A Whinge: Europeans....

Now... I'm not racist, but........

Kalymnos is quiet now, the cats are starting to out number the people..

The bin, home to many a Kalymnian kitty

So quiet, that I can post this list, without fear of being stabbed in my sleep....

This is just what I can remember from the past month!

1. Getting snaked; I've tied in, I'm putting on my last shoe, when some euro starts up the climb I'm sitting in front of. I say 'hey, I was going to climb that', they just shrug their shoulders and continue.
2. Not sharing; Someone is on a climb, I wander over and politely ask, 'Excuse me, how many more of you will climb this? Can I climb it after?' they say, 'oh eh' jus' one/two more', I say, 'OK great thanks, I'll go after'. So I sit there and wait while 4 or 5 of his friends go first! If you said 4 or 5 I would've gone to another climb.
3. Not being patient-climbing; You've barely touched the ground when someone is racing up the climb you where just on... Chill dude, just give me a second to untie, take off my shoes and pull my rope.
4. Not being patient-cleaning; I'm nearly at the top of the climb, someone finishes a climb next to me, insteading of waiting a minute for me to get to the top, they just pull there rope, it falls all over me or my belayer... Thanks..
5. Hogging a climb; I walk up to a climb, 'oh hey can I climb this' to which I get the reply 'no, we are climbing it'. Looks like you're sitting there eating bread and cheese to me!
6. Not hanging their own draws; This one is even more obvious now that it's quiet. There's lots of empty routes around, but as soon as you hang your draws on a climb, people flock over asking if they can have a go. Pick another route damn it!
7. Bad belays; Now I've been pretty lazy with the camera on this one, I could have heaps of photos... But imagine so much slack out the rope runs along the ground for 3 or 4 meters, while they belayer has no hands on the rope, while they play with there baby! Munter hitches, laying down while belaying, sitting there smoking a cigarette with about 5 meters of slack out, eventually the rope goes tight, just pump out another 5 meters of slack and continue smoking... All of these things seen regularly!
8. Bad parenting - babies at the crag; Now this one probebly isn't fair, but I don't like it. They cry and yell etc. etc. Parents put them right underneath you, so if you accident knock off a rock you could kill an infant or baby! You ask them to move the kid and they say 'oh it be OK'... Yikes.....

So that's about it.....

Glad I got that off my chest!

Don't get me wrong though, 99% of people are great, Kalymnos is just so busy, that other 1% is quite a few people!!!

A typical euro belay....

Thanks for reading,

Danny

Climbing Report

Well,

What's been happening over here? A lot and not much!

Since my last update, about a week and a half ago, I was talking about working on an 8a called Daniboy.... I got within two moves of the end! Arrrggghhh, so close!

Then I had a few easier days at Ghost Kitchen and Sikati Cave, climbing 7a's and the occasional 7b, nothing too exciting to report....

Hmm, I think it says here Ghost Kitchen is near the man with the goats?

Then once Warwick left I started climbing with a guy name Dovi, from Israel, he is about the same 'strength' as me so he said come and try Marci Marc, 7c+ (28), what a climb! It's super long at 30m, sustained, unrelenting and unforgiving. It has about four crux's, with only one good rest on the climb.

Odyssey sector, home to Marci Marc, and about 80 other great routes!

So far I've had four days on it, (about 10 goes, what an epic!), one day to work out the moves, day two I got blocked at a move at half height. After trying different beta on day three (after a rest day), I was getting up into the last crux, day four I fell on the last hard move four times!! Hitting the sloper and greasing off. Arrrggghhhhh!

The walk into Odyssey... 

Will get you fit.

I haven't sent anything hard (for me 27/7c or above) since the 20th of October, which is frustrating and saps motivation and confidence..... Did I mention a huge part of climbing is the mental game? So I'm confident tomorrow it will go down.. Then after that back to Daniboy! It's going to be a good week!

Climbing conditions have improved, the sun is out constantly, but temperatures are between 15-20ish, cool in the shade, comfortable in the sun.

Fingers crossed for good weather all November!

