King lines in Leonidio & Kyparissi

John Thornton (Go Vertical Athlet)

Home to blue beaches, a friendly climbing community and some world class crags – it was not my first visit to Leonidio. Situated in the Peloponnese of Greece this small town is host to an expanse of climbing and many “king lines” you’ll never forget! 

My trip this time was planned to be a little shorter than normal and so I decided to set myself a few goals. Being Springtime and still a little rusty, I decided to try more climbs below my limit in an effort to build up base fitness for harder projects later this year. After spending some days around Leonidio I was getting familiar with the style again and managed to climb some great routes such as…

Becoming a little too warm we decided to drive to the village of Kyparissi and head to one of the higher, shadier crags known as Babala. Having visited a few years ago I knew how insanely good this place is. Just choosing which route to climb is usually the crux of the day! 

However, having seen climbers attempting it, I knew I had to give the route Wood and Metal (8b) a go. It looked brilliant and it climbed even better – nothing short of world class. With some delicate slab climbing, pumpy tufa wrestling and a crimpy headwall, it had all the features for a good fight. After some nail-biting close attempts and refining some beta I was happy to win this fight after 8 attempts.

Finding momentum, I went on to climb neighbouring routes Mythos (8b) and Gloom of Triumph (8b) within a day! That was by far my most productive day on rock and certainly a good indication of fitness building up. With just a little time remaining I managed one last climb named Und Dernière Goutte Pour la Route (8a+) which, ironically translates roughly as “one last drop for the road”.