Leonidio - Hot Rock

Greece>Peloponnese>Peloponnese>Leonidio
Aris Theodoropoulos
1 / 16
Yves Remy climbing Draculine, 6b+, Hot Rock, Leonidio, Greece
Claude Remy
Beauty
Sectors
Difficulty
6a - 7c
Routes number
18
Rock type
Red and grey featured limestone
Orientation
South
Rope
A single 80m rope


A town with approximately 6000 residents, Leonidio is built in a valley at the foot of Mount Parnon, on the east coast of Peloponnese. Towering above the homes like a giant fiery waterfall is a jaw-dropping, 250-meter, red limestone cliff. The entire area around Leonidio is well on its way to becoming an enormous climbing park. At the time of writing there are about 300 routes and counting. The vast potential is obvious: Leonidio has morphed into a climbing ‘worksite’, with new crags and routes going up feverishly.

Climbing in Leonidio started in 1987 with the opening of the legendary multi-pitch ‘Pillar of Fire’. A few more trad lines followed, but then for several years climbing went into hibernation. However, the opening of a new crag called Elona in 2008 reawakened climbers’ interest in the area. By this time, the success story of Kalymnos had also spread far and wide, so a regional development office was able to obtain EU funding for the equipping of 100 new sport routes in collaboration with AOS (an Athenian Mountaineering Club). The municipality of Leonidio went on to finance additional new routing by experienced equippers such as the Remy Brothers.

Most crags are not situated directly above the town but are on the surrounding hillsides. The rock is highly-featured limestone, and climbing is enjoyable and varied: endless tufa columns, smooth crimpy walls, caves with stalactites, gray balancy walls. The concave red cliff face above Leonidio is the town’s natural shield against bad weather. Accordingly, Leonidio is possibly one of the best European destinations for winter climbing: the climate is very mild, rainfall is usually brief, and the valley basks in extended sunshine.

One of the most popular crags is Hot Rock, located on the left edge of Kokkinovrachos (the huge red face), with exceptional views of Leonidio and the sea. There are currently 18 routes graded mainly between 6b-7b.

Access

From Leonidio, drive towards Vaskina village. The road ascends through a series of hairpin turns. Park at the 6th hairpin turn, about 2.9km from the main parking area of Leonidio (37.173218, 22.84611). Walk across a scree slope and follow the red marks to the big terrace. Walking time: 10 min.

Period

Good for cold winter days or cloudy spring and autumn days.

Climb

The rock is highly-featured limestone, and climbing is enjoyable and varied: endless tufa columns, smooth crimpy walls, caves with stalactites, gray balancy walls.

Bibliography

Greece Sport Climbing: The Best Of
by Aris Theodoropoulos
Includes the following area:
Thessaly: Meteora; Pyli Little Gorge; Mouzaki; Almyros
Athens area (Central Greece): Mavrosouvala; Hasia Cave; Acharneis; Mikri Varasova/Epos Filis; Sesi; Vrachokipos; Lelaki; Chaos
Patras area (Western Greece): Alepochori; Chatzouri; Kleisoura; Varasova
Peloponnese ( Southern Greece): Nafplio; Leonidio; Kyparissi; Zobolo; Lagada; Nedousa
Aegean islands: Symi; Anafi; Crete (the crags: Voulismeno Aloni, Plakias and Tersanas Cave)




Sectors

Hot Rock
The routes
Routes
Name Height Beauty Difficulty
1 Kurz 18m 6a+
2 Porno stars 18m 6b
3 Porno stars Ext 28m 7c?
4 Kairos 30m 7a
5 Kalo 30m 6c+
6 Draculine 30m 6b+
7 Poze 28m 6b
8 Krassi 30m 6b
9 Hot rock 25m 7a
10 String climbing 25m 7b
11 Drasi 25m 6c
12 Helen 25m 6c
13 Hotel Hatzi 30m 6c+
14 Oyk 38m 7a+
15 Commando 37m 7a+
16 Mayor 40m 6b
17 Iannis 20m 6c
18 Bugaboo 20m 6c





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