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  • Joe Fratianni

More New Routes on Kalymnos


There is some more recent route development on Kalymnos that is not available in the guide book, guide book app or other app. I wrote about the left buttress at Coeur d'Armeos interconnecting with the sector Iannis.

Claude Idoux added two more lines to the Coeur d'Armeos left buttress and painted the names on the rock. This is a great addition above Armeos that can be used for easy climbing, beginners and climbers looking for well bolted long routes in the middle grades.

Coeur d'Armeos Left Buttress (from left to right)

1. Pomel 5c-6a/35m

2. Gast 5c-6a/35m

3. Boubie 5c+ - 6a/35m

4. Dikomel 6a/40m

5. Fekomel 6a+/40m

6. Epifermla 5c/30m

7. P'tit Pwason 4c/20m

8. P'tit Waso 5a/20m

9. Acouna-Matata 5c/30m, Ext. 6a/20m

10. Imas Glou-Glou 6a+-6b/30m, Ext. Left 6b(+) 20m, Ext. Right to "Scrogneugneu", 6b+/25m

Iannis

The renowned French climber Francois Legrand put up some new routes in the sector Iannis. The routes are not yet named and the rock has not been climbed on to any great degree, holds are a little sharp and the foot placements can be a bit 'crunchy' still.

Right side between "Ypakoe" and "Kalotina", 6b/6b+ ca. 20m. Right side left of "Petranta", 7a+ (hard)/25m. Central cave, left of "Sevasti", 8b+???/ca. 30-35m - crux is at the top.

Summertime - Magoulias Wall

There are 12 new routes bolted at the right side of Magoulias Wall. The new routes are to the right of the routes "Didi, Hermana de Alma" and "Acon69cagva". The routes were bolted by Aris Theodoropoulos and Claude Idoux. They are all between 20 and 25 meters long. Routes 4, 5 & 12 have somewhat loose rock at the starts and have not been as thoroughly cleaned as the other routes -- so take additional care when climbing them. (This information was given to me by Claude Idol - I have not yet climbed here, but hope to in the next few days)

Update: 24.08.2017 --

I got to climb on some of the new routes here yesterday (23.08.2017) evening. My wife and I started to the far right side with the 6a/6a+ routes and then moved leftwards finishing up with the route "Barbar". There is an 'approach' scramble to get to the first bolts of the routes to the right of "Captain Heel Hook" that is not well clean of loose rock and shrubs - take care here. The routes are brand new, so some rock can break off while climbing. In general, the rock quality is better in the routes on the left side. The grades are not yet confirmed -- I thought "No Pain, No Gain" was 6a+ and immediately to the left, "G. Rien" was also 6a+. These two routes are very close together and it makes sense to share the opening holds of the routes for the first two or three bolts (you may want to clip the first bolt of "No Pain ..." before clipping the pink bolt at the start of "G. Rien". I thought when climbing "G. Rien" from the left was harder than 6a+ at the beginning and would risk a fall to the ledge below when clipping the route's second bolt. The jumble of blocky boulders stacked up to the left of "Hangrios Reve" are also worrisome and should be used with care until the routes have seen more traffic -- they are probably okay, but do not look too good. "Captain Heel Hook" was the most fun to climb and may only be a 6b route, especially for climbers who come from a climbing gym and bouldering background. "Barbar" has a loose section that your feet hit as you lower off. I removed a number of large rocks and cleaned the area. Take care when lowering off as dislodging rocks could tumble down to your belayer.

Magoulias Wall Lower Right (from left to right)

1. Noura Euse, 6b

2. Christian (loves) Petra, 6b+

3. Lampos, 6a+

4. Rigolo, 6b

5. 'Un-named' route, grade not yet determined

6. Barbar, 7a+

7. Captain Heel Hook, 6b(+)

8. Beau, 6c

9. Le Pet D'Egee, 6b

10. Hongrois Reve, 6a

11. G. Rien, 6a(+)

12.No Pain, No Gain, 6a+

Kalydna

Local Kalymnian climber George "Kopa" Kopalides has put up extensions to the routes "Theodora", 6c+ and a direct line making a second extension to "KalyNikhla", 6b. The first part of both these extensions go to a new, independent anchor just to the left of the original "KalyNikhla" Ext. put up by the Remy brothers in 2005. Kopa's extensions add about 20 meters of climbing to the routes and are between 7b and 7c. The direct "KalyNikhla" extension then has a third rope length that goes in to the overhanging upper wall and is 8b or harder. There is also a new line bolted between the routes "Ixion" and "Extra". I have not climbed this route, but it looks like it is around 7a/7a+

Grande Grotta

The beautiful tufa route "KalyPige", 6c+ has also been extended by Kopaalides - there is a fixed rope hanging from the new upper anchor (you can still climb the lower part of "KalyPige"). When this extension is finished the difficulty will be 7a or 7a+ and perhaps a total of 50 meters in length.

It is a good idea to have a helmet with you if you plan to climb the new routes on the left buttress of Coeur d'Armeos or on the lower left of Magoulias Wall. All the grades and lengths are just my estimates and approximations from either climbing the routes myself or speaking with the route developers. The information could be a little off as not everything is confirmed until the routes have been climbed a bit.

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