UKC

Hi all,

 Will be passing through Meteora this week, on the way south, with only a single 70m rope. Does anyone have recommendations for routes or towers which can be descended via 35m abseils? 
 

cheers,

Rory 

How many days are you going for?

I was there last week. You could abseil off Meteora with a 70.

I’d have thought abseiling off Line of Fallen Drops Would be fine, but you had to do a lot of raps. 

The Holy Ghost would also be fine, but you’d probably need to do 3 raps instead of 2. 

The Egg Dance wouldn’t work. 

Hey Rippers! Slight hijack of the thread here - did you enjoy the place? Would you recommend it? Are the stories of death on a stick from the top floor just a load of nonsense as long as you climb within your grade and don’t make stupid decisions?

Rumours of death on a (kebab) stick are wildly exaggerated - there's plenty of fun, safe stuff available (though you might want to leave your ego at home!) Absolutely magical place that has far more to offer than "just" brilliant climbing.

The Adrachti "spindle" pinnacle is one of the most improbable bits of rock I've ever climbed: https://rockaroundtheworld.co.uk/2017/09/26/more-meteora-doupiani-and-adrac...

... and Egg Dance fully lives up to its classic status: https://rockaroundtheworld.co.uk/2017/09/30/egg-dance-in-meteora/

Let me know if you want to catch up for beers and beta-swapping! Cheers, Dom 

Hey Martin,

It depends what you like really. If you like moves it’s probably not for you, but if you like climbing amazing lines it’s an amazing place to go climbing. I think you’d like it. 

The style of bolting is like a less dangerous version of the designer danger you’d find in the Llanberis Slate Quarries 

There are a few big run outs but never when the climbing is difficult. For example if you’re climbing 6a it will only be run-out if the climbing is much easier than 6a.

The pebbles are generally solid, much more solid than those found at Moy Rock for example.

I’d agree with Dom that the Spindle, Egg Dance are fantastic. For me the standard route was the Corner of Madness. 

Give me a call if you’d like beta 

Thanks, Tom. 
For anyone considering this in the future, I’d say for a week there is plenty to do with a single rope; most of the anchors were either rings, glue ins or a combination, so it was easy to do intermediate abseils if pitch length allowed. For longer than a week, I’d want doubles for sure. 
Amazing place, though would concur with the statement that it’s more about the lines than the moves.

Rory

Hi Rharrison,

Cheers for the info. Do you think it's worth taking a small rack too or not really needed?

For the classics we did, I’d take some medium and large wires and cams from purple to big grey, and a few slings. 

Extra gold and blue cams could be handy on the corner of madness. 
 

There are some nice looking lines for which it’d be good to have a rack (pillar of dreams maybe the obvious example), though plenty to do if you don't bring a rack. We were there four days and only climbed bolted stuff. 
 

Rory

Brill thanks both