Meteora Rock Climbing

Meteora means suspended in air in Greek. For more than a thousand years people have been scaling its sedimentary monoliths. The first were hermetic monks in search of a place to be alone with god. Starting in the 14th century, more permanent structures were established ultimately resulting in the construction of 20 monasteries--6 remain today. Several are listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites. Climbing is not allowed on spires that contain active monasteries.

More recently, these same peaks were climbed by German and Greek climbers who established bold routes to the tops of the pinnacles. Many of the original routes require very creative gear placement in questionable rock. Quite a few involve long sections of chimney climbing with few opportunities to place gear and even fewer placements that could be trusted to support a leader fall of any distance. Routes were bolted minimally in most cases, most of the bolted routes are really "trad" routes that may or may not take additional gear.

The rock is similar to cement with rounded river stones as aggregate. The size of the stones embedded in the conglomerate varies from peak to peak and from climb to climb. There is also a great degree of variance in the strength of the cementing material. Some routes are solid and it is possible to bear your entire weight on a single embedded cobble. Other routes contain sections that are more akin to stones in dried mud. It's very important to test and retest stones you intend to pull on. It is very unlikely that you will go any length of time climbing in Meteora without detaching stones with your hands or feet. Belayers should wear helmets at all times for this reason. Most descents require double rope rappels. For several days a partner and I were stuck with only one rope, while there was a lot to climb, there was very little that we could descend, until a friend arrived with a second rope.