One of the world’s great climbing festivals brought pro athletes from around the globe along with hundreds of other climbers to Greece, as the Petzl RocTrip descended on the island of Kalymnos in late October. More than 500 people participated in the Freeride Rally, a fun competition to see how many limestone sport routes from Kalymnos’ 280-page guidebook they could redpoint in a day. Others came just to enjoy Mediterranean life, as the town of Kalymnos threw a Greek-themed party with traditional music, dancing, food, and wine, and Petzl threw its own DJ-fueled party that rocked into the wee hours.

Still others came to ogle the stars, who presented slide shows and films and “competed” on the Ultimate Route, a pair of unclimbed, newly bolted testpieces that each climber was allowed to work and then try to send. Frenchwoman Charlotte Durif, Slovenian Martina Cufar, and Spain’s Daila Ojeda each redpointed the 5.13d women’s route, a 60-meter overhanging journey through tufas and stalactites. Dani Andrada from Spain, Chris Sharma from the U.S., and Steve McClure from the U.K. sent the 5.14b men’s route. American pro climbers at the festival included Sharma, Katie Brown, Dave Graham, Chris Lindner, and Ethan Pringle.









For more photos and reports, see climbing.com/rt06kalymnos/ and petzl.com. 

All photos by Anna Piunova/www.mountain.ru. 

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