Kalymnos

Just what was needed following a summer that seemed to be wet when ever I thought about getting out climbing - a trip to the sport climbing mecca that is Kalymnos. To say that I was woefully unfit before I went out there would be an understatement - the last serious climbing that I had done was a long weekend in the Lakes at the beginning of August which did involve a fair degree of climbing but also a fair degree of rain as well. In between that there was a day at a new crag near Turningstone Edge route checking with Fiend, an afternoon on the Burbage boulders in far from ideal conditions on one of the infrequent dry and sunny days that the summer gave up and a couple of sessions at the Climbingworks all pointed to a trip that was going to hard bloody work.

In the end it went fantastically well - I stuck mainly to slabs, threw in a few vertical wall routes and studiously avoided anything that was overhanging and just climbed as well as I think I have ever climbed. Thirty routes in 5 days of climbing at 6 different crags, a new best onsight at 6a+ (consolidated over of the week) and a couple of big whippers too. Add to that getting adopted at the airport by Sarah and Rupert (a great bloke as well as a sick hard climber) and it all added up to one of the best trips I have done in a long time. Get in there!

The one slight disappointment was that I didn't get on a 6b which was what I had hoped to do as my ultimate aim but I am off to Sardinia in less than a week and if I am climbing at about the same level as I did in Kalymnos then it will happen.

Most of the routes were excellent - there were a couple of exceptions but I will gloss over that and concentrate on those that really impressed me.

Damokles 6a (Kasteli) - not a truly classic route but worth mentioning just for the crux - just hang in there and work out the sequence on thin crimps.

Skorpios 6a (Syblegades - East Face) - intricate route finding up the wall made this a real pleasure to get in the bag - another route that is never hard but you have to persevere to unlock it.

Nauticaa Nausica 6a+ (Odessey) - probably my favourite climb of the week as it just took me to a dimension where I rarely put myself - total commitment above a bolt where there was as good a chance of taking a nasty fall as sticking the move. A grim collection of slopers which all point is the wrong direction with the odd chicken head to relieve the pressure occasionally but basically total balls out climbing once half height is reached with a hugely welcome easing off at the top as I hadn't taken enough quickdraws.

Pillar of the Sea 6a+ (Kasteli) - a real classic in every sense. Never hard but has a couple of sections that really test out just how much you trust in your footwork and your body positioning and then it gets a bit stepper and before you know it the chain is in sight.

Also worth mentioning even though I didn't get them cleanly:

Oreads 6a+ (Poets) - sustained and a pity I grabbed a bolt in sheer desperation after getting the sequence going for the clipping hold completely wrong but I could see no way out other than take a whipper that was going to hurt in all likelihood - discretion being the better part of valour and all that. Definitely on the list to go and do properly next time.

Drama 6a+ (Syblegades - West Face) - my first attempt at 6a+ and a bit of a pity as I went for the clip too soon off a really painful hold when I would probably have had it in the bag had I stopped for a few seconds and made the next two moves to the huge jug instead and clipped from there. A learning experience but a slightly painful lesson all the same.