Another One Done

Ten days in Kalymnos was a necessity to get the last few bits and pieces for the new Rockfax guidebook to the island, due out later this year. I was rather concerned, as I had been told by a couple of people that I wasn't welcome - for having the audacity to write a book about a place where we have spent three years living - and climbing. In the end all the locals we know were as friendly as ever and super supportive. Plus of course the cats were a delight.

Sunset from Basbis Bar - mid-March

We had a lot of discussions with Sue and Steve McDonnel of The Glaros Bar - who have lived there for about 30 years - about the history of the various bolt fund initiatives and the shenanigans that have gone on down the years. Anyway - funds raised from sales of every copy of the new book will go into the Glaros Bar bolt fund, towards the equipping and re-equipping of routes on this magnificent climbing destination.

Back and Forth

Tenerife North - a different world

 The three weeks in Tenerife were very pleasant - a nice change from the wintry mountains. The island is an odd place, a mixture of extreme aridity, volcanic wilderness and semi-tropical paradise.
The packed tourist resorts are all in the 'arid zone' - I guess as nothing much will grow down there, farming tourists is as good as anything. At peak times there were 100+ flights a day arriving at each of the islands airports - that's a lot of people.

Col de Puymorens

The climbing is pretty much as I recall from 25 years ago - good but not brilliant - the island is much more a holiday destination than a climbing one. Interestingly, the majority of the good climbing is in the higher grades, some of the hardest climbs look truly superb. In general the easier stuff is short, polished and undergraded! The local climbers who are interested in attracting visitors are missing a trick here. There are some great areas at Las Canadas for example that would make excellent lower grader 'Escuelas'. Currently they are just set up for top-roping - which appears to be a bit of a waste.

Sun Seekers

 The winter holidays in France are always a bit busy for our liking, Chez Arran gets full and noisy, plus the roads and moutains are packed. With that being the case we decided to fly south to sample February in Tenerife - 25 years since we were last there. Of course it is full on holiday season in the Canaries with 100 flights a day arriving. We sidestepped the hordes by stopping in the tiny resort of Abades about 10 minutes drive from the airport.

Waving Cactus

Of course we came for the climbing and that proved to be hot, dusty and busy - peak season eh? Fortunately many of the developed crags are in deep barrancos so the sun can be enjoyed or avoided according to taste. The grades seem tough (getting old!) and although a lot of the cliffs look scruffy, much of the climbing is very good.
The other thing that has struck us has been the incessant wind - a blustery north easterly that has kicked up the dust and rattled the shutters every day.

Winter in the Mountains

A snowy amble somewhere up near the Andorra border.

It has been four weeks since we left the UK - time flies, The weather in the Pyrenees has been much more unsettled that we have been used to in recent years, though that has meant plenty of time for snow related messing about, plus a great opportunity to press on with my next book - a climbing guide to Kalymnos. We had already produced an App for phones/tablets featuring nearly 3000 routes but apparently the book distributors Cordee said they get more enquires about a RockFax to Kalymnos that any other guidebook. With that being the case and Alan having a bit of a lull in book production we decided to go for it. Already it is looking excellent and will be bang up-to-date.

Rockfax Kalymnos guidebook sample page

2017 Done and Dusted

• Ariege,

• Catalunya

• Kalymnos,

• Orgon,

• Orpierre,

• Briançon,

• Aussois,

• Chamonix,

• Sheffield(!)

• Ötztal,

• Pitztal,

• Sheffield(!)

• Ariege

• Kalymnos,

• Leonidio,

• Kyparissi,

• Nafplio,

• Kalymnos,

• Catterick for my father's funeral

• Kalymnos

• Ariege

 .... and probably a place or two I forgot

Goodbye Pops

Funeral programme

The wedding - same church 68 years earlier.

The journey home went off as easy as it could have and of course the funeral was as sad and traumatic as everyone expected - it is hard saying goodbye after so long.
Dad's 93 years more that a fair innings as many have pointed out, and to go as quickly as he did, has to be a blessing.
Two of my sister's children (in their 40s!) gave very moving eulogies about how Tom acted as a granddad to their kids - their own father, George Ramsey had died 20 years earlier.
Of course the worry if now for my mum, married 68 years and suddenly on her own - though we know she is made of steely stuff.

The Best of Times, the Worst of Times

Nafplio - climbing in the sun

The trip to the Peleponnes was excellent, a lot of great climbing on a varied set of cliffs.We had a rather mixed bag of weather, with the whole gamut from pouring rain to almost too hot to move. Leonidio was very, very busy - up to the best/worst of Kalymnos. Kyparissi was beautiful, very quiet and totally idyllic. Nafplio was interesting, loads of history and a great set of cliffs. 50+ routes ticked in the trip wasn't too shoddy.
 After two weeks we took an early morning drive back to Athens, dropped the lads off and jumped on a plane ourselves. This was a day earlier than originally anticipated, but the storms forecast for Monday forced our hand. In the event, the Monday flight was cancelled, so that was a good call!
On the Tuesday I had a message from my sister that our father had a lung infection, but was on antibiotics. Three days later, and after perking up and being out for a walk he suddenly collapsed and died.
I don't believe in premonitions but I had had a heavy heart for a few days so who knows. Anyway, he was 93, had led a full and active life, was still driving and helping out at my sister's farm several times a week. I know it is trite but we all agreed it was the way he would have chosen to go.

Greek cat Nibble, watching out for us.

So now everything is in the air as we await details of the funeral, we need to get back to the UK for that once a date is fixed and then decided what is happing next.
He approved of our nomadic life and as dad used to say 'Do it now, before its too late' - I'll drink to that!