Kalymnos authors Aris Theodoropoulos and Katie Roussos on their new guide and more!

Aris and Katie are two people synonymous with Kalymnos, and their latest guide is the eighth edition to the island, marking twenty three years since their first. We recently caught up with them and they were kind enough to share with us the backstory to producing a guide to one of climbing’s most revered destinations as well as the evolution that Kalymnos has undergone over the last two decades.

When did you guys first climb on Kalymnos?
Aris: In the spring of 1999. I was with my friend Thomas Michaelides, and I remember climbing at sector Arhi and being entirely alone. There was nobody there except some goats observing us from a safe distance, and it felt like there was nobody else on the whole island. When we finally ran into another pair of climbers on our fourth day, we were elated.

Katie: Summer of 2008. I’d only started climbing a few months earlier at the Acharnes Alpine Club’s indoor wall in Athens, where Aris and I met. I didn’t really like indoor climbing and was ready to jump ship, but Aris insisted that I quit my job and spend the summer on Kalymnos with him. Best decision of my life!

When did it first occur to you that you could make a guidebook and that one was needed?
Aris: Almost immediately after my first visit in 1999. The first guidebook was made a little over a year later, in October 2000, for the first Kalymnos climbing festival. I was already in close contact with the municipality and established a set of safe bolting guidelines (10mm stainless-steel bolts, dense bolting, [safe distance between bolts] two-bolt anchors with [proper lower] carabiners). It was obvious that Kalymnos had enormous potential and the local community was very keen to help revive the island. That first guidebook feels very retro now. We still get the occasional email from guidebook geeks looking for a copy to add to their collection!

What was putting the first guidebook together like?
Aris: Thankfully there weren’t that many routes on Kalymnos yet, and my friends and I had already climbed or re-bolted most of those early routes. A bigger challenge at the time was tracking down the other equippers, finding out the names of routes, etc. Remember that this was pre-smartphone, pre-widespread internet. I often had to put together information based on whatever the other equippers had scribbled on the back of a napkin or a piece of paper and left at their rental studios or one of the few cafes in Masouri at the time. Language was more of a challenge, too (I didn’t have Katie and her fluent English by my side yet; she joined in 2010), but luckily other climbing friends from Italy, Germany, the UK, and France volunteered to translate the guidebook into their respective languages.

How many routes were featured in the first guidebook, and how many are featured in the 2023 edition?
The first edition (October 2000): 80 pages, 200 routes, five languages (Greek, English, Italian, German, French). Eighth edition (June 2023): 624 pages, 4216 routes, English only.

You partnered with Vertical-Life to print and distribute this latest guide, why did you choose this path and what are the advantages to working with Vertical-Life?
Aris and Katie: Vertical-Life has created the digital version for all of our guidebooks since 2015 (Kalymnos, Leonidio & Kyparissi, and Greece Sport Climbing: The Best Of), so we have known and worked with them for years. We’d chosen to collaborate with Vertical-Life in the first place because, among the many app developers approaching us, we felt that V-L were the ones who respected our work the most by working directly with local guidebook authors and not copying content or cutting corners. So we trust that our work is safe. For the 2023 Kalymnos guidebook specifically—our most important and labor-intensive work to date—we wanted to ensure both outstanding printing quality and wide availability. Printing quality in Greece had been rather poor lately, the astronomical rise in the cost of paper was making it nearly impossible for us—two authors—to handle the production of a 624-page book on our own, and shipping/handling costs had become prohibitive. We turned to our friends at Vertical-Life because we already trusted their handling of our work, they have access to high-quality printing (this book has been printed on plastic-free paper) and a wide distribution network, and our guidebook continues to be produced entirely in Europe by climbers for climbers.

When did you realize that Kalymnos had the potential to become one of the world’s premiere climbing destinations? Was there a specific turning point?
Aris: The moment I set foot on the west coast of Kalymnos and saw the pure virgin cliffs above Masouri and Arginonta. Can you imagine? It was an utter revelation and a personal turning point for me. Almost immediately, I devoted all my energies to the island—including transitioning to sport climbing after years and years of long trad routes and yearly pilgrimages to the Alps. I believe the specific turning point for the island was Petzl’s 2006 Roctrip, which brought to Kalymnos 20 of the world’s best climbers alongside about 1000 visiting climbers, a big number at the time. The publicity and subsequent popularity of Kalymnos exploded after that.

Do you have a favorite route, and/or a favorite sector?
Katie: “Resista” at sector Ghost Kitchen; “Delicatesse” and “Harry Hole” at sector Poets; “Le Bleu du Ciel” and “Provatina” (brand new!) at sector Arginonta Valley; “Monolith” at sector Arhi; “Silver Spurs” at sector Summertime, to name a few routes. Favorite sector: it’s a tossup between Poets and Arhi. Both crags have the full range of grades and rock types, Poets is right above our house (no need for wheels), and as for Arhi and all other crags above Arginonta Bay, the rock and water colors at sundown are irresistible.

Aris: It is impossible to pick just one route. I have at least two dozen favorite routes on permanent rotation. My favorite sector, and a model crag in every way, is Secret Garden. I have equipped most routes there, so maybe I’m a bit biased, but I think a lot of climbers would agree with me!

Is there any advice that you would give to climbers visiting the island? Is there anything that you think often gets missed or overlooked?
Aris and Katie: Don’t skip the guidebook introduction! There’s a reason why all that info is there in the first place. We would particularly like to emphasize the proper use of lower-offs on Kalymnos. Climbers must know how to top-rope and lower from the anchors using their own gear. The fixed clippable carabiners have greatly contributed to the safety record of Kalymnos climbing, but they are somewhat of a luxury: they are expensive, require maintenance, and become damaged when thousands of ropes grind through them when lowering or top-roping from them directly. Also, be considerate at the crag. Say hello, clean your chalk marks, keep your voices down, bury your poop, pack away your toilet paper. These simple behaviors go a long way. That being said, the global climbing community of Kalymnos is like no other, and we are ever grateful for people’s offers to help, words of encouragement, and active support of Kalymnos climbing every time a climber buys our guidebook. Thank you, all!

To see more of one of this year’s most anticipated guidebook releases check out, climbkalymnos.com/guidebook You can secure your copy here, as well as at dedicated outdoor retailers and booksellers worldwide in addition to any number of spots on the island of Kalymnos. Photo courtesy of Hanna Jordan.