Wings for Life

Overview

The best wish: to climb on Wings for Life!

The small Telendos is just a paradise, a friendly island emerging majestically from the Aegean Sea in front of the very best known Kalymnos. The South coast of the island is dominated by a wall 300 meters high plunging into the sea, crossed by a few tremendous caves showing ceilings of stalactites. 

Wings for Life is an excellent multi-pitch climb up the lip of the pillar running on the right of the finest one of these caves, a gigantic cave called “Crescendo”. It's a logic and aesthetic route, established by the Swiss climbers Urs Odermatt and Peter Keller in spring 2008, the first one climbed on this wall. Although it involves some extremely exposed climbing in the upper section, it surprisingly never exceeds the grade 6a of the French scale. 

The route is well equipped with bolts; climbing way is on a sloping slab in the first pitch, becoming steeper and exposed in the upper section of the route. A truly wonderful outing!

Getting There

Telendos is easily approached from the near isle of Kalymnos, from which it’s separated by a short stretch of sea.  Can be reached from the port of Myrties in just under 20 minutes through daily trips made by traditional local fishing boats.

Getting to Kalymnos

It can be relatively hard to get to Kalymnos, anyhow a direct flight to the neighbouring island of Kos is the quickest solution. In summer and mid seasons there are different charter flights connecting Kos and the main European airports, including low coast airlines as Ryan Air or Easyjet, while from November to April, which is also an ideal time to climb, the island of Kos is only reached by daily flights departing from Athens Eleftherios Venizelos airport. In the year 2006 it was built a small airport also on Kalymnos, but the flight is expensive and sometimes may be cancelled when the weather is bad, so the approach by sea from Kos remains the favourable solution.In fact the Kalymnos harbour of Pothia is reached quickly from the nearby and larger island of Kos via ferry or hydrofoil starting from Mastichari harbour. The crossing Kos - Kalymnos is active throughout the year, because many people of Kalymnos take the ferry every day to go to work in Kos.

Route Description

Wings for Life

Summit altitude: 595 m
Difficulty: D, max 6a
Equipment: fix
Climbing length: 250 m
Exposure: South
First ascent: Urs Odermatt and Peter Keller 2008, april 10th

A huge and satisfactory climb on excellent rock and full of handholds. A truly wonderful outing!

Approach - From Myrties harbour on Kalymnos reach Telendos harbour through one of the daily trips done by the local fishing boats. Take the path towards Crystal Cave. The starting point is below a spur on the right of Wild Country. (1 and a half hour by walking from Telendos harbour, 30 minutes approaching directly by boat).

L1 - Climb a spur and belay below a little wall - 5a, 20 m.
L2 - Up the wall to a good stance - 5b, 30 m.
L3 - A short pitch; directly above the stance, then head to left - 5b 10 m.
L4 - Up an easier crest to the right- 4b, 30 m.

Beta of "Wings for Life"

L5 - Climb a carved wall getting to a stance below a yellow dihedral - 5b, 40 m.
L6 - Heaven's Key, the crux pitch - Reach the smooth and steep dihedral, climb it and belay above - a technical 6a, 30 m.
L7 - Up a detached flake to reach a steep wall full of drops. Climb it slanting left - 5b, 20 m.
L8 - Slanting left climb another steep wall, then traverse left getting to an exposed little stance - 5c, 20 m.

L9 - Another wonderful steep wall, showing rocky drops and mushrooms - 5b, 20 m.
L10 - Strightly again to a little terrace, then climb a steep wall exiting the wall - 5a, 30 m.

Descent - The descent is done reaching the summit of Telendos, then walking down along the North side: a long but wonderful trip giving breathtaking views over the surrounding islands and the Aegean Sea.

From the exit of the route follow an uncertain track rising to the summit of the island, then descend along the opposite side (North) on a well worn path (cairns). After the descent the path head to right, traversing in the direction of Aghios Konstantinos little chapel. Reach the chapel and from here descend easily towards the coast, then turn to right and follow the path skirting the sea and getting to Telendos village.

Climbing Scale

The French grading system is used in Telendos and Kalymnos.

Climbing Grades:

Red Tape

There are not particular restrictions in hiking and climbing

Essential Gear

Rope 2x50, helmet, 15 quickdraws, slings

When to climb

All year round. Anyhow the best periods are Spring and Fall.

Where to stay

If you want to stay on the tiny and quiet Telendos, remember that it has a few possibilities for accommodation. On the other side Kalymnos is more lively and offers a considerable number of rental studios and hotels, especially in the villages of Masouri, Myrties and Armeos, located along the western coast of the island, which offers a breathtaking view over Telendos. The approach to the jetty of Myrties is short from these locations, so it is not necessary to rent a scooter, the typical transport of the climbers to move on the island.

Guidebooks and maps

"Kalymnos" - Rock climbing guidebook by Aris Theodoropoulos, Terrain Ed.2010

Meteo

Meteo Kalymnos

External Links

Climb Kalymnos
Kalymnos Climbing Guide