New routes and sectors continue to go up in beautiful Leonidio during the winter months. In yet another visit to Greece last January, the prolific Remy Brothers (with Marcel Noverraz and Christophe Simeon) have equipped a new sector above Leonidio (Rocspot), as well as a new multi-pitch (Aramis), and a few more routes at existing crags. True to form, most of the Remys’ routes can be enjoyed by the majority of climbers, as they are low-to-mid grade, with a few 7as for good measure. Leonidio is very close to the Remy Brothers’ hearts and they plan to keep coming back, though they have already made a major contribution to the development of this up-and-coming winter destination.

Details, topos and descriptions follow. All information has been provided by Claude Remy, with only slight editing on our part. Thank you Claude, Yves, Marcel, and Christophe, and we look forward to seeing you all again very soon.

NEW ROUTES AND A NEW CRAG IN LEONIDIO BY MARCEL NOVERRAZ, CLAUDE & YVES REMY, AND CHRISTOPHE SIMEON

Rocspot, a new crag by the Remys, M. Noverraz and C. Simeon above Leonidio

The new routes were equipped by Marcel Noverraz, Claude and Yves Remy and Christophe Simeon between 16-24 January 2015. Efharisto (thanks) for the help to: Jurij and Nikolai Hartmann from Austria (routes 19-24), the famous local specialist Giannis Metaxotos and his son Jacob, and above all, the Municipality of Leonidio.

Take care with this information, because some of these routes may still be a bit dirty or need traffic to confirm or change the grade.
Routes are from left to right; names are written.

Ext = Extension of the route
B = Belay
P = Pitch
pa = Artificial move
* = Nice route
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• New route at sector “Hot Rock”

Kurz Ext 6c 35m… Long corner ; crux at the start of the extension.

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• New sector “Rocspot”

This new sector is the first wall left of “Douvari”. Rocspot is the name of the best climbing center in Switzerland.
Most of the routes start on an easy grey slab ; then, on the steep part the climbing gets harder.

1.* El Greco 6a+ 30m….Very nice wall full of small ledges; a nice movie.
2. Michael Bachtis 6b 35m….A bit similar, dedicated to a Great Man.
3. Higgs Boson 6c 35m….Steep wall climbing. Google “Higgs Boson”.
4. Cern 7a 42m….Wall, but very varied. Crack to go to the lower-off.
5. Kali Chronia 6b+ 37m….Wall, then slab (“Happy New Year”).
6. Makis 7a 37m….The obvious holds; crack on the left diagonal.
7. Petra 7a 37m….Slab, wall and tufas (crux), slab.
8.* Kallinikos 6c+ 37m….Slab, wall and tufas (crux), slab.
9. NNGH 7a/7a+ 37m….A bit expo.
10.* Polar Circle 6c+ 37m….Nice route and hard rock by a Swiss-Greek band.
11. Rousféti 6b+ 37m….Slab, tufa and wall.
12. Tavli 6c 37m….Slab and wall (“backgammon”).
13. Milopita 6b+ 37m….Slab and wall (“apple pie”).
14. Séféris 6b+ 35m….Slab and wall (Named after a famous Greek poet).
15. Amandine 6a+ 35m….Slab and wall.
16.* Tsamiko 4c+ 27m….Slab and many holds (a Greek dance).
17.* Bakaliko 5b+ 27m….Slab and many holds.
18. Akadimia 6b+ 27m….Slab and wall (Akadimia Platonos is a Greek movie).
19. Rammstein in Leonidio 6a+ 32m….Yes pure hard rock again!
20.* Votsalo 5c+ 30m….Slab and wall with many holds.
21. Hilti Maniac 5a+ 32m….Slab and wall with many holds and corner.
22.* Palikaria 5b+ 28m….Wall, ledge and wall with many holds.
23.* Argo 5b+ 28m….Wall, ledge and wall with many holds.
24. Je Suis Charlie 5a+ 25m….Wall, ledge and wall with many holds.

