Telendos South Face (about 250 m right of the Crescendo cave) · Kalymnos & Telendos · Greece
Bail not documentedBolting confidence: medium
A sustained wall climb on the Telendos south face, seven pitches of 6a to 6b+ on very sharp, sculpted limestone with a short walk between the second and third. It needs route reading and tough skin. The line stays in the shade longer than its neighbours, until about 11:30.
The route
De Charybde en Scylla takes the face just left of a big, well-defined pillar about 250 m right of the Crescendo cave; Rita Telendos is roughly 80 m to its left. It is harder and more sustained than Wings for Life or Wild Country: five of the seven climbing pitches are 6b or 6b+, with an obligatory grade around 6a. Every report praises the rock and warns how abrasive it is, pitches 4 and 5 in particular. The route tops out on the summit plateau and you walk down the north side of the island.
The climbing
| Pitch | Grade | Length | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| P1 | 6a | 25 m | An easy start, then an austere vertical wall on crimps to a semi-hanging belay on a small sloping ledge. |
| P2 | 6b | 30 m | A short, athletic pitch along a ramp with a bouldery rightward traverse, then easy scrambling to a good ledge. The equipper's photo-topo gives 6a+. |
| P3 | walk | 20 m | A short, easy walk left along the ledge to the foot of the next wall. Mountain Project found no bolted anchor at the base of pitch 4 and crossed unroped. |
| P4 | 6b | 35 m | A sculpted wall: sustained vertical climbing on crimps, jugs and pockets to a small ledge. Very sharp rock. |
| P5 | 6b+ | 35 m | Low-angled at first, then a bulging wall on small holds. Demanding, and hard on the fingers. Hanging belay. The photo-topo gives 6b. |
| P6 | 6b+ | 35 m | A very fine vertical wall: traverse right, then hidden jugs and pockets, a textured arête and a corner. Hanging belay. A 2017 party thought it 6b at most. |
| P7 | 6a | 20 m | One technical move, then an easy slab on rock that looks loose and a short steep section on good holds. Short; can be linked with pitch 6 with extra quickdraws. |
| P8 | 6b | 30 m | An easy slab to a vertical bridging corner with an unusual squeeze move, then easy ground. At the last bolt keep going up; the belay is set back on a big ledge. |
Getting there
Base yourself in Masouri or Myrties on the west coast of Kalymnos, reached by ferry from Kos (the nearest airport) to Pothia. Most climbers hire a scooter; buses also run from Pothia through Masouri. Small ferries cross from Myrties to Telendos about every half hour (3 euros each way in May 2023).
45 min by the upper path, up to 1 h 20 min by the lower one. From the ferry walk south along the shore for about 100 m, then take a lane inland that climbs and crosses towards Hochlakas beach. Above the beach take the good path on the right through a goat gate (close it). About 150 m further, at a junction, leave the coastal path (yellow marks) and go right and uphill on the path marked with blue dots, which traverses close under the face past a big cave with tufas. You reach a large tree daubed with blue paint: this is not the start. Continue for a minute slightly downhill to another obvious tree, a solitary olive. The route starts there, below a large left-facing corner, with the first bolt a little above a pile of rocks and a sun painted on the wall. The lower coastal path also works but ends with a rough scramble up to the foot of the face.
Loading map
The point marks the crag, not the exact start of the route.
Point from Mountain Project area 107264272 (Telendos South Face, Multipitch routes)
Contains the route point. Opens in most mapping apps and GPS watches.
Points are compiled from published sources, with the precision stated above. They were not surveyed on the ground: check them against a current topo.
Coordinates: 37.00697, 26.90213 (crag)
Getting down
Walk off, 1 to 1.5 h. From the top walk north, directly away from the route, across the plateau to the edge of the north face; look for a large cairn on the ridge slightly left. Follow the edge east to a cairned path that descends the north side, steep in places, to the white chapel of St Constantine. Continue down to the path along the north coast and follow it back to Telendos village.
Retreat
Bail not documented
No source describes abseiling or retreating from this route. Every party has topped out and walked off. The belays are bolted, apart from the stance after the walking link, but nothing is recorded about abseil rings or rope lengths.
Partly inferred from the route facts
Safety
Sun and weather
South facing, but the corner keeps the line in shade until about 11:30, longer than the neighbouring routes. A party on the route from 09:00 to 12:30 in May 2023 climbed mostly in shade. The walk-off is entirely in the sun. Parties take about 3.5 to 4 h on the route.
