from Upskill Climbing
This is the end my friends. The final trip report from Upskill 2011 Kalymnos climbing camps. This'll be a good-un though, so read on for your last little hit of Kalymnos for the year. ODYSSEY A bit of a fave, you've probably gathered by now. Day nine of climbing and there were some tired bodies! But only two days of climbing left, so time to pull out all the stops and give it heaps! Besides, it had to be Odyssey, as Bo refused to leave the island without Atena 6b+ in her satchel. We headed up to the left
published: 6 months ago
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downloaded: 6 months ago
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44 views
from Upskill Climbing
Time is ticking by and when you hit day five of climbing and realise there's only five climbing days to go it's panic mode! Ahh, cobras! ODYSSEY You guys know all about Odyssey now. You don't need me to tell you that it is the single most varied and diverse crag at Kalymnos and hosts the biggest grade range of any sector (3s to 9s). Could this be why it draws the climbing celebrities? Recognise this guy? Yep, none other than climbing superstar Iker Pou . Rumour has it that he has been sent here on a secret
published: 7 months ago
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downloaded: 7 months ago
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from Upskill Climbing
Ghost Kitchen is a cool sector. If you're climbing around 6c, it's probably the premiere pick of places to climb on the island. The central part of the sector is an orange main wall which is just barely overhanging, which has resulted in the creation of huge tufa curtains and blobs the size of ponies sticking horizontally out from the wall. On either side of the main wall are grey slabs which offer routes from roughly 6a to 7a, if you're into that kind of thing. When we walked up the hill to the cliff, it
published: 7 months ago
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downloaded: 7 months ago
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from Upskill Climbing
Alright. After the team's first couple of days a rest day was in order. So we piled into the Upskill limousine and began our Kalymnos mega tour. The main port town Pothia, the impressive church and monastery of Saint Savaas, and the scenic township of Vathy were all ticked. In order to work up an appetite, we decided some swimming, snorkeling and cliff jumping was in order... The water was just as good as it looks here. I've got a mighty spring going in this photo. At our restaurant at Vathy which is an
published: 7 months ago
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downloaded: 7 months ago
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from The Adventure Blog
I caught this beautiful video this morning while catching up on the National Geographic Adventure Blog . It is a wonderfully serene scene from Mozambique, where adventurers Gavin McClurg and Jody MacDonald became the first people to paraglide above the deserts there. The duo discovered this place while on their five year long Best Odyssey that has seen them sailing the world while looking for the absolute best places to kiteboard, surf, paraglide, and sail. Their journeys have taken them to the ends of the
published: 10 months ago
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downloaded: 10 months ago
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from Arc'teryx Latest News
Sweating hard, I took another step and plunged boot-deep in the soft snow. The rope pulled sharply at my harness. “You need to slow down dude, I can’t go as fast as you,” Chris urged. He was right; we were gaining nothing by working this hard on the approach. It was 11:00 am, the sun, a rare-sight in this mountain range, was shining brightly down on us. The snow was isothermal. The mighty east face of Cerro Torre leered above, taunting me. This was the culmination of a season spent biding time, ...
published: 11 months ago
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downloaded: 10 months ago
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from Upskill Climbing
Today, our second group of climbers flew out of Kalymnos. As we wave goodbye through the glass window at the Kalymnos airport, Sam and I are saying goodbye to our last links to Australia for the next ... who knows? But let's step back a few days. After the big day at Ghost Kitchen, the group's seventh climbing day was scheduled for Spartacus (aka Spar-ta-klus). This big orange bowl is one of my favourite sectors on the island because of its looong routes. I quickly ran up Tales of Greek Heroes 6b+ to set a
published: over 2 years ago
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downloaded: over 2 years ago
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112 views
from Upskill Climbing
Welcome to the fifth day of climbing for this group here in sunny Kalymnos. Sam on the walk-in to Odyssey, while Ruth cranks in the background. Funny stuff with Ruth today on the slippery and tricky Femio 6a+ (pictured above). It's stiff - no gimme for the 6a+/19 grade. Because of its position it gets tons of traffic and is therefore super polished. Ruth gave it one burn and had plenty of rests and claimed "There's no way I'm leading this, it's just too slippery!" After sorting things out on toprope a ...
published: over 2 years ago
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downloaded: over 2 years ago
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from Upskill Climbing
After spending our rest day on a caving adventure, including accessing a supposedly closed cave via a squeeze attempted by only three of seven team members, it was GAME ON for a day of rematches at the crag we'd all like to have in our backyard - Odyssey . It always seems to be cold when we rock up, so warming up well and staying warm while on belay is the challenge. Glenn, who has struggled with the cold rock during the warm up's at Odyssey fell off his 6a+ warm up Femio as he had done the previous day,
published: over 2 years ago
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downloaded: over 2 years ago
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100 views
from Upskill Climbing
Second day on, and tired muscles would be rejuvenated by the big breakky buffet! Yum! Living the life of climbing bums sure is hard. Ghost Kitchen sits high above Skalia village and looks down on the blue ocean with its high-domed, arching roof which protects a gently overhung main wall with the most unbelievable stalactites and tufas. It's the cliff that has "6c's as far as the eye can see" . If you're climbing the 6c-7a (22-23) level, this area is primo. Owen and Glenn were first up to the cliff and both
published: over 2 years ago
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downloaded: over 2 years ago
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68 views
