On a climbing trip, the rest days are meant to set you up for the next round of climbing. Unfortunately ours did not! The first week had been really successful and we had begun to get a feel for the rock and the general ambience in Ulassai, so we had high hopes for the second, … Continue reading The return to Ulassai – Week two
By Gaynor Our previous visit to Ulassai in the spring of 2025 was a wash-out, 10 days of mostly rain and only 4 routes climbed. All through the summer we felt like we had unfinished business at this small hilltop town in Sardinia, we had been so inspired by the quality and quantity of the … Continue reading The Return to Ulassai – Week one
By Gaynor. At the end of our first week in Sardinia, climbing around the towns of Iglesias and Domusnovas, it was time to move on to a new area. Our second destination was up in the hills, the Sardinian Mecca of climbing – Ulassai. We arrived in the early afternoon and found a colourful hill-side … Continue reading Climbing in Sardinia – Part 2: Ulassai
By Gaynor We had no idea what to expect when we arrived in Sardinia at the start of a one month climbing trip. It had been on Jon’s list of places to visit for some time but never made it to the top, partly because of the challenges getting here, and partly because we didn’t … Continue reading Climbing in Sardinia – Part 1: The South West
After leaving Sicily, our next climbing stop was Statte in Puglia. Statte is right in the arch of the boot of Italy, about 500km south east of Rome and 15 km north of the city of Taranto. The crags at Statte are spread across 16 sectors along the side of a 100m (or more) deep, … Continue reading Climbing in Statte
We have had a fantastic 10 days climbing in Statte (in the heel of Italy), but one thing that has been proven to me during this trip, is that I am absolutely hopeless at spotting a good route! Generally, I just go with the flow. I enjoy climbing for the places it takes me, the … Continue reading Do not let me choose routes!
After four days of climbing in Statte we needed a rest, or to be more specific, the skin on our fingers needed a rest. So we headed out to explore two unique towns in the Puglia region: Matera and Alberobello (more on Alberobello later). Matera is a town characterised by its cave dwellings. Caves which … Continue reading Exploring Caves in Matera
As our time on Sicily draws to a close we find we will be leaving with a great sense of dissatisfaction. Why? Well, mainly because we have only scratched a small part of the surface of this varied and complex place. Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean; almost 200 times larger than Kalymnos, … Continue reading Climbing in South East Sicily
One of the anticipated highlights of this trip for me, was the chance to explore some active volcanoes. To get up close and personal, to peer inside the crater and to touch the rock that been thrown up from the depths of the earth. Our itinerary was designed to give me the chance to see … Continue reading Volcanic (Missed) Adventures
After 10 days of unpredictable and changeable weather our time in San Vito Lo Capo has come to an end. Despite several days of hanging around waiting for the weather to improve, the time passed very quickly, and I certainly, was not yet ready to move on. We had extended our stay by an extra … Continue reading San Vito to Ragusa, via Selinunte
Ordinary Climbers 