Sector: Plakias
On the southern coast of Crete, the impressive limestone wall of Plakias is so smooth and vertical it seems as if a giant hand has sliced through it using a ruler and a precision knife. Furthermore, its location is more than ideal, as the cliff sits at the edge of a phenomenal sandy nudist beach close to town.
Climbing: A completely flat, mirror-like vertical and slightly overhanging wall, decorated with several splitter cracks and the occasional small tufas. Climbing is mostly on steep slabs with pockets, crimps, sidepulls and cracks. There are 27 routes up to 45m high with grades ranging mainly between 6a- 8a. The first climbs were established here in the early ‘80s, but most were developed more recently, primarily by Aristoteles Mavromatis, Raymond Kosir and Manolis Kambourakis (2006-2008). The first route to be opened (‘Fodele’) was in the trad style by Dimitris Korres and Yiorgos Martzoukos in 1979. There is potential for new routes on the right side of the crag, but extensive cleaning is needed.
Gear: All routes are fully-bolted, but additional nuts and cams can be useful on runout sections as some of the routes follow cracks.
Conditions: Spring and fall are ideal, but even summer climbing is OK as long as you stay in the shade. The cliff is in the shade from morning until almost 15.00. However, it is particularly exposed to the north wind, so avoid it on windy days.
