Jens Larssen, founder and editor-in-chief of 8a.nu, is a regular visitor and friend of Kalymnos. He’s been to the island more than five times already (most recently for a three-month stay with his fiancée and their two baby boys) and plans to visit again twice this year. We spent time with him in late September, during and after the 2012 North Face Kalymnos Climbing Festival. As always Jens had a lot of interesting things to say, about his favorite new sector, about the best month to climb in Kalymnos, about spending months on the island with two small children, and much more. Enjoy!

Profile

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Name
Jens Larsen
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Date of birth:1965
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Height: 167 cm
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Weight: 63 kg
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Started climbing in: 1992
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Works as: Editor-in-chief of 8a.nu and climbing coach
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Best redpoint: 8a+
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Best onsight: 7b+

Q & A

When did you first visit Kalymnos?
2001 and I directly wrote that this is the best climbing destination in the world.

What did you think during that first visit?
I was just overwhelmed by the climbing package Kalymnos could offer. I remembered coming up to Grande Grotta for the first time and being totally amazed by the scenery looking down at the sea and up at the stalactites. I also do remember the super soft grades at that time :-p

How many times have you visited Kalymnos since?
Five.

Last autumn you spent three months in Kalymnos with your family. How was family life there with two small children?
My fiancée who is not a climber said already after one week that it was better than expected. Everyone was so super friendly with the kids and she could just see that we could do a lot of hikes etc.

How would you rate the ‘child-friendliness’ of Kalymnos? Any feedback re: getting children’s needs met?
The locals are just crazy about kids it seems. We have never experienced something like this and wherever you are, you get that extra smile and before you know, toys are handed over. It is nice to recall all this nice hospitality and meetings we had like: in a café in Pothia with a small play garden, where some 8 year old kids asked if they could play with our children; in the restaurant on Telendos where our kids played with the owners every time we went there; our kids walking and crawling in to the neighbor getting cookies and being away from us for 30 minutes. It was almost a constant positive “rock star” feeling that met us when the locals saw our kids. The buses were really convenient but our two year old preferred the scooter.

Any suggestions for climbing families with small children or for Kalymnians to better accommodate climbing families?
Look for treasures you can find by the garbage bin. We found a very nice walking chair and a very big car that our kids played with almost every day.

Do you have any funny stories to share from your three months on a small island?
We invited our neighbors to climb, and my fiancée she climbed for the second time in like three years. She flashed a 5c warming up and also flashed a former 6a and she was super happy. “Maybe it is because of all the yoga and pilates. I actually feel fit after all my running. It is about time I start climbing again.” The next weekend, with the same neighbors and smaller shoes on Odyssey, she could not do one of the polished 5c’s and started to laugh as she had got caught. “This is much harder than the 6a”. I could just answer with a smile, “I know”. Nevertheless, she has decided to start training again, as it was so fun with all the big features and she plans to do a real 6a in May 2013 when we return, so I could not be happier :)

Roughly, what was your climbing experience like during each of the three months you were on the island? Which month was the best for climbing?
I would actually have to say November. We had almost always like 18 degrees and sunny every day, so you could pretty much climb everywhere and whenever you wanted. It is just crazy that during the last two weeks, there were maybe just 50 climbers on the island as it had been maybe 1000 two months earlier with often terrible conditions.

What -if anything-differentiates Kalymnos from other climbing destinations?
Besides having softer grades :), it is the quality of the routes in all style, the scenery, the easy living, the nice locals, etc. It is just the whole package which gets you the holiday feeling and not just being on a rough climbing trip.

Where does Kalymnos go wrong as a climbing destination? Any suggestions for improvement?
I have already told the mayor that it would be so simple if they could just prolong one of the morning buses four km to Arginonta so you can save some scooter money.
Also, today, it seems really crazy that it is Claude Idoux who is more or less doing all the rescues by himself. I climbed with him one day and the telephone rang…

Which are the most memorable routes you have climbed on Kalymnos (regardless of grade)?
I am an onsight climber and I have never come to a sector with so many high quality routes to onsight like in the new north face, Secret Garden. The possibly most memorable onsight attempt in my life was Priapos, but I suggest you mark a first anchor after 30 meters on the sitting rest calling it ‘Pria’, as I already did in my scorecard. The best routes to repeat over and over again are found on Spartacus. I just love being up there as a quickdraw cleaner top rope slave for a full day.

Some climbers may be worried about visiting Kalymnos due to the ongoing economic crisis in Greece. How did you experience Kalymnos this year? Was your stay in any way affected by the crisis compared to previous visits?
I actually thought the prices were lower. What struck me most was that most locals just answered “OK” whenever I asked, “How is it today?” In the end I asked if this is normal, and then I was told that five years ago nobody would have answered in this way. I was told that there is a collective depression going on.

When will we see you in Kalymnos again?
We are coming down May 17th for two weeks again and I will be back hopefully also with my family during the North Face Festival.