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• New routes at sector Kokkinovrachos, sub-sector Douvari, to the right of the route “Mouria”

25.* Myrtoon 4c+ 20m….Easy slab with a steep finish. “Myrtoon”, such a nice taverna.
26.* Myrtoon Ext 6b 40m….Little overhang with great holds.

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• New multi-pitch “Aramis” at Sector Kokkinovrachos, right side (south)

Aramis: Multi-pitch; 6b obligatory. The 6c are short, take 15 QD. A route with a lot of variety in the style of pitches, Aramis is less sustained then Ura Ka and Ramisi Rock. The vertical wall here is about 170m high; make five obvious abseils straight down: Down Aramis 38m, 25m, 27m, then off Aramis, 40m, 40m.

Aramis. Click to enlarge.

Pitches:

P1. 6a+, 40m….Below the right of the roof climb straight up a bit left. A few meters on dubious rock.

P2. 6c, 25m….The most sustained pitch. Start with the crux 3m right of the belay, go straight up, hard to find the good holds. Belay on mini-ledge.

P3. 6b+, 30m….Crux at the end of pitch. Traverse 6m left on easy “rotten” ledge, then up left. Follow crack/corner then a super wall with great holds, belay, ledge on the left.

P4. 6c, 30m….Except crux halfway it is 6b+. Go up on the left; then a few meters on dubious rock, then straight up the wall. Belay on the ledge on the right.

P5. 6c, 30m….Climb a massive wall with “gouttes d’eau”, crux, then another wall with holds, ledge then 5c to a ledge, belay.

P6. 6c, 40m….Follow the corner then the wall and slab with holds. Climb the small overhang (crux) and go to the top; belay.

Approach

a) Walk up from Leonidio: Take the road up to Baskina (Vaskina). On the 2nd big turn follow the flat dirt road on the right until your are above Leonidio. Below the Pillar of Fire (with the flag at the top), walk up the steep path with red marks, 40 minutes. The Aramis start is 10m left of Ura Ka.

b) Abseils from the top: Follow the road up to Baskina (Vaskina) and go to the farm on your right, near the flag on the plateau above the Big Wall. Walk to the flag following a path (10 min), then follow the top of the Big Wall towards the sea, red marks at the end, total 15 min.

The new abseils of Aramis are now the best way down around with an 80m rope. The first abseil, near a tree on the ridge at the top of the wall (ledge, ropes and bolts), is easy to find with the name of Aramis.

Lastly, there are also other routes in a new sector, but it is not finished yet.
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GEROVRACHOS: A NEW CRAG IN LEONIDIO BY SIMON MONTMORY

Gerovrachos sector

Also in the Peloponnese is our friend Simon Montmory, who transplanted himself from Kalymnos to Leonidio for the winter and is busy exploring the local cliffs like a kid in a candy store. Simon has just equipped a new sector (Gerovrachos, a local toponym which can mean “old cliff” or “solid cliff”; your choice). Gerovrachos is near La Maison des Chèvres, and, if you know Simon, you know the routes are hard (7a+ to 8b+).

ROUTES

1. Labyrinth 7a+ ***….A hard start and then some massive holds in a roof, full of tufas!

2. Détour Logique 7c+?***

3. Turtles 7b+/c***….Great tufa climb, then some big jugs lead to a slabby finish.

4. Metropolitanie 8?….A route by Vincent Lauzon. Looks to be a very hard crux!

5. Cobra 7b+/c****….Exceptional! A really good climb on a pure tufa line, especially for that grade. Don’t forget to unclip your QD before you lower to avoid using the beautiful stalactite!

In the cave, it’s sheltered from the rain. There 2 more routes:

6. Lenaki 8b/+***….Super sequence to pass over the roof. It’s possible to link the end of Complexe to avoid the crux of the 8b. (About 8a/+ then, one bolt to the right of the roof for the connection)

7. Complexe: 8a/+***….A very bouldery start and some very cool moves at the end!

Approach: From La Maison des Chèvres, follow the good path going above this sector to some other goat pens made of stones. The path goes on the left side of the canyon and the crag is obvious to find from there. 40 minutes.
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