The Rain in Spain.....

Overflowing dam at Margalef

Me on Lluis (5b) at Margalef

We headed south again, Blanca-bound, but decided to break the journey with a week in Margalef - an area renown for its hard climbing. There was loads evidence of the chaos created by Storm Gloria that had dumped three days of rain on the area after giving the Costa Blanca a pasting previously. Fallen rocks, flood damage, seepage, the overflowing dam - all very impressive. I managed to amuse myself on the cliffs mostly developed for 'beginners and children' - they forgot to add - 'and old folks'.
The town of Margalef is an interesting spot, ancient houses, narrow alleyways and all built into the cliffs.

Alan droning on again

Then it was onto the Blanca to a tower-block in Margalef overlooking the blue Mediterranean. Alan James arrived for a five day flier with the intention of getting a few routes in, but more importantly starting work on the next Costa Blanca book, due out in a couple of years, and training me up with drone flying to get pictures of the more inaccessible crags. It was a hectic few days, with up to four cliffs a day visited - but he is back in stormy Blighty now and peace has returned.

Pyrenees - Peace and Quiet

Athens to Carcasonne via Brussels was a different way to get back to the car and despite another General Strike in France we made it back to Chez Arran in good order. And a month later we are still here enjoying the peace and serenity of this quiet corner of the Pyrenees, hiking, climbing, working and chilling.
I have made good progress on an App version of a guide to the climbing on Tenerife and Colin has been over for a week so we have managed to climb every day. About another 10 days here then we need to head to the Costa Blanca to continue work on the revised/updated version of the book, due out in a couple of years.
The only other plan in the pipeline is hopefully to visit Istria - a peninsula on the borders of Italy, Slovenia and Croatia in the spring, it certainly looks like a great spot.

Out of Season

Roussos (5c)Dolphin Bay, early December

We have been visiting Kalymnos for 11 years now - our very first trip was in October 2008. It was so good that we let our return flight go without us and stayed for six weeks rather than the planned month.
BUT (and it was quite a big but) for most of our visit it was both very hot and very busy. Annoyingly by the time we left at the start of November the temperature was dropping nicely and the number of climbers had thinned out by around 90%.
So a plan was hatched and we have pretty much stuck to it ever since - in the autumn we usually arrive late October, enjoy prime conditions and quiet crags and leave around Christmas time when the weather often turns a bit unsettled. Springtime is another option (early March onwards) with the greenery and the flowers offering an amazing contrast to the scorched desert of the autumn. The weather is usually excellent, with highs up to around 20C and lows of about 10C. A cool northerly often blows creating ideal conditions for visiting all the cliffs around Arginonta which are normally furnaces in the high season.

Springtime in Kalymnos

Just another Kalymnos sunset

So why doesn't everybody do that? Well I guess a lot of people enjoy the melee and hub-bub of Masouri in the high season - and come for a hot-rock climbing holiday. Plus there are complications, most places (accommodation, shops and restaurants) on the western coastal strip are shut. We stop at Babis Bar in Myrties - that bit of the coast gets more winter sun than Masouri plus there is Stalas supermarket just over the road that stays open all winter. For eating out it is only a three minute drive over the hill to Elias square where the trio of restaurants - Kitsos, Il Posto and Merinos, stay open all year, offering a friendly welcome, great Greek food and free wifi.
Getting to Kalymnos out of season is a little trickier once the holiday companies stop flying direct to Kos, but there are two or three flights a day from Athens to Kos (Aegean or Sky Express) so with a little planning you can still get here from the UK in a day. There are also fights straight into Kalymnos from Athens several days a week (Sky Express) which is a great way to arrive. If you do have to spend a night in Athens, Tina's Apartments come recommended,  only 10 minutes from the airport and they offer a free shuttle both ways.
So there it is - if you fancy escaping the crowds and having these magnificent cliffs pretty much to yourself it is easier than you might have imagined - maybe see you there next year.
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Turkish Delights

Stormy skies over Karaöz

Great climbing at Olympos

For somewhere a little different we thought we would invite Colin out to Antalya for a couple of weeks climbing, being quite impressed with the area when visited it briefly 18 months ago. The chance to visit Sherri's mum in Marmaris and call in to Kalymnos once the 'silly season' was done made a decent job of a plan.