Thanks for checking in,

Danny

Death By Scooter

No, I didn't crash a scooter, and no I didn't nearly crash a scooter (this year)......

But I would like to relay a story or two and my personal opinion. Scooters are fucking deadly! Seriously. In 2009 I was riding my scooter back down the super steep switchbacks on the mountain roads of Kalymnos, when my back wheel hit a little rock going round a corner. The wheel skidded for a split second, my heart stopped for two split seconds, I recovered without crashing or flying off the side of a mountain. My heart racing, my hands shaking, I rode very very slowly back to Massouri, a little wiser....

This particular corner is not very steep at all, but note all the rocks and dirt...

Why get a scooter you ask? Well there are a few crags (like Sikati Cave) that are only accesable by some means of motor transport, the scooter is cheap and fun. So thats what everyone does. Most of the other crags that are too far to walk are accesable by bus and/or hitch hiking, also cheap and fun. 

A busy day at Sikati, I counted 20 scooters!

Ok another story, this one easily the worst travel experience I've ever had. Warwick and I were hitch hiking back from Ghost Kitchen one evening, a Greek in a little 4wd, waved and slowly pulled over to the side of the road. Shortly after a scooter came round the corner, not going all that fast, but the driver panicked, slammed on the front brake, a quick screech, the front wheel locked sideways, a bang, and some scraping, that scooter went down hard... That's where I wish this story ended, but unfortunetly not. 

On the back of the scooter was a girl about six. There were lots of tears, she had a scraped up leg and a bit of a bump on the head. She was wearing a bike helmet luckily. A second later a car pulled up behind and mum got out and came to the rescue, there was lots of yelling and everyone was a bit shaken up, but everyone was OK. The greek guy got out and said three things, use the back brake not the front, put children infront of you not behind you on the scooter, and that the girl should have been in the car, as there was room. We got in the 4wd and got dropped of at Massouri, it was a quiet ride back.

That night we relaxed with ouzo and metaxa (not recommended)

Anyway, on the climbing front things are going well. I didn't get daniboy, (yet) I got about two moves from the end on my best shot (ahhh so close!). I took a break as some of those pockets are hard on the fingers. I'm confident next time I head up to spartacus it will go down. In the mean time I've been working on Marci Marc, 30m of sustained 7c+ goodness, it's tough!

Thanks for checking out my blog! The next installment is never far away.

Meet Warwick

My second international guest, to whom I played guide for, is someone a little more familiar. Warwick is one of my usual partners in crime from Brisbane, Australia.

Warwick enjoying the Kalymnian sunset

He has a fantastic home bouldering cave, and is super strong. Though he doesn't get out on the real rock all that often. His first couple of days involved some serious arse kicking, barely draging himself to the top of most climbs. Though by the end of his ten day trip was was seriously crushing! (and a little sad to be going home) Well done Warwick!

Warwick's bouldering cave/training venue

Highlights for the trip include his first 7b+ (26), Spartacus, at Spartacus wall (featured in my previous post), and his first 7b (25) Elia, a bouldery little number at Ghost Kitchen. We also checked out the climbing in Sikati Cave, Grande Grotta, Panorama, Kalydna and Odyssey.

Posing on the rim of Sikati Cave

We all have those embarassing travel stories, well here is Warwicks. After checking out, donating all his left over food to me, we took the scooter to Kalymnos airport to get the plane back to Athens. The airport looked strangely quiet..... A little too quiet...... 

Yeah, he had the wrong day! Hah. But we were there a day too early  instead of a day too late. So it could have been worse. In fact it gives me a nice opportunity to do some more sight seeing and take two rest days (in a row), as I'm half way through my climbing trip, (four weeks down, four to go) I'm due for some recovery. As every climber knows, you get stronger on your rest days.

Out doing some sight-seeing. (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas?)

So a day early, I say "see you later Warwick, travel safe, say 'hi' to Brisbane for me."

The shitty little turbo prop plane atop Kalymnos Airport.

