“It’s funny to say, but it [the Kalymnos guidebook] may seriously be the best guidebook in the world. Thank you for all the hard work in new routing and maintenance!” – Alex Honnold

No, thank you–all of you who have supported and encouraged us over the years. After another seemingly endless summer, we are exhausted, but thrilled, to finally introduce the 7th edition of our Kalymnos climbing guidebook!

Our goal is to always improve upon the previous edition, and we hold ourselves to a pretty high standard, so we hope you will not be disappointed. Read on for an overview of the 2019 edition, then scroll down to revisit each and every one of Aris’s guidebooks from the very first, in 2000, to the current one. The growth of the guidebook is fascinating to track (for us, anyway) and it makes us feel like proud parents helping their kids transition to the next phase of their lives. So, without further ado, here’s what you need to know about the new edition.

KALYMNOS GUIDEBOOK 7TH EDITION (2019)

At a glance, here are the most important features of the new guidebook:

• Approximately 3400 sport routes across 528 pages
• A foldout map of Kalymnos with all crag locations marked
• A concise but very detailed Crag Planner
• GPS coordinates for each sector
• Even more emphasis on safe climbing practices, with details on partner checks, how to clip anchors, and how to strip very steep pitches
• Many incredible new action photos generously contributed by some of the best photographers in the world, like Sam Bié, Dan Patitucci, David Kaszlikowski, Jan Novak, Nathan Welton, and Chris Burkard, among others
• Beautiful and crystal-clear Crag Panoramas to help climbers see where crags are located in relation to one another
• Info about the names of equippers, year in which each route was opened, and first ascent details when needed
• Length of every route in meters
• Specific info about shade listed on each photo-too, including the photo-topos of sub-sectors and smaller sections of a crag
• Free app for iOS and Android. As with the 2015/16 edition, the app version of the 2019 Kalymnos guidebook, created by our awesome friends Vertical Life, is completely free! A personal code for unlocking the app is included on the first page of each guidebook. The app is updated every so often. If you don’t want the print version of the guidebook, the app is also available as a separate purchase. If you are a first-time app buyer it costs €18; if you have already bought the 2015/16 print edition and downloaded that app version, you can download just the updates for €9

Our guidebook is published by Terrain Maps. It is available at many sales points in Kalymnos for €40. It is also available at climbing shops and climbing gyms in Athens, as well as through this website with a flat worldwide shipping rate of €8 (free shipping to Greece). The hefty size of the guidebook (528 pages) was a bit of an issue, but we have done our best to unclutter the design and make the book easy to navigate.
Years ago we committed to returning a significant portion of the proceeds from the sale of this guidebook back to Kalymnos. We set aside a good amount every year for bolts, anchors, and other hardware needed to keep the routes as safe as possible. We will keep doing this for as long as we possibly can.

Lastly, all seven editions of our Kalymnos guidebook were made in Greece.HOW DOES THE NEW GUIDE COMPARE TO THE PREVIOUS (2015/16) EDITION?

• 700 additional routes
• New sectors: Atlantis; Rock n Roll Cave; Summer Wine; Space Terrace; Titan Towers; Aegean Sea Wall (multi-pitches); Milianos Cave; Star Wall; Kefala; Vasilissa
• New developments at established crags, such as Poets (major overhaul with many new routes); Ocean Dream (new multi-pitches); St Constantine (Telendos, new sub-sectors Tower of Power, Lost World, and Stronghold); Trois Îlots (new single- and multi-pitch routes); Telendos South Face (new multi-pitches); and many new routes at sectors Piccalia, Balcony Helvetia, Big Shadow, Iannis, and Reservoir Dogs, among others
• New sub-sectors White Wine Wall; Red Wine Wall; Comic Tree; Spitfire; Yamas; Under the Rainbow; Little Italy; Ilias Pillar; Exo Syki; Kardama; Aghios Mamas; Pserimos island