Sun on the wall · S-facing
Working out the sunlit hours for this month.
Sun on the wallDaylight, wall in shade● Usual season
Estimated from the wall's aspect only. Ignores surrounding terrain, gullies and the wall's exact shape. Clock times are local to the wall (Greek time), for the 15th of each month.
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar (usual season) | Apr (usual season) | May (usual season) | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct (usual season) | Nov (usual season) | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean daily high °C | 13 | 13 | 15 | 17 | 21 | 24 | 26 | 27 | 25 | 21 | 18 | 15 |
| Mean daily low °C | 10 | 10 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 21 | 23 | 24 | 21 | 18 | 15 | 12 |
| Rain days 1 mm or more | 12 | 11 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 13 |
● marks the usual climbing season. Averages for 1991-2020 at about 136 m. Area climate from Open-Meteo reanalysis. Temperatures are adjusted to the height of the crag; rain comes from a grid cell of about 10 to 25 km, and summer highs on sea cliffs can read a few degrees low. The wall and valley can differ. Data: Open-Meteo, CC BY 4.0.
What to carry
15 quickdraws (Mountain Project; the photo-topo says 14), including about four extendable ones, and a few more if you want to link pitches 6 and 7. No source states a rope length: the longest pitch is 35 m and the descent is on foot. Helmet.
Derived from the route data; check it against a current topo
From climbers
Reader reports are not being collected yet. Until they are, check a current topo and the local club or guidebook publisher for recent changes to De Charybde en Scylla.
Worth knowing
Open questions
Provenance
Same area
Greece · Kalymnos & Telendos
The first route on the wall (Odermatt and Keller, 2008), climbing a long, exposed line on sharp, grippy rock right of the huge roof. The lower pitches are easy for the grade. The two 6a cruxes are a short odd corner over a small roof and a traverse high up, and they come with big exposure. Pitches are short, so you can link them with long draws.
6a11 pitches250 m
Greece · Kalymnos & Telendos
A sustained, varied line on sculpted limestone. It starts with an easy slab and builds to slightly overhanging jugs with huge exposure on the top pitch. Mountain Project and camptocamp grade the crux 6a+ (Rockfax says 6a). With a 70 m rope you can link several pairs of pitches.
6a9 pitches265 m
Greece · Kalymnos & Telendos
Kalymnos's best-known introduction to multi-pitch: a series of steps and slabs, always with plenty of holds, finishing on top of the Grande Grotta. The upper pitches feel very exposed. Real pitch lengths are shorter than the guidebook says (20–25 m).
5c+6 pitches175 m
Committing
Greece · Kalymnos & Telendos
Thin moves over small bulges, stemming and big jugs on 'cauliflower' limestone. The crux is P6, which ends at a hanging belay. Mountain Project gives the pitches in YDS only (5.8–5.10b), so French pitch grades are not listed; the overall grade is 5.10b (6a+), and some listings give 6b. You can link P3–P4 and P5–P6.
6a+7 pitches152 m
Read the cautions
Around 6b+ · about 8 pitches
Spain · Montanejos
Eight pitches up a vertical prow deep in the Maimona canyon, on orange rock full of pockets (agujeros means holes). Sustained at 6a+ to 6b and physical throughout, with a huge roof start to the crux pitch and a bench to sit on at the third belay. Closed from January to June.
6b+8 pitches235 m
Read the cautions
France · Ariège Pyrenees
The finest line on the big grey slabs of the Peppermint sector, a notch harder than Peppermint itself. A reachy 6b+ move and a chimney-corner start the day; a ledge splits the wall; the two pitches above it, a corner and a thin, sustained 6b slab, are the highlight.
6b+8 pitches280 m
Italy · Sardinia
A sea-level start reached by abseil, then seven short pitches up the seaward face of Pedra Longa. The third pitch is a wildly exposed traverse above a line of roofs; two easy pitches on rock that needs care lead to a technical 6b and 6b+ finish on grey slab.
6b+7 pitches175 m
Turkey · Aladağlar
Often named as the best route in the massif: seven even pitches of 6a to 6b+ that move from delicate slabs and giant flutings through a steep, rough wall to mountain-style ground at the top. The 6b pitches are no harder than the 6a ones, but the bolts are far enough apart to keep you thinking.
6b+7 pitches235 m
Read the cautions
Compiled from published sources and last verified October 2026. Bolts, anchors and access change. Climbing is dangerous and you are responsible for your own decisions: check a current topo and read the disclaimer.