On a side note, I'd like to say a big thank you to everyone following my blog! Quite a few of you have been sending me messages saying you've been enjoying following what I've been up to and it really makes my day. I truely appreciate the trans-continental love, and this is my attempt at sending some love back your way. 

Again thanks for checking in with me, I look forward to seeing everyone again soon.

Danny

Parting Shot: The inside of Sikati Cave, a big sunken hole in the ground. Home to some crazy crazy routes over 60m high.

Kalymnos Climbing Report

This is Danny Friedman reporting live from Massouri, Kalymnos, Greece.

Map of Kalymnos

Breaking news this hour, there is climbing, lots of climbing! Over 40 sectors, nearly 2000 routes. The bolting is generous and of the highest standard, the routes are looong and the limestone is highly featured and super high quality.

The Official Kalymnos Climbing Guidebook

Tufas and stalactites are abundant, the pockets plentiful, there is steep, steeper and steepest, but if that isn't your thing there is delicate slab and wall climbing too!

Steep yeah?

Is there a downside? Well no, but there are less great things. The crowds, not too bad if you get up early. There are Europeans, which means all manner of dodgy stuff is going on around you, but that means you have something to whinge about. The weather, oh the sun is so sunny, it warms you in the late afternoon when you are tired, it makes the occasional route too warm and the beach is just a skin cancer paradise!

Oh so sunny, all the time!

But now, what you all came here for... Me!

Yeah, pretty bad photo I know

Here's the deal, I came on this trip with two goals in mind.

One was to climb an 8a (29), this would equal the hardest thing I've ever climbed, it's a serious investment in time. I'd have to figure out all the moves (beta), do them, link them together, improve the beta, learn every single foot placement. Then I have to start trying to climb it, all in the one go, all the way to the top, without falling.

Climbing grade conversion chart, most common (for me) are USA, French and Australian

Easier said than done, this can take a lot of goes. A certain sunshine coast resident I know has spent over a year, maybe two? And over 250 tries, attempting an 8a+ (30). So, a tough goal, but I think I'm on track.

So far I've spent about two and a half days on daniboy, which is not that many shots, about 8?, as it's really tiring. But (I think) I've got the beta sorted, there's a boulder problem, some pumpy roof climbing, a crux, then two options for the bit above, I've gone with the option of only using one mono pocket, blasting up the middle requires using three! On my redpoint burns I get a few moves past the crux, so it's getting close. But don't get me wrong... It's freakin hard! I'm resting today and heading back tomorrow to give it some. Here's hoping...

A video of someone on Daniboy, I use pretty much the same beta.

Now goal number two was to improve my onsighting, that's when you climb it first go, placing the draws, without seeing or being told any beta. I wanted to onsight 7b (25) this trip, my previous best being a 23 or 24, I'm not sure.

Now on my first day I pulled out aegialis 7c, onsight, fluke yes, soft (easy for the grade) probably, but it's hard to grade a 35 meter super steep beast with heaps of kneebars and sit down rests and it was a bit more like caving than climbing.... Though there was a pretty bouldery crux, and you're pretty gassed by the time you get there. The whole climb wiped me out and I kinda thought I might spew when I finished. Anyway, check back to the post 'Kalymnos' to see some pics of that.

Anyway, where was I, onsight a 7b. Well that's done, a couple in fact. Just a few days ago I bettered that and onsighted a 7b+ (26)! The climb was Spartacus, the guide book calls it the epitome of steep kalymnian climbing. It had a burly crux, and was a fight to the top, but I got it, and I'm stoked!

Yep, first go...

So five weeks to finish daniboy, relax hey! Have a mythos and put your feet up. No thanks, time flys when you're having fun. I've only done two 7c's and one 7c+ (Orion, check out the video below), so I'll be trying to get quite a few more in the 7c/+ range...

Pretty sweet climb, my hardest to date at Kalymnos

Check out some random Iphone photos below !


Thanks for watching, stay tuned...

Me being a hero and doing a warmup in my approach shoes!

A nice photo of the Grande Grotta

Warwick (from Brisbane),  on some wild tufa climb, he is here for another four days.

Oh my fingies are sore