Days were warm and nights were chilly last week in Meteora, and the Petzl RocTrip unfolded smoothly. There were less climbers than originally anticipated (about 150?) but Meteora felt very lively nevertheless. Lots of climbing was done under fabulous blue skies by day, and of course there were parties, movies and food by night (including a free dinner on Day One courtesy of EOOA). The Greece leg of the RocTrip was entirely undertaken by Petzl, without any support from the Greek government. For fear of sanctions by the Greek Archaeological Council, local authorities did not become involved whatsoever. In practical terms, all that meant was that the RocTrip was confined to its basecamp—the spacious and hospitable Vrachos campground in Kastraki—and that there were no ceremonies or other events hosted by the local authorities. So, really, no harm done there. But the greater, longer-term harm for Greece is that the government actively opposes alternative tourism, despite pledging to promote it, while it decidedly favors religious tourism all over Greece. Apparently climbing tourism “interferes” with the sanctity of the monasteries, but the busloads of visitors and the stalls selling religious knickknacks outside the monasteries’ front door do not.
For the record, and to the best of our knowledge, the climbers, monks and nuns of Meteora get along OK. They mostly stay out of each other’s way, but there have even been instances when climbers and monks joined forces, as they did back in May, when local climbers helped monks climb up to a hermit’s cave to perform a ritual mass. Not to mention that their interests overlap: many climbers are surely religious, just as monks and hermits were probably the first climbers of the Meteora towers.
But we digress.
A highlight of Day One of the RocTrip was the first ascent by the terrific Mélissa Le Nevé of the 7-pitch Action Direct on the Northwest Face of Holy Ghost Tower (currently the hardest route in Meteora, which Mélissa graded 8b/8b+). Over the next days, climbers also trickled over to the nearby sport crags of Pyli Little Gorge and Mouzaki, for more hardcore sport climbing (including an ascent of Amores Perros 8c, the hardest route at Pyli/Mouzaki, by the 19 year-old German climber David Firnenburg, who also onsighted several 8a/8a+s). Conditions were warm in the sun but perfect in the shade, and only on the last day of the RocTrip did the weather shift to include some rainfall.
A big Thanks goes to Petzl and EOOA, the Greek Federation of Climbing and Mountaineering, for bringing climbers back to Meteora, even if only for a few days. It was wonderful.
After Meteora, the RocTrip caravan headed south to Athens, where they boarded the ferry to Çeşme, Turkey, by way of the Greek island of Chios. A few climbers sampled some standout crags in the Athens Area (such as the crags Chaos and Vrachokipos), while others bouldered in downtown Athens, near the Acropolis, at Filopappou Hill.
So next stop Turkey for the RocTrip, and Kalymnos for us, where the 3rd annual North Face Kalymnos Climbing Festival kicks off today. We will be with you with Kalymnos updates over the next few days; stay tuned.
