The recent news about precarious bolting in some of the routes on Kalymnos and Telendos are nothing new:
“Scary Bolts on Wings for Life + Wild Country, and the Season’s First Rescue”(www.climbkalymnos.com)
The general rule I myself adhere to is: never use the original bolts or lower-offs for TopRope action!!!
I always carry a bunch of HMSs with me to use in case I expect to do a top-rope. I also always carry a handful of spare carabiners and quickdraws I can leave in the route, particularly at the lower-off point. In cases where I do not trust the original lower-off, I always use them and leave them there. I always use the original lower-off and my spare one in parallel. I always abseil (Rock&Ice: how to abseil correctly) from the top at the end when I’m the last one doing the route in order to preserve the original equipment.
Having said that, I do not want you to get the impression that climbing in Kalymnos or climbing on Telendos is unsafe! In the total contrary. There are few areas world-wide, where the routes are in such a good condition and bolting is in 98% of the cases up to the highest standards. If any climbing area on Telendos or on Kalymnos is deemed unsecure you will immediately be informed about it, mostly in the route updates on Climbkalymnos.com (for 2014 route updates download this on Climbkalymnos).
Climbing on Telendos and also Kalymnos, brings together a unique combination of challenging routes, awesome scenery and a beautiful sea, with a climate that’s perfect for anyone and in an affordable style. ENJOY!
Please climb responsibly and respect rock and equipment, so all others can have fun too!
Chris
The recent news about precarious bolting in some of the routes on Kalymnos and Telendos are nothing new: “Scary Bolts on Wings for Life + Wild Country, and the Season’s
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