First winter ascent of Scream of the Butterfly on Tsouka Rossa in Greece

Mixed climbing isn't the first thing that springs to mind when thinking of Greece and yet the country does hold some interesting surprises in store. Last weekend Christos Tsoutsias, Spyros Kyriakou and Dimitris Daskalakis managed the first winter ascent of the prized line Scream of the Butterfly. This summer rock climb was established in 1994 by Rokas and Kallos on the north face of Tsouka Rossa, an impressive 500 meter wall in the Tymfi Massif.

The climb itself ascended chossy limestone and poor quality nevé and provided difficulties up to M6, AI 5+. The three climbers reached the top in a single push effort that led them back to the car after 23 hours.

According to the first ascensionists "The Scream of the Butterfly is an iconic climb for the local alpine community that had targeted this line of ice that splits the rock massif in two for more than 20 years. Finding it in good condition is extremely difficult and various attempts had been made unsuccessfully in the past. It has been considered as the most demanding alpine route in Greece. Our thoughts go to our mentors who dreamt of this climb, those who still climb aside us, those who have retired and those who have passed away."