SEVEN EDITIONS OF THE KALYMNOS GUIDEBOOK: A RETROSPECTIVE
Some of these guidebooks are positively retro; you might even consider them collectible items. We don’t know about you, but for us a guidebook is always so much more than a sum of its parts. No matter how outdated, a guidebook is never “just a book”: it is a collection of memories, moments, people, projects sent, projects not sent, sights, smells, and smiles. We have never parted with a climbing guidebook, and probably never will.^ 1st EDITION (2000)
Author: Aris Theodoropoulos
Published by: Municipality of Kalymnos, Acharnes Alpine Club
Pages: 80
Routes: 200
Languages: Greek; English; French; German; Italian
The first edition was handed out for free during the 1st climbing festival on Kalymnos in October 2000. In the first years leading up to the publication of the guidebook, Aris had already proposed a set of guidelines for equipping the routes on Kalymnos (stainless steel 10mm; dense bolting; two-bolt anchors and clippable carabiners). Aris and team had also already rebolted and corrected several routes. (Many of the original routes were equipped with galvanized 8mm bolts and single-bolt anchors. Yikes.)^ 2nd EDITION (2003)
Author: Aris Theodoropoulos
Published by: Acharnes Alpine Club
Pages: 194
Routes: 500
Languages: Greek; English; French; German; Italian
The guidebook ups its game: Star ratings and hours of sun/shade are introduced, and many good action photos are added.

^ 3rd EDITION (2006)
Author: Aris Theodoropoulos
Published by: Acharnes Alpine Club
Pages: 280
Routes: 850
Languages: Greek; English
The 3rd edition was published just before PETZL’s hugely successful Roctrip. Kalymnos and the guidebook turn over a new leaf: more action photos, bigger photo-topos, and route descriptions are added. A significant portion of proceeds from the sale of the guidebook is donated to the Municipality of Kalymnos for bolts and other hardware to be used for maintenance.^ 4th EDITION (2008)
Author: Aris Theodoropoulos
Published by: Acharnes Alpine Club
Pages: 296
Routes: 1100
Languages: Greek; English
A lightly revised edition of the 2006 guidebook. An appendix at the end includes new route updates. Shortly after the publication of the 2008 edition, Aris Theodoropoulos partners up with Katie Roussos to create climbkalymnos.com as a place to get Kalymnos-related news, and the guidebook, to climbers worldwide.^ 5th EDITION (2010)
Author: Aris Theodoropoulos
Published by: Terrain Maps
Pages: 360
Routes: 1650
Languages: English
A majorly revised and expanded edition. The author begins to collaborate with Terrain Maps and this is the first edition in which Katie contributes behind the scenes. The layout of the guidebook gets a major overhaul and starts to look a lot like the layout adopted in subsequent editions. 550 additional routes compared to the 2008 edition, the introduction of the Crag Planner, a bigger focus on storytelling, a clearer page layout, and very detailed large crag panoramas are added to help climbers locate the crags. The author commits to contributing a significant portion of the guidebook proceeds back into Kalymnos by buying bolts, anchors, and other equipment, and continues to do so.^ 6th EDITION (2015/16)
Author: Aris Theodoropoulos
Published by: Terrain Maps
Pages: 466
Routes: 2700
Languages: English
Yet another massive guidebook expansion: nearly 1000 additional routes, the inclusion of GPS coordinates for each crag, and a major bonus–the free app as a result of our collaboration with Vertical Life. Short stories about Kalymnos are added with photos in the back (above). The 2016 reprint is revised and lightly expanded.^ 7th EDITION (2019)
Authors: Aris Theodoropoulos, Katie Roussos
Published by: Terrain Maps
Pages: 528
Routes: 3400
Languages: English
The current edition includes 700 additional routes. The hours of shade at each sector, sub-sector, and even smaller parts of the crag are added onto each photo-topo. Once again, the free Kalymnos guidebook app by Vertical Life is included for free.None of these books could ever have been made without the help of friends, fellow climbers, members of the local community, and Kalymnos devotees from all over the world. We are eternally grateful for all the photos, corrections, feedback, stories, moral support, and encouragement. Please continue to share your thoughts with us—let us know what you like, what you’re not sure about, and how you’d suggest improving the next edition.
Lastly, thank you for your patience during our prolonged absence from the internet. We are preparing a fresh new version of Climb Kalymnos (the site has not been redesigned since 2009) which we will introduce as soon as our day jobs give us a break. We promise it’s worth the wait.
Happy climbing, and see you at the crags!