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. 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
By Jonathan. Over the past 30 years the popularity of climbing has sky-rocketed. An important trigger for this was the development of sport climbing, which began in France in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Since that time the number of sport climbing destinations has grown exponentially. With a constant stream of new and / … Continue reading Climbing in Burgundy – Escaping the heat at Geligny
By Gaynor. Pushing yourself to the limit and reaching beyond what you thought possible, striving to achieve new milestones. These are challenges that inspire and motivate us as climbers. But if all our climbing was like that we would never be able to warm up and we would burn out quickly, both in our daily … Continue reading The importance of 4b
By Jonathan. I was born and grew up in County Durham and am now living in Northumberland so I can't pretend to be an impartial observer, but for me the North-east of England is a special place. The scenery tends towards a gentle beauty rather than awe inspiring but at the same time it is … Continue reading Climbing at Stanhope Quarries, Co Durham, UK
By Jonathan. Whilst Kalymnos is a world renowned destination for sport climbing it is an otherwise relatively obscure place. It has a rugged beauty but few of the historical or hedonistic attractions that tempt people to many of the other Greek islands. We were therefore a little surprised by how much the character of Masouri … Continue reading Climbing on Kalymnos: Reflections
by: Jonathan It was beginning to seem like we were the only climbers in Britain who had never been to Kalymnos, so on this trip we are rectifying that omission. Despite knowing so many people who had been to Kalymnos we didn't know much about the place or what to expect. To most tourists, Kalymnos … Continue reading Kalymnos: First Impressions
After a couple of fabulous days on the Greek island of Nisyros, we caught a small, bouncy ferry for the short hop over to Kalymnos. We were renewed, recharged and ready to go climbing again. By the time we found our apartment in Masouri, got supplies and settled in, the sun was setting over the … Continue reading An auspicious start?
Being back in Kyparissi has been wonderful although our time here didn't get off to a very auspicious start. We first visited Kyparissi last November but it was a short stay and we only climbed at one sector, Kastraki. This time we had five possible climbing days and intended to visit more of the sectors. … Continue reading Climbing in Kyparissi
Ordinary Climbers 