 Passage & Photographs: Aris Theodoropoulos |
Next: Sectors |
Kalymnos
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.
You can reach Kalymnos by air via the airport of Kos. There you get a bus to Mastichari on a route with a regular service. From there a ferry takes 30 to 45 minutes to reach Pothia. The airport of Kalymnos is under construction and is not yet ready for passengers.
- Departures from Mastichari: 09.00, 17.30, 23.30.
- From Kalymnos: 07.00, 16.00, 20.30.
The journey takes 10 to 12 hours by boat from Piraeus. There are ships everyday which leave usually at 2 in the afternoon (Dane) and at 4.00pm (GA Ferries). On the return journey the ship leaves Kalymnos at 7.00pm (Dane) or 9.00pm (GA Ferries) and arrives at Piraeus at 7 the following morning.
AccommodationYou can find rooms to rent 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. For getting about a good option is to hire
a moped (2,500 drs/day) or a car (10,000 drs/day) from the tourist agents or the
hire shops in Pothia, Myrties and Massouri. For more information and reservations,
you should contact:
- Stephanos Gerakios, at Kantouni, offers low-priced rooms and is the choice of many rock climbers. He can arrange moped rental and he also keeps a notebook in his office which contains new information on the routes. Tel 0030 0243 47036. Fax 0030 0243 48290.
- Aquanet, Kalymnos 85200, Greece. Tel 0030 243 48611, or 48612. Fax 0030 243 4861. E-mail aquanet@klm.forthnet.gr
- Kalymna Yachting -Tel: +30-243-24083/4 Fax: +30-243-29125 Url: http://www.europlanet.com/kalymna/
- The Blue Islands Travel P.O. Box 34 85 200 Kalymnos Tel. 0243 23 055 /47 519/48050 Fax 0030 243-48 144
- Hotel Panorama: +30-243-23138/50115/47987
- Kantouni Beach Hotel
- Massouri Holidays - Mr. Parthenis Ekonomou. Tel/Fax: +30-243-47628/47627 Rooms: 2.500 drs./day/person, 2bl bed: 5.000 drs./day.
- Antonopoulos Pantelis (Masouri) - Tel: +30-243-47215 Rooms: 2.500drs./day/person, 2bl bed: 5.000 drs./day.
- Koralli Studios (Masouri) Mr. Theofilos Kabouris Tel: +30-243-47095/24005 Rooms: 2.500 drs./day/person, 2bl bed: 5.000 drs./day.
The island is steeped in a history which stretches back to the beginning of the 11th century BC (the beginning of the Geometrical period) when the island was first inhabited by the Karres. Almost everywhere on the island there are traces of the ancient inhabitants. In Pothia you can visit the Archaeological and Folk Museum where there are displays of objects from the prehistoric (5,000 BC) to the Byzantine era. The Nautical Museum in Pothia shows the life of the sponge divers and other related customs and habits of the people of Kalymnos. Don't forget to visit the "Valsamidi's Museum of Ocean Finds" at Vlychadia. Amongst the noteworthy exhibits are the remains of an ancient Greek boat together with the urns it was carrying. The castle area of the main town is a Byzantine settlement with a fantastic view over the port. A good number of old houses, churches and cisterns have been preserved.
Other SportsIf lounging on the beach doesn't
grab you the alternatives to rock climbing on Kalymnos include windsurfing, mountain
biking, trekking, yachting and diving. People windsurf usually in the region between
Kalymnos and Telendos where the wind is often between 3 and 5 on the Beaufort
scale and rarely exceeds this. Boards can be hired on the beaches that are also
equipped for beach volley.
On the asphalt coastal road from Massouri to Emborio you can cycle enjoying the
view of the sea and of the cliffs of Telendos. For a good dirt road continue on
from Emborio towards the NW coast. Another good cycling route - for strong legs
- begins in Pothia and heads for the Saint Catherine Monastery and the Kefala
cave (with terrific stalactites - torch needed). Mountain bikes can be hired on
the road leaving Massouri towards Emborio.
For trekking there are a fair number of old footpaths needing between one and
three hours, all with incomparable views from high up across the Aegean. Recommended
routes are: 1.Arginonda-Vathi 2.Kantouni-Saint Fotis, 3.Telendos-Saint George
Castle, 4. towards Panayia Kyra Psili and Pezonta, 5. the Kefala cave - Saint
Andreas - Pithari monastery. In Pothia you can rent yachts with or without crews.
Unfurl the sails and visit the surrounding islands and the coves of NE Kalymnos
that cannot be reached by car. Diving, although integral to the history of the
island, is strictly limited to the region of Vlychadia where there is an organised
diving centre.
