[jwi]

So ... yesterday we booked a trip to Leonidio on somewhat of an impulse. Going Feb 15-26.  Any recommendations?

[remus]

Twin caves is fun, good mix of grades but can get crowded.
Maison de Chevres has some good holiday grades.
Mars is good for stuff in the 6a to 7b bracket. Chuck notis and it's various extensions are all very good.
Elona is meant to be really good though I didn't get to check it out.

[Fiend]

From what I sent someone elsewhere:

Leonidio:

3.5 hours drive from Athens. Roads around area are very twisty. Driving to Kapirissi is 1:15+, don't believe anyone who tells you less. Very narrow streets in Leon itself, walk to shops and always drop down to riverside to access main climbing valley. Supermarkets are small and closed on Sundays. Best one is on the Athens road. Veggie shop near there good too. En Leonidio pizzeria serves Mythos so cold the head freezes when you pour it enough said.

Crags:

We were climbing F6b - F7a-ish, and almost entirely in the shade (25'c midday sun). Most sunny crags only get a little bit of evening shade. Most shady ones do get plenty of shade. Some approaches are quite scrambly, be careful if showers come in. In guidebook order:

Hada:
Okay crag, tough approach, limited easy routes but some good vert/tech. 7b-ish range looks very good.

Xmas Berliner Maer:
Not the best. Shortish, pokey-ish routes, a few good ones. Xmas very accessible.

Elona:
World class, easy access and impressive arena. Limited easier routes but some good vert/tech up the hill and a few amazing tufas. Lots of 7s, best ones on tufas but not always..

Panorama:
Very nice, best view in the valley, cool and peaceful. Limited easier routes but some real good ones. Definitely some prime techy 7b-ish.

Nafidia:
Another nice spot, high and remote, again limited easier routes but some good ones despite relative shortness.

Mars:
World class, best crag in area, amazing arena but can be busy. Fantastic tufa AND pocket routes of all grades.

King Of Thrones:
Nice crag, good view over village. Great combo of easier techy routes and harder steeper ones.

St Nicholas:
Beautiful location, shady and dramatic next to monastry, but climbing a bit mixed. Sunny side has a reasonable spread of routes.

Watermill (Kapirissi):
Long windy drive but a great crag. Good combo of tufa routes and grey slabs, easy access and sea-views.

[HaeMeS]

I liked most of the crags we went, except for Crash of the Titans. Mars is the busiest sector by far. Couple of soft ticks, big holds and connect the dots climbing attracts a lot of people. Did not like Chuck Notis, as the first pitch has a crux on small pockets, but is escapable via big tufa blobs. And it is hidiously polished and/or chalked up around the first belay. Mars gets too busy at times - plenty of quieter sectors around. Phobos next to Mars has no big grades, but 3 routes with amazing if somewhat exposed (for the area) climbing. I did an amazing route on Sala as well and a new one on the amazing flowstone on the left hand side of Mikri Sintza. Grade-wise some routes were easy, most spot on and some hard. More importently, almost all were really good. I enjoyed the easier tufa/flowstone climbs (6c-7b+) so much I did not try anything hard. Villagers were very welcoming. First time in Greece and find it hard to say, but Greece is almost a better winter destination for climbing than Spain...    except the wine is horrible. Can’t beat the Priorat.

I’ll be back for 2 more weeks in november. 

[remus]

On a logisitics note, it's worth remembering that every petrol station within a 1hr30 drive closes at 7pm. Me and my girlfriend had a fairly traumatic drive to the airport, leaving leonidio with the fuel light on and driving/coasting very slowly towards Athens in the hope of finding an open petrol station somewhere along the way.

[jwi]

Follow up from Frankfurt airport, on the way back from Leonidio to Toulouse.

We had ten days of rain almost every day, sometimes heavy, which is apparently not unheard of in the winter. The fast drying vertical sectors doesn't have much of interest above 7a/b and the tufa sectors will get wet after a few days of rain. (Apparently Leonidio saw two months of unbroken sunshine before we came, and it took around three days for the seepage to start.) The only more or less perma-dry sector is Mars – and good as it is in the 6c-7c bracket it is unfortunately very onsight-friendly; so I climbed it out in three days, and was forced to do laps on whatever was free on our last day there.

Greece is much cheaper than Spain, and the food is a good deal better, especially for vegetarians. For climbing Leonidio cannot compare with the better destinations in Spain and southern France.

I gather that Kyparissi is quite a lot better than Leonidio for the 7c-8c bracket (it certainly looked that way – but it was seeping of course), but I wouldn't risk a shorter trip to Kyparissi in the winter. Wait until april-may and learn to like the heat.

[Fiend]

Sorry to hear that dude, that weather sucks 

[jwi]

I forgot to say that sector H.A.D.A. is also protected and free from seepage, even after heavy rainfall. However, as it is higher up it will be in the clouds when low-pressure systems dominate.

[abarro81]

Anyone know whether Leonidio is generally a decent bet at Christmas/New Year, or pretty hit-and-miss compared to Spain?