Hardwear Sessions

Dawn's Rock Climbing Paradise - Greek island of Kalymnos
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By Mountain Hardwear Climber, Dawn Glanc

The Island of Kalymnos is known for amazing limestone climbing. There are multiple walls to choose from. Long slabs, slightly overhanging walls and deep caves are abundant. What intrigues most climbers are the tufas. A Tufa is like a stalactite; which is formed from the calcite and silica deposits that drip from the rock. The Tufas come in all shapes and sizes. Some are small rounded blobs, what climbers may call chicken heads. Other Tufas resemble flowstone. My favorite type of Tufa is the long icicle looking formations that hang from the rock faces and drip down from the caves. Typically the tufas are awesome positive holds, what we refer to as jugs.

Some amazing limestone climbing | Photo by James Q Martin

The Tufa climbing requires a climber to think outside the box. The climbing is three-dimensional and requires the climber not only to look up, but also all around. A giant Tufa may be hanging just behind and out of your peripheral view, providing a stem move to relieve the over hanging nature of the climb. My favorite is the Tufa hug, which allows a no hands rest as you sit, straddle or hug the formation. These crazy no hands rests allow the 35-meter overhanging cave routes to be possible. This may be the wildest rock climbing that I have ever encountered. It makes me feel like a kid on a jungle gym, and I love it.

Challenging three-dimensional climbing | Photo by James Q Martin

Dawn's Tufa hug | Photo by James Q Martin