouri and Armeos where you can hire mopeds/scooters. You will need your driving licence with you if you want to hire a scooter.

The Climbing:

Grand Grotta Area           Photo Steve Crowe

Grande Grotta
This is the massive and much photo'd cave like crag characterised by very steep and juggy pump fests. Much of the climbing is on tufa's and many of the routes are so steep that you can't retrieve your clips as you lower off - your second needs to pick them up on their way up! DNA is a classic 7b - no really hard moves but good stamina required. There are other really good and harder routes here too, some of which require very long ropes, generally though a 70m rope is sufficient!

Aegialis F7C is the classic photo tick of the island. Photo Steve Crowe

Odyssey
Fantastic crag. The biggest collection of routes on the Island and you could probably spend your whole week climbing here. Dionysos (7a) is worth checking out.

Spartacus
Another awesome crag. One of the good things about Kalymnos is that the classics are not yet polished - the only exception we found to this was a couple of routes we did at Spartacus which were a bit slippy low down. Steep but with a lot of variation and some strong natural lines. Home of Spartacus 7c and Daniboy - 4 star 7c/8a also Harakiri, Les Amazones and Kerveros all look brilliant.

All of the above crags are in the shade in the morning and are all are within walking distance (or short scooter ride) of Massouri.

Saint Fotis

If you fancy something different the crag at Saint Fotis is worth a visit. The walk-in starts from a beach and you reach the crag via a very pleasant 30 min walk along the coast path. The crag is beautifully located towards the end of a peninsular above the sea. The crag is immediately to the right of a little monastery built into the cliff and is oftene quiet when the more popular crags aren't. The rock quality isn't as good as elsewhere on the island but the atmosphere of the place makes up for it. Omega (6b+/c) is worth checking out.
 

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The Definitive Kalymnos Climbing guide

Sample 1, sample 2

http://www.kalymnos-isl.gr/climb/
Local web site with good info on Kalymnos

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