Soon upon our amazing experience on Maljovica, our dear friend Ilija suggested heading off to Greece, for some more climbing plus sea dipping. And there we were, ready to go. Ilija and Meto are the craziest combination ever. With them, you get to hear the funniest jokes, and most surreal ideas. They joke in such a smart way that it is impossible to ignore them yet hard to stand all the jokes they throw randomly :) But it is overall a lovely combination. Ilija is one of the best sport climbers I know and it is a real pleasure watching him do 7c/8a on sight. Meto has progressed so much so it is yet another pleasure seeing him do some hard stuff. And so we took off. First stop, the cheap kind of Lidl supermarket called KAM. Ile found a cardboard box in which we packed all our groceries. His Opel Astra is one hell of a lady, great ride, spacious, with an ISUZU engine, whatever the hell that means, but we heard it way too many times from Ilija.
We departed later in the afternoon, from where I live in Skopje. I jokingly asked if they all took their passports. Turns out Meto didn't, so we went all the way back to the city center to fetch his passport. We then went towards Greece. A nice ride, some 360 almost 400 km to Pyli our first stop. We arrived at night, had a bear in a little caffee in the nice old town center and went towards Mouzaki, where we found a good sleeping spot. Mouzaki is a great sport climbing site but faces south and can be climbed in the summer months only after 5pm. So we went down to Pyli. The ride is scenic and so is the short hike from the parking lot - some 20 minutes, following a water pipe from which you can fetch ice cold water. In the middle of the forest, chilled and pleasant amidst the 40 degrees C outside the forest lies a lovely wooden platform, as if from a fairytale, where climbers can sleep.
Ile started immediately with a 7c/8a and managed to pull it with a few falls. Meto and I climbed top rope for the day because the only 6a was busy and we though warming up on a 6a at least would be nice. But Ilija did all the work for us, setting up 6c/7a route that we climber and a few more. The next day we climbed in the most beautiful tufa part of the rock where the greatest routes are. Heavy stuff again. And then we headed to Volos. CLimbers in Pyli told us there was some great tiny hidden beach called Mikro and some great rock climbing there. So we headed there in the midst on nowhere and arrived in a remote area right across the island of Skiathos, on a small isolated sandy beach with turquoise waters... We dipped in and enjoyed and had some tzatziki salad... Went to the climbing crag in the afternoon. Some great 10/15 routes, we were all alone in a lovely area with grass surface where we opened our tent and spent the night. We also walked to the beach at night and had white wine, got a bit drunk and it took us 20 minutes to get back to the routes on a steep road.. Fun times.. We climbed a few 6as in the morning and Ile did a 2 pitches 6b/c... Some more white wine in the afternoon and a few more dips in the sea and we headed back to Skopje...
Great experience, Mikro is the place of dreams... so is Pyli...Our adventure lasted from the 5-8 July
Hope to get back there soon.
First stop on our way to Pyli.. the sea...
Ile on 7c/8a
The hidden Mikro beach overlooking Skiathos
On the rocks near Mikro: Ile on 6b+
Meto leading a 6a
Me leading that same route (6a)
We departed later in the afternoon, from where I live in Skopje. I jokingly asked if they all took their passports. Turns out Meto didn't, so we went all the way back to the city center to fetch his passport. We then went towards Greece. A nice ride, some 360 almost 400 km to Pyli our first stop. We arrived at night, had a bear in a little caffee in the nice old town center and went towards Mouzaki, where we found a good sleeping spot. Mouzaki is a great sport climbing site but faces south and can be climbed in the summer months only after 5pm. So we went down to Pyli. The ride is scenic and so is the short hike from the parking lot - some 20 minutes, following a water pipe from which you can fetch ice cold water. In the middle of the forest, chilled and pleasant amidst the 40 degrees C outside the forest lies a lovely wooden platform, as if from a fairytale, where climbers can sleep.
Ile started immediately with a 7c/8a and managed to pull it with a few falls. Meto and I climbed top rope for the day because the only 6a was busy and we though warming up on a 6a at least would be nice. But Ilija did all the work for us, setting up 6c/7a route that we climber and a few more. The next day we climbed in the most beautiful tufa part of the rock where the greatest routes are. Heavy stuff again. And then we headed to Volos. CLimbers in Pyli told us there was some great tiny hidden beach called Mikro and some great rock climbing there. So we headed there in the midst on nowhere and arrived in a remote area right across the island of Skiathos, on a small isolated sandy beach with turquoise waters... We dipped in and enjoyed and had some tzatziki salad... Went to the climbing crag in the afternoon. Some great 10/15 routes, we were all alone in a lovely area with grass surface where we opened our tent and spent the night. We also walked to the beach at night and had white wine, got a bit drunk and it took us 20 minutes to get back to the routes on a steep road.. Fun times.. We climbed a few 6as in the morning and Ile did a 2 pitches 6b/c... Some more white wine in the afternoon and a few more dips in the sea and we headed back to Skopje...
Great experience, Mikro is the place of dreams... so is Pyli...Our adventure lasted from the 5-8 July
Hope to get back there soon.
First stop on our way to Pyli.. the sea...
The magic forest and the platform
Ile on 7c/8a
The worst open can ever
The hidden Mikro beach overlooking Skiathos
On the rocks near Mikro: Ile on 6b+
Meto leading a 6a
Me leading that same route (6a)