Telendos South Face – Pericles sector (just past the Prometheus pillar) · Kalymnos & Telendos · Greece
Bail with caveatsBolting confidence: high
Ten short pitches up a tufa-laced white wall 35 min from Telendos village. Four easy pitches (5 to 5+) through slabs and ledges reach a half-height terrace; the upper wall then gives a memorable tufa pitch at 6a+, a 6b+ bulge and an overhanging corner. Closely bolted on glue-ins and equipped for an abseil descent.
The route
Pericles is the highlight of a small sector of four multi-pitch routes bolted in 2023 and 2024 on a separate buttress of the Telendos south face, a little past the Prometheus pillar. The equipper set out to offer an easier introduction to the south face than the big routes further west: a 35 min approach, moderate grades, short pitches and an abseil line back to your bags. The lower 100 m is easy and somewhat broken; the upper 80 m is steep, white and covered in tufas. The route is new and has few logged ascents, so expect the odd fragile hold.
The climbing
| Pitch | Grade | Length | Bolts | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P1 | 5 | 25 m | 12 bolts | A solid pillar. For the first few bolts climb to the right, where the rock is sound. |
| P2 | 5 | 20 m | 6 bolts | A rising traverse right onto a big ledge with a tree, set out so the belayer is never directly below the leader. Do not traverse left at the end: the anchor on the left is for abseiling only. |
| P3 | 5+ | 20 m | 10 bolts | An interesting groove and corner above the belay. |
| P4 | 3 | 20 m | 8 bolts | Easy ground to a bolt belay among the trees on a ledge. |
| P5 | 5+ | 25 m | 15 bolts | The 'Split' pitch. Climb to the third bolt, then continue straight up (Thucydides goes left here). |
| P6 | 6a+ | 20 m | 13 bolts | The 'Six Year Wait' pitch: a superb line up a series of tufas, the best pitch of the sector. |
| P7 | 6b+ | 15 m | 11 bolts | The crux. Holds are hard to find but they are there; the hardest moves pull over the bulge. |
| P8 | 6a+ | 15 m | 10 bolts | An overhanging, technical corner. |
| P9 | 4 | 10 m | 7 bolts | Short and easy. |
| P10 | 3 | 10 m | 1 bolts | Traverse left to the top and a bolt belay set back from the edge. |
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). The equipper took the first boat of the day so as to walk in during the morning shade.
35 min from Telendos village. Follow the approach for the Inspiration sub-sector to a large sloping area of scree, then go up a slope into a zone of large boulders. At the boulders and a short cliff band, three blue paint dots on your right show the way up to the base of the routes. Route names are painted on stones at the foot. Pericles, Thucydides and Atlas share the first four pitches; Hephaestus starts further left.
Loading map
The point marks the base of the route.
Point from OpenStreetMap node 13721341684 (Pericles, climbing=route_bottom)
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: 37.00479, 26.91104 (route base)
Getting down
Either abseil or walk. The sector has a dedicated abseil line, with its own stations, that runs from the summit bolt belays down the wall right of Pericles to the base; the equipper calls it efficient but the topo gives no abseil lengths. Alternatively walk up to the summit plateau and descend the north side via the chapel of St Constantine to the coastal path and the village, as for the other south face routes (1 to 1.5 h on neighbouring routes).
Retreat
Bail with caveats
The sector is equipped for an abseil descent and every belay is bolted, so retreat is realistic. The abseil line has its own stations, which are not always at the belays, and the topo does not give abseil lengths.
Partly inferred from the route facts
Safety
Sun and weather
South facing and hot. The equipper worked in 33°C in early October 2024 and approached during the morning shade. Spring and autumn are the season; start on the first ferry and carry plenty of water.
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 cover the best-bolted pitch, plus a few slings: the topo says several bolts need extending. The rope length for the abseil line is not published. The pitches are at most 25 m, but check locally or take two ropes before committing to the abseils. 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 Pericles.
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 10 pitches
Croatia · Paklenica
A modern line by B. Čujić and I. Matković up the full height of the Trapez sector of Anića kuk: ten pitches, 360 m, steady between 5c and 6b+. It starts right of the classic Mosoraški, crosses it in the upper middle part and finishes to its left. Slabs low down, then a vertical crack, superb vertical slab pitches, a huge corner with a chockstone and an exposed traverse.
6b+10 pitches360 m
France · Chamonix valley
The original line on the Barberine wall: four pitches of fine, delicate slab above a bouldery first move, then steeper and more athletic climbing through the upper tier, with a superb 6b layback-and-wall pitch near the top. Ledges cut it into sections, so it never feels very exposed, but it is sustained at 6a to 6a+ throughout.
6b+10 pitches250 m
Morocco · Taghia
Ten pitches of even 6b and 6b+ on compact rock ten minutes from the gîtes, mostly technical slab and wall climbing on your feet, with a 50 m sixth pitch on vertical edges that everyone singles out. It is among the most accessible long routes at Taghia, in the shade for most of the day, and a little polished low down.
6b+10 pitches330 m
Read the cautions
Austria · Gastein (Hohe Tauern)
Ten pitches of varied climbing on good rock, mostly slabs with some cracks and steeper passages. Largely UIAA 5 with a few moves of 6 and three spots of 7 that go at 6+ A0. A short walk-in and a rigged abseil line.
6b+10 pitches350 m
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.
