Good morning from beautiful Kalymnos! After three hot days, August is back to its breezy self and perfect summer climbing conditions. So far August was nearly perfect, as meltemi winds were a steady companion. Summer has been quiet overall and the financial crisis is evident everywhere, including Kalymnos. The locals are now hoping for a busy autumn climbing season to give them a boost. In July, despite suboptimal climbing conditions, some remarkable climbers passed through Kalymnos. We met and spent time with Chinese climber Liuyong ‘Abond’ Bang and his girlfriend Xiaoting in late July. This was the Yangshuo-based pair’s first visit to Kalymnos and they seemed to deeply regret not staying longer; Abond ticked some stellar routes at Iannis, Grande Grotta, Odyssey and Arhi in early mornings and by the end of July they moved on to their next European stop, the Frankenjura. According to Abond and Ting, Kalymnos is at the top of Chinese climbers’ destination ‘wish list’, but because of the distance, cost, and visa requirements not many are able to make it. Also here during the same time was Alessandro ‘Jolly’ Lamberti, the well-known mountain guide and climber from Italy and first Italian to climb a 9a. Jolly climbed his first 8a in 1986 and has since climbed more than 50 routes graded 8b and above. He has repeatedly visited Kalymnos in the summer and we were happy to see him again this year. More climbing photos of Abond and Jolly on this blog.

On to other news, some rebolting has been done on routes at Panorama and Summertime (mostly lower-offs and missing bolts). To keep track, whenever a bolt is replaced or changed we make a note in the ‘comments’ section of each route. And while rebolting is certainly a priority, some new lines were also put up this summer: two beautiful hard lines at sectors Arginonta (‘Pandora’) and Gerakios Upper Cave (‘Závara Katranémia’), five hard routes at sector Summertime / Magoulias Wall, and five easier ones at Summertime’s main wall, one of the most popular summer sectors for climbing schools and beginners. Summertime is in the shade all afternoon and the approach is very short, but its main drawback was the limited number of routes, which caused it to fill up very quickly. The addition of five new routes effectively doubles the options for easy climbs. Since all these routes are brand-new and haven’t been climbed yet, if you do climb them make sure you wear your helmets, be extra careful and send us your grade suggestions (speaking of climbing schools, here’s a video from the day our summer beginners’ school visited sector Irox. Thanks, Anna.)

Lastly, new sector ‘Lambda’ in Telendos has already received lots of positive feedback from climbers, while The North Face athletes were regularly sighted at Kalymnos crags throughout the summer –that is, when they weren’t busy drilling and cleaning the exciting new sector to be revealed during the upcoming North Face Kalymnos Climbing Festival.

Stay tuned for Kalymnos updates and enjoy the last days of summer, wherever you are!