REBOLT KALYMNOS - Daily maintenance and bigger projects by volunteers

Rebolt Kalymnos has been very active in the last months, equipping almost all routes in Secret Garden with titanium glue-ins, alongside almost daily maintenance: replacing old anchors and bolts, removing or gluing loose rock, and simply adding bolts on runout easier routes. All the daily work is done by volunteers, mainly based on safety concerns reported by climbers on the designated online form. You can follow the team's rebolting activity through regular “Rebolt Report” updates on their Instagram feed.

Their next big project is to rebolt all 34 routes at sector Kasteli (not including two routes that were already recently rebolted). Rebolt Kalymnos is a registered Greek non-profit. Funding for all the work comes from donations, sales of the Rebolt Kalymnos T-shirt, and some bolt donations from hardware manufacturers. In practice, there are a handful of volunteers, who spend most of the year on the island, doing most of the work. They also run board meetings to decide important issues. Throughout the year, they have tried to get in contact with the local municipality regarding a government-funded rebolting project, without success. Recently, they publicly called for the release of more details about the project:

“Since April, we’ve repeatedly asked for basic details: which routes are included, who manages the work, what materials are being used, and the project timeline. None of these questions have been answered. The Rebolt Kalymnos team is at the crags every day, maintaining routes to the highest international standards and addressing safety issues in real time. That daily presence gives us both the insight and responsibility to seek clarity when public work affects the same routes we care for. We believe that transparency and collaboration are essential for climber safety, for the island, and for the future of climbing on Kalymnos.”

At the time of this writing, Rebolt Kalymnos is still waiting for answers.