Don't forget to try the delicious fresh fish of the island and the different octopus dishes, including octopus roasted over charcoal, marinated in ouzo or served as octopus balls. Unique in Greek cuisine are the "krithines kouloures" (a kind of rusk which was made for the sponge divers in the old days), the "Mermizeli" (salad with "krithines kouloures"), and "karkani (salad with mayonaise and devilfish meat). At Easter the islanders roast the "Mououri", goat meat cooked in a special earthenware pot. For another different taste try the "ouzo-mezedes" of the sponge divers, the "fouskes" and the "spinalo" (cuttlefish, sea urchin and devilfish preserved in sea water), and try the sea-dried lobster tail.
Useful telephone numbers. (0243)
- Tourist information. 48611, 29310
- Police 29301
- Hospital 23025
- Cultural Centre 22633
- Hotel Owners Society 51211
- Port Authorities 29304
- Museum 23113
- Taxi rank 50300
- Olympic Airways (Kapellas Travel) 29265
- Ferryboat (DANE) 23043
The paradise island for rock climbers has been discovered and started the climbing development by the well-known Italian rock climbers Andrea di Bari and Andrea Gallo. The Italian climber Andrea di Bari discovered the rock-climbing interest of the island in 1997 while on honeymoon with his wife, also a rock climber; however, they had no equipment with them! He came back in autumn with an average school, with the purpose of opening routes. Fifteen were then opened on Arche and Odyssey by the pupils.
Almost all the pitches have been equipped by Italian and German climbers, the latter more recently active, while practically every month new pitches are equipped. Up to 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 Thailand climbing, only sharper. A lot of potential new pitches are possible, and plenty of crags are still waiting the first route. New multi-pitches 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. Instructors were Aris Theodoropoulos &
Tomas 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.
Articles in magazines:
- Alp. No 168 April 1999 A. Gallo.
- High. No 206 (January 2000) Mt. Info P. Vitali.
- Korphes. No 138 (July/August 1999), p. 141, 142
- No Limits No 82 (March 2000) Manolo.
- Rotpunkt. 2/99 A. Gallo & 4/99 K. Ochsner & 2/2000 M. Schepers.
- Vertical. No 121 August 1999 J. P. Tauvron.
- Pareti 7/2000 Paolo Vitali & Sonja Brambati
Comments by Paolo Vitali (paolo_vitali@it.ibm.com), the well-known Italian guide, after visiting Kalymnos:
—"We spent eight days in Kalymnos in October 1999, and we really enjoyed it a lot. The place is very nice, the people are kind and there are some beautiful pitches to climb."—
There are 23 equipped crags with 200 pitches (5/2000), from F4c to F8a+ (all bolt protected, sport climbing), mostly facing west , but a few facing south .
The rock is excellent quality limestone, sharp at only a few points, without vegetation, and the pitches are equipped with rustproof bolts. At the moment almost all the routes are one pitch, but there are many possibilities for amazing two to five pitch routes. Indeed, apart from the quality, there is also the vast amount of rock available. The opened routes represent not more than 5% of the possibilities, while there are several equally good cliffs completely untouched that are awaiting their first route!
The ranking system in use is the French one. I believe that all sport climbing routes in Greece should be ranked according to this system as it is the most objective and the most used worldwide for this kind of rock-climbing.
Useful equipment12 to 14 quickdraws for route repeating. Rope preferably 60 meters of 10 to 11 mm.
Equipment for new routesOn Kalymnos, you can open unlimited new routes either from the ground or from above. Apart from single pitch routes, there are possibilities of multi-pitch climbing routes of up to five pitches. We would ask you to equip them correctly, without too much run-out, placing bolts at least every 3- 4 metres, so that there is no danger and that they match the physiognomy of the already existing routes on the island. We would also ask that, because of their proximity to the sea only rustproof, stainless steel plackets and 10mm bolts should be used. You should also always place two bolts at the belay stances.
Most of the names of the pitches belong to Greek mythology and Ancient History, a mark of respect on the part of the Italians for our civilization and country; e.g. on the field “Poietes” all the names are those of ancient poets. Therefore, we would ask that those who open new pitches abide by the Italian custom and give Greek names.
All the names of the pitches are written at the beginnings at the foot of each cliff.
Finally, we would ask that all new pitches be announced to the following addresses:
| Hellenic Alpine Club
of Acharnes, 126 Philadelphia Street, 13671 Acharnes. Tel. +30 1 2461528, 2404100 Fax. +30 1 2469777 Aris Theodoropoulos, E-mail aritheo@otenet.gr |
Municipality Of Kalymnos Athletic Organization Tel. +30 243 51601 E-mail: MAO@kalymnos.klm.forthnet.gr |
The island is well-known for its dry climate. You can generally climb on Kalymnos all year round, even in summer on the groups of pitches that are in the shade. There is always a pleasant sea breeze to make climbing pleasurable. Most of the pitches are west or Southwest and are in the shade in the morning. However, the best periods are Spring and Autumn, while till the end of October, all tourist services (hotels, restaurants etc) are in full operation.
Actually, even the winter, good whether conditions is not rare.
The approaches to the various sectors take 20 to 30 minutes at the most.
Top