Always a kitten or two

Four hours with Jet2 Manchester to Antalya was easy, finding and collecting the hire car less so, a battle through cross-town traffic and we booked into our pad on the outskirts of Konyaalti just after dusk.
We had 10 days climbing at Geyikbayiri - a great spot, though much of the climbing is pretty hard and temperatures of up to 31C didn't help.
Then we move down the coast to the tiny village of Karaöz so we would have access to the climbing at Olympos.
The main crag of interest is the shady gorge of Dershane - quite a popular little spot with a great set of routes on lovely fluted limestone.  Most of the 50+ routes are sub-6b, well bolted and on high quality rock.
I once asked a travelling Yank what the climbing at Antalya was like - "just like Kalymnos" was his reply. I can confirm that apart from being sport routes on limestone, it is nothing like Kalymnos, quite a remote feeling area, friendly locals, and cheap too. Being 'different' isn't a bad thing, variety is the spice of life and this is certainly a very different part of the world, and one I would strongly recommend visiting.

East or West - Which is Best?

Orpierre - busy, busy, busy

Good old Auzat

 After the delights of the granite heaven of Mello  we headed to Orpierre for a few days via a single night in Argentierre-la-Besse and a two crag day just to pass the time on.
Oprierre was generally quiet though the day before we arrived they had 120 students stopping at the campsite we use - thankfully the owner forewarned us.
Then is was a six hour push back to Chez Arran and the Ariege, five and a half months since we checked out. We soon settled into the usual routine of climbing hiking and taking White Cat to the vets! He(she) had a nasty open sore on her head and with his(her) history the vet thought it best to removed it. Four days on she is doing OK.

White Cat in her happy place

I spent a very productive few days finish off a series of crags I have been working on for a while for the Rockfax App - an Ariege update, Santorini (from a few years ago) Mello and all the new routes at Orpierre that aren't in our current guidebook.
And suddenly it is that time again, if all goes well we will be in Manchester this evening to meet Colin and Antalya (Turkey) late tomorrow.

Italian Lakes and Mountains

Our Mobile Home at Arco

High above Lake Garda

 After a great 10 days in the Dolomites we headed south and east with the intention of being in the Ariege in about three weeks time. I was keen on visiting a couple of Italian venues we climbed at many years ago and never manage to get back too - the famous spots of Arco and Mello.

Lake above Mello

Arco was first, we booked a mobile home in the small village of Pietramurata, a few miles north of the buzzing towns of Arco and Riva del Garda - late September but very much holiday season in the main towns. Despite this, the campsite was pretty much deserted - just how we like it.

Superb granite - Mello

After 10 days exploring the Arco cliffs it was on to the fabulous Mello - I visited the valley for a single day 16 years ago and still recalled the great atmosphere - it was time for a rematch.
We stopped in the heart of the valley in a great apartment in San Martino - a super-tranquil spot. The sun only hits the village for four hours a day at this time of year - mid-winter must be a bit grim up here.
The climbing is on superb granite though the best crag - the huge boulder of the Sasso Remenno - is a victim of its own quality and accessibility - it was packed every time we visited, mostly with groups of school kids. We worked around them and got some great climbs done and did some hiking in the deserted mountains.

Dreaming of the Dolomites

High above Canazie

Canazie and Marmolata

The ten days in Austria were great despite a breakdown in the weather towards the end of our stay. In the event our route south via the Timellsjoch Pass was blocked by snow so we had to detour via Innsbruck and the Brenner Pass joining the crowds heading south.
We stopped in Canazie, under the mighty Marmolada - a really fantastic part of the world. It is more of a mountaineering venue though we managed to find enough sport climbing to pass 10 days using the excellent Rockfax guidebook.

Huben, Ötztal, Austria

Although the season is coming to an end everywhere is still pretty busy, especially the passes which are heaving with cyclists, motorbikes, coaches and hoards of people.
At just under 5000' Canazie has been lovely and cool, but now we have to head downhill towards the hot lands - first stop Arco.