(By Carl Dawson) Can you climb in Kalymnos in summer? This was the question I wanted answering: but too late, I was on my way, already on the Gotthard Pass bound for Venice, Patras, Piraeus and then the Aegean. In late July! Now most summers we do what all the other sensible European climbers do which is to head for Briancon, Ceuse, Simplon, Rodellar, the usual places. Kalymnos is not on the list, being reserved for the mid-seasons… but should this be the case? After two steamy nights on a hot Adriatic ferry, I was beginning to wonder whether I’d made a mistake.

 

The Kalymnos summer season seems to be dominated by two wind directions. The South Wind brings heat and humidity, and the haze sometimes reduces Telendos to a grey outline. Gravity feels powerful and it’s not the best of conditions for long stamina routes. Temperatures are high but, being an island, much less intense than on the Greek mainland. After three or four days, the wind direction turns and blows from the north; this is the Meltemi. Temperatures only drop a few degrees but, most importantly, the humidity vanishes. The air is now fresh, wind speeds rise and dustbins bounce along Masouri’s main street. Distant islands reappear, the surf’s up on Kalamies Beach and you feel light again and ready to go!

 

Today it’s the South Wind, the twin-hulls are slopping about to a reggae beat, but it didn’t stop Letz from on-sighting Priapos (7c) an hour ago. Unless you’re on a route featuring crucial slopers, your only hindrance is going to be a slight lethargy on a day like this. A couple of days ago, freshened by the Meltemi, some guys were running laps on an Odyssey 8b. So the answer is yes, actually you can climb in Kalymnos in the summer.

 

Most Kalymnos crags are in the shade in the morning so the tactic of course is to climb early (no, I don’t mean 5am!). Even if you go to a ‘winter’ crag such as Arhi by 8am, you are going to get a good four or five hour’s action. If it’s Odyssey, you can get up a bit later, and if you really oversleep you can tootle out to somewhere like Summertime and take your hangover climbing from 3-4 pm onwards. Several new ‘summer’ sectors like E.T. and The Local Freezer (as well as Irox and Glaros over on Telendos) are well worth exploring.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Climbers’ forums, like UKClimbing, ask whether Kaly is busy with summer tourists? And do you have to queue for routes?   From what I can see this year, there are about 50-80 climbers here at the moment, including several now resident. So no, you won’t be queuing for routes but there are enough ‘birds of feather’ to provide a good atmosphere at crag or the bar without it feeling crowded. Most of the summer climbers seem to be Greek or Italian or others who have realised that a windy Aegean island actually isn’t a bad spot at all for summer climbing. As for the tourists, yes there are more than you would encounter at Easter or October, but they ain’t a problem! On Sundays, there might be two or three jet-skis out in the bay but I counted only half a dozen yachts anchored off Masouri beach… and this is the height of the summer season. I’ve still not had a problem finding a sun lounger. The only real noise and disturbance has been the Greek weddings where the entertainment involves throwing dynamite into the Grande Grotta. My non-climbing friend asked if Turkey had invaded!

 

Occasionally a windless calm descends on the Aegean. You can still climb but here’s two tips for afternoon survival:

 

— Make your own breeze by doing the island TT on your scooter; this is good up to 35/36 degrees (but after that, even the breeze feels too hot!). Don’t forget to stop at the summit of the Arginonda-Vathi road. There’s a neat little shelter there where you can look down into the Pezonda ‘fjord’.

 

— Do what the locals do. Simon Montmory, the island’s French climbing guide (allegedly) strips and lies face down on some cool tiles. Geraldine, on the other hand, grabs her flippers and heads out into the turquoise.

 

The latter sounds pretty good; in fact, that’s what I’m going to do right now!

Text by Carl